Cori Close completes her masterpiece as UCLA women’s basketball wins first NCAA title

PHOENIX – Cori Close’s Mona Lisa is complete.

The longtime UCLA coach put the finishing touches on a masterpiece that’s taken four years to finish, leading her senior-laden group to the program’s first ever NCAA championship in women’s basketball. The Bruins dominated a South Carolina group that was teetering on the edge of its own dynasty, leading by as many as xx points en route to a historically dominant 79-51 title game win. 

Not only did UCLA dominate a stalwart program to earn its first title, it did so in a way that was perfectly exemplary of the roster that Close spent the last half decade building and developing. All five of UCLA’s senior starters scored in double-figures, highlighted by a banner day from four-year Bruin Gabriela Jaquez. Jaquez scored 21 points, collected 11 rebounds and dished out five assists in the win and had a strong case to earn Tournament MOP honors despite the award ultimately going to Lauren Betts.

Promises fulfilled

Jaquez was the headliner of UCLA’s 2022 recruiting class that was touted as the best in program history before it had even played a game, in addition to entering with an already iconic last name in UCLA basketball lore thanks to her older brother Jaime. Despite those gargantuan expectations, Jaquez never wavered in her stint at Westwood. In large part because of her relationship with Close. 

“She works so hard,” Jaquez said. “She cares so much. She’s done a lot of work herself to get us here, and she’s had to do a lot of hard things as well. She’s super busy, but she always prioritizes the care that she has for us as people. And I always appreciate that. It is crazy that I won’t be coached by her anymore. Like, that’s kind of crazy that I’ll be on a new team, but I will always be thankful for her.”

Kiki Rice was the other headlining member of that 2022 recruiting class, coming to Westwood with the expressed goal of earning the program its first NCAA-era national title. In an era defined by NIL and player movement, Rice stayed true to the UCLA program and returned the investment that Close made in her by racking up third team All-American and first team All-Big Ten honors en route to the title.

“Coach Cori, she builds her programs differently than a lot of other coaches do,” Rice said. “She truly cares about us on the court, but even more off the court. She invests in us as young women, and she supports us in ways that not a lot of coaches do. For her to be able to just trust in that, and even in this era of NIL in college basketball, she just stayed true to her values and who she is 

“For us to win and for her to stay true to those values, it does mean a lot, because I know she put so much into it. There’s been times where I’m sure she’s doubted it’s all worth it, but just a ton of a ton of credit to coach for in the way that she’s been able to build this program.”

Betts on it

Lauren Betts wasn’t officially a member of UCLA’s 2022 class, but Close managed to snag the former No. 1 recruit from Stanford after she spent her freshman season as a reserve for the Cardinal and averaged 5.9 points per game. In her three seasons with UCLA post-transfer, Betts grew into a two-time first team All-American, a national Defensive Player of the Year, and now most importantly, a national champion. Betts is also fully in contention to become the No. 1 overall pick in the WNBA Draft later this month, having been the nation’s most impactful player on both ends of the floor for the better part of the last two seasons. 

Betts’ relationship with Close is special. The star center has been open about how her four years in college brought a fair share of inner turmoil, but the consistency in the effort that Close has poured into Betts’ life on and off the court is something that she’ll cherish forever. 

“She’s been such a crucial part in my basketball career,” Betts said. “I feel like she’s really pushed me in all aspects of this, as a person, as a basketball player, and she’s believed in me so much. She knows what I’m capable of. I feel like the confidence that she’s given me is why, you know, this team has been so amazing, and she’s just, you know, she holds us to such a high standard every single day, and she’s never let up. 

“Even on the days where we don’t want to show up to practice, she just continues to push for, you know, a certain expectation standard, just because she knows that this is capable. So just really proud of her and how much she’s grown as a coach, because she knows that every single year there’s always something that she can get better at.”

For Close, the overwhelming feeling in the aftermath of Sunday’s historic win was humility. Like her mentor John Wooden, it took her a decade and a half (plus) to achieve the sport’s pinnacle. And like with Wooden, it’s probably safe to assume that this maiden title won’t be Close’s last. Still, the first is oftentimes the sweetest one and this win was truly a moment in time. 

“It’s just so rare in life that you can start a journey with a group of people and really envision something,” Close said. “Then, trying to reverse engineer a plan that will actually lead you to the point that we’re experiencing right now, that it actually happens, that you’re in that position that you had planned for. It’s just really with great humility. Man, we are so fortunate to be experiencing that. They earned every bit of it.”