LOS ANGELES — The UCLA women’s basketball season is far from over. In fact, everything the Bruins want to achieve remains in front of them – defending their Big Ten Tournament championship, avenging a 2025 Final Four loss.
To reach those goals, the Bruins are trying to get “one percent” better every day with each practice, as head coach Cori Close put it Wednesday.
UCLA is focused on Washington ahead of their matchup at 7 p.m. Thursday at Pauley Pavilion. Close called the Huskies “very well coached” as head coach Tina Langley has the Huskies (19-7, 9-6 Big Ten) at their best mark in her five seasons.
“They can spread you out,” Close said of Washington, which has lost three of its past five games. “They’re very effective in transition. They make you play all the way through the shot clock. You know, they’re just a really good team.”
UCLA (25-1, 15-0) respects each opponent, takes none of them lightly and keeps its eyes on those short-term goals and long-term goals within this season. At the same time, Close knows whether the Bruins realize those goals or not, the sun will rise the next morning, on next season, and each rival will continue placing a target on their back.
So while the Bruins and their core of six seniors are trying to maximize this season, a successful program is defined by consistent dominance, year over year.
“I have no interest in rebuilding,” Close said Feb. 4. “I only want to reload.”
Tangibly, that can only be accomplished in the offseason – adding players through the transfer portal, bringing in freshman recruits. But success in those areas can be set up by results within the season and the product that the current team advertises to prospective players.
“I think you have to be very clear about what your vision is,” Close said Wednesday, “very clear about how you run your program, what that philosophy is, and you need to be unrelenting about, ‘you either want to be a part of that or you don’t. You either want to be a part of our championship development process or you don’t.’”
“It’s not just about the most highly touted, ranked players or even paying the biggest roster,” Close added. “I mean, you’re seeing it on both men’s and women’s basketball, that it’s not the biggest payroll that’s winning. And don’t be deceived. Just because you’re getting paid a lot of money that isn’t going to make you a great team. And so we are being very strategic about being equipped that we’re ready to pay, being equipped that we’re ready to compete at the highest levels but never will that trump our values, our character and what we believe our winning formula is.”
What does that formula look like in practice?
Close empowers her players to have balanced relationships with one another. She wants them to beat her “to the punch for accountability,” while having the capacity to offer each other empathy.
For example, senior point guard Kiki Rice has addressed her teammates in multiple timeouts this season, providing an additional voice to Close’s. During UCLA’s road trip to Michigan, Rice, Gianna Kneepkens, Gabriela Jaquez and Charlisse Leger-Walker each emphasized fellow senior Angela Dugalic’s importance to the team. They harped on her selflessness to take a reserve role, imploring she needed to be rewarded with greater involvement in the offense.
“All us seniors, we really made a commitment to ourselves that we’re really going to do whatever it takes to be the best team we can,” Jaquez said Wednesday.
That’s the environment Close breeds, and intends to carry on after this season. It’s what she hopes the public, let alone prospective players, understand about her program.
“Your action and your current players selling the vision is always the best,” Close said. “We’ve been very proactive to say, ‘Look, we will not be a part of tampering – even though a lot of people are, we will not do it – but I will make it known, this is what we’re looking for out of the transfer portal. This kind of point guard, this kind of rim protector, this kind of character, this is what we’re looking for in this reload process. Just like I would do with a freshman recruit, look, this is what I look for in our recruits. And I’m just trying to be very forthright in what we’re trying to accomplish.”
So while UCLA’s wholehearted focus is on winning its first Big Ten championship and another conference tournament title, in addition to its first national championship under Close, the future is never disregarded. More so, building that present success serves the future.
Washington (19-7, 9-6) at No. 2 UCLA (25-1, 15-0)
When: 7 p.m. Thursday
Where: Pauley Pavilion
TV: Big Ten Network