Cori Close has been building toward this season since the day she arrived at UCLA.
All the recruiting classes, all the teaching, all the tantalizing promise of the last 15 years has been a prelude to what the Bruins women’s basketball coach hopes is the big payoff:
The team’s first NCAA championship.
After making the Final Four a year ago, UCLA appears built for a bigger breakthrough. The second-ranked Bruins feature no significant weaknesses and six players who could be taken in the 2026 WNBA draft.
Lauren Betts is the center who commands double and triple teams largely powerless to stop her.
Kiki Rice can make the dazzling pass or the big shot with equal ease.
Gabriela Jaquez’s steady year-by-year improvement has made her possibly the team’s best player.
Gianna Kneepkens is a pure shooter bidding for a rare 40-50-90 season.
Charlisse Leger-Walker is the savvy leader who always seems to make the right play.
Angela Dugalic is the top reserve who would be a starter on almost any other team.
Sprinkle in Sienna Betts, Lena Bilic and Amanda Muse off the bench and this is easily Close’s most complete team.
Here’s a look at where the Bruins stand and what they need to do to finish the season on the upswing:
NCAA tournament status
While national rankings rarely align perfectly with seedings, the Bruins (20-1 overall, 10-0 Big Ten) are in a strong position to challenge for the top overall seed.
It might require winning out and having unbeaten Connecticut lose at least one game. Barring repeated stumbles, UCLA should be one of the four No. 1 seeds, giving it a favorable path to the Final Four at the Mortgage Matchup Center in Phoenix.
With the opening two rounds at Pauley Pavilion and a likely regional berth at the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, the Bruins probably wouldn’t have to leave California before the national semifinal.
Biggest revelation
Having arrived at UCLA as Jaime Jaquez Jr.’s scrappy little sister, Gabriela Jaquez has become a full-fledged star in her own right.
It’s been an impressive rise leading to a senior season in which she’s averaging career highs nearly across the board.
The biggest leap has come in her three-point shooting as a result of relentless practice repetition. Her 46.5% accuracy from long range is nearly double her 24.4% as a sophomore and has made defending her far more problematic.
Biggest disappointment
Close has grumbled about a lack of coverage, particularly after no reporters asked to speak with her following a top-10 showdown against Ohio State in December.
Since then, the team has regularly held postgame Zoom sessions to accommodate reporters covering it remotely. A lack of coverage shouldn’t be a problem in March, when the media contingent following the Bruins figures to swell.
Biggest concern
The Bruins’ only loss of the season followed a familiar pattern for anyone who watched their Final Four setback against UConn from a year ago.
They got overwhelmed early, fell behind big and could never quite catch up. The lesson? Even on its worst nights, UCLA can’t go down by 23 points and expect to win against a quality opponent in the NCAA tournament.
Season ceiling
There’s no limitations on what this team can do.
Having reached the Final Four a year ago, anything less than making the championship game might be considered a disappointment. But there’s no reason to think that this team can’t win it all, rewarding Close and her players for so much effort over so many years.
