UCLA Women's Basketball News Roundup: Bruins Determined to End This Season Differently
This team has been on a mission all season. Now, they just want to keep playing with each other.
PHOENIX — All season long, the UCLA Bruins women’s basketball team has been different. Coming off one of, if not the, most successful season in team history, this year’s team has seemed focused on playing their best basketball when their best basketball is needed.
Of course, the top block of the Wooden Pyramid of Success is Competitive Greatness. After last Sunday’s win over Duke, I asked UCLA coach Cori Close if this year’s team needs to go 1-0 twice this weekend. Coach Close responded:
“Absolutely not. Of course, that’s what we want to do and that’s our focus in terms of how we want to master our craft and how we want to compete to the level of excellence. But I will never let a 40-minute game define the growth, experience and who they have become and who they have impacted.”
“I also think that it creates a pressure that doesn’t allow them to play their best. I think they have accomplished everything they need to. This is about making that next step. This is about trying to master their craft, trying to be an elite teammate.”
“If they can look themselves in the mirror and go, I have done everything under my control to master my craft and I have chosen to be an elite teammate, I want them to go compete with freedom and joy and know that they have done the most important things already.”
The fact remains, however, that this team is on the cusp of accomplishing something no other UCLA women’s basketball team has accomplished: winning a national championship.
As I walked around the Mortgage Matchup Center in Phoenix today, I noticed that the NCAA has hung banners in the building for every women’s basketball team which has won an NCAA championship.
Among them are banners for UConn, of course, as well as Texas and South Carolina. Southern Cal even has a banner hanging, unfortunately.
The Bruins are the only team here this weekend which has not climbed that mountain.
Today, Coach Close admitted that, last season, “I did a crappy job as a leader.” She explained more, saying:
“The moment we touched down, I was in transfer portal. Not a great situation.
“One of my biggest regrets of last spring is I didn’t celebrate them enough. I didn’t find ways to go, This team was the most, at that point, successful team since 1978/’ 79. I let myself get wrapped up in everything that was transpiring in the portal. I don’t think I did a good enough job in that way.”
“[The] good news is they’re very mature and they have a really good sense of what our culture is, what we expect. Actually when the dust settled and we got back together, we were able to self-reflect and we were able to realize that we were building off of something really good, that there was a lot to celebrate but also a lot to build from.”
“I do think then, at that point, we were able to do a really good job of saying ‘Hey, look at what position we’re in now.’ We can actually use that as such a great teacher for where we want to go this year. I really did think it ended up serving us really well.”
It certainly has.
All season long, the players and Coach Close have spoken about growth and “playing to the standard” they have set for themselves. It has sounded like they have been moving towards one singular goal, and it’s been a goal that, until this week, hasn’t really been said out loud.
To be sure, on numerous occasions, they’ve talked about wanting to go 1-0 when they play their next game. And, they have done that 35 times this season. They have done that 29 times in a row. Not only is that the second longest current streak in women’s college basketball, it’s the longest winning streak in UCLA women’s basketball history.
Even if they lose tomorrow, this team will have finished the season with more wins and a higher winning percentage than any women’s basketball team in UCLA history.
To go 1-0 tomorrow would mean extending the longest winning in school history to 30 games and adding another win to the highest win total in school history.
But, this team is different.
None of that means a thing to these ladies.
For them, it really is about going 1-0 tomorrow so they can experience the joy of playing with one another again on Sunday, and they know they have to play with a sense of urgency.
Lauren Betts explained, “I think in the back of our heads, we all know that this is our last go at this. It’s all or nothing for all of us.”
She continued:
I think throughout the season, we’ve also learned that we just want to enjoy the journey with all of us together. We don’t want to worry so much about what ifs, the end. We just really want to focus on just the joy and the fun that we have.
We’ve gotten so close throughout the season. I think when we do play, especially around this time, you can see throughout March Madness, we come out with a certain level of urgency because it is our last year.
I think tomorrow we’re going to come out with that same level of urgency from the very beginning.
Meanwhile, Gabriela Jaquez summed it up by saying, “Yeah, we're just fighting for more days with each other at the end of the day.”
Tomorrow night, they will be fighting to play with each other for two days.
The only thing standing in their way is the Texas Longhorns, who handed the Bruins their only loss since UCLA lost to UConn in the Final Four last season. In that game, Texas led 45-25 at halftime before going on to win by 11, 76-65. It was the only game other than Sunday’s win against Duke in which the Bruins trailed at halftime.
One of the keys for the Bruins tomorrow will need to be a fast start. Betts spoke about starting strong. “I think just coming out with a certain level of aggression is going to be really important,” she said. “I'm going to make sure I do that from the very beginning.”
Jaquez might have summed it up best. “It's another basketball game to play together. Just do what we've been doing all season.”
If they do what they’ve been doing for the past 29 games, they will probably find themselves playing one more game together on Sunday.
Here’s the complete video of today’s press conference, courtesy of NCAA March Madness on YouTube.
Go Bruins!!! Beat Texas!!!
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I love the quote by Coach Close you included above. It sounds very much like Coach Wooden and how he defined success.
I have always thought that Coach Close struggled, compared to her peers, with the Xs and Os side of the game, particularly game planning, in-game adjustments, and substitution patterns. She has improved quite a lot in these areas (having great players helps that), but the thing I never worried about with her was how she supported her players and was building a culture that brought a team together. I think that particular aspect was on full display against Duke. Five years ago, I don't know if we would have come back in that game. Prior teams got rattled and tight and didn't seem to have the confidence in their game. But this year's team didn't blink or panic. They knew what they had in themselves and in each other and they knew the team would get the job done. And seeing the joy on their faces for their accomplishments was priceless.
As we get deeper in the tourney and our roster advantages get slimmer and the opposing tacticians are better prepared and responsive, it is this beautiful culture and joy of team that can buoy them through shooting slumps and deficits and bad calls and other adversity. Whether it will be enough to post a W is a basically a tossup among these Final Four teams, but this program has come so far, and I am extremely proud of Coach Close and all the women on this quintessential TEAM.
GO BRUINS!! 💙🏀💛
They’re a team of winners whatever the results this weekend. I think any of the final four teams can win the tourney, with maybe a slight edge to UConn. We’ll see what happens, but one thing that may have a big impact tomorrow is how the game is called. In November Texas got away with so much against Betts. Regardless, we’ll have to keep our heads and play our game. I think it may come down to our 3 pt shooting, as Betts will get points, but if we’re cold from outside they can add a double, and I’m not sure of our ability to attack off the dribble. If we’re hitting our shots the whole floor opens up. The other keys are rebounding and turnovers - we’ve been inconsistent in the tourney in these areas, but can’t let a quarter or 2 go by before we get it together. Lastly, when our D is working I think we’re close to unbeatable, so it would be good to see 4Q of effort on D.
I’ll miss this team and the joy they’ve brought this year once it’s all done - let’s hope that’s after a parade!