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How UCLA’s ‘mind gym’ set up a national title clash with South Carolina

April 4, 2026

PHOENIX — Inky Johnson left college football due to an injury that paralyzed his right arm. Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone is a two-time Olympic champion runner. Joe Mazzulla coached the Boston Celtics to an NBA title in his second season.

All have been figures of choice for the UCLA women’s basketball “mind gym,” which has prepared the Bruins mentally throughout a historic season that has led to Sunday’s NCAA Tournament championship game.

“This is the mission of our program: to teach, mentor, and equip,” said assistant coach Tasha Brown, who facilitates the mind gym. “We want to be an elite basketball program that does that and gets them prepared for life after basketball or after they leave UCLA. And so for us, everything is transformational, and we want to make sure that we’re coaching the complete athlete.”

UCLA, which was thew 1978 AIAW national champion, is going for its first NCAA title. South Carolina will be playing in its fourth NCAA championship game in the past five years. Preparation and mentality could be the difference-maker Sunday afternoon – which is where the mind gym comes in.

The Bruins have always used some sort of mental training under head coach Cori Close. They brought in sports psychologist Trevor Moawad, then ushered in Collin Henderson after Moawad’s death in 2021.

Henderson, especially, worked closely with Brown when he came to speak to the team once a month. She learned his methods and blended it with the knowledge of her own athletes so when Close asked her to take over the mind gym, it was a perfect fit.

“She’s really smart in the mindset and mental training, and she does a lot of research,” senior guard Gabriela Jaquez said. “She does a lot of listening to other people. She prepares really well for us. And that’s her gift that she has.”

Brown used Michael Jordan’s “flu game” to demonstrate willpower before UCLA beat Texas 51-44 in the national semifinals Friday night. The example helped the Bruins (36-1) get through a night when an offense that typically scores 84 points per game was held to its lowest output of the season.

The storylines and analogies Brown uses vary in familiarity. Many sports fans know about the “flu game,” while others may not have seen McLaughlin’s self-talk prior to a race.

Brown’s ability to verbally drive home even the most cliché message to the point of intrinsic understanding makes the mind gym unique.

“It’s just so empowering, and she literally sells me on it,” graduate forward Angela Dugalić said. “My first few years we had someone else doing it, and I just wasn’t really a big believer. Once she took over – and I knew I needed help with my mental side of things – you have to buy in.”

Brown may have taken over the mind gym recently, but she has eight seasons of experience on the UCLA coaching staff and has helped them collect 171 wins in her first seven seasons with the team.

Currently, the Bruins are on a program-best, 30-game win streak.

They will test their mental toughness against a South Carolina team that is going for its fourth national title under head coach Dawn Staley, who ranks fifth all-time in NCAA Tournament winning percentage at .771.

She led the Gamecocks to a 62-48 win over No. 1 overall seed UConn in the Final Four, snapping the Huskies’ 54-game win streak in the process.

The defense keyed in on UConn All-Americans Sarah Strong and Azzi Fudd and held them to a combined 7-of-31 shooting. The Huskies were 11 of 44 overall from the field.

The Gamecocks (36-3) shot 37.5% in the game, but have proven throughout the tournament that they have an offense with high-scoring potential.

All-American forward Joyce Edwards has had two double-doubles in the Gamecocks’ tournament run and is averaging 9.4 rebounds per game. Senior guard Ta’Niya Latson is another scoring threat, contributing 15.2 points per game in the tournament.

Brown was still working on her message for the pre-South Carolina mind gym as of Saturday afternoon, but she knew it had to involve having a sense of control.

“We talk a lot about that,” Brown said. “We’ve been doing that all season. I thought one of the biggest things for us is our ability to be present and our ability to control the controllables.”

Led by six seniors, the Bruins overcame 23 turnovers to beat Texas in the Final Four. They kept on shooting, inspired by the mind gym’s messages of control and willpower, and making just 18 of their 44 shots from the floor to advance to the championship game.

They’ll need All-American center Lauren Betts’ paint presence, which gets her 17.2 points and 8.7 rebounds per game, when they play the Gamecocks.

They’ll need Dugalić’s tenacity off the bench and the scoring abilities of Kiki Rice (15.1 ppg), Gianna Kneepkens (12.8 ppg) and Gabriela Jaquez (13.3 ppg), as well as point guard Charlisse Leger-Walker’s decision making.

But the most impactful force on the court could be the silent, invisible sixth man – the mind gym.

NCAA TOURNAMENT CHAMPIONSHIP

Who: No. 1 seed UCLA (36-1) vs. No. 1 seed South Carolina (36-3)

When: 12:30 p.m. PT Sunday

Where: Mortgage Matchup Center, Phoenix

TV: ABC (Ch. 7)/Westwood One, UCLA Digital Radio, SiriusXM

Orange County Register

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How UCLA’s ‘mind gym’ set up a national title clash with South Carolina

NCAA TOURNAMENT CHAMPIONSHIP

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