Telepeer

No. 1 UCLA women working to ‘protect special’ in historic season

February 8, 2025

Actress and comedian Leslie Jones excitedly embraced UCLA women’s basketball coach Cori Close during her postgame radio interview Wednesday night.

“You just killed it, baby, yes!” the former “Saturday Night Live” star shouted, beaming the entire time, before joining the team in the locker room.

Moments earlier, the No. 1 Bruins had beaten No. 8 Ohio State 65-52 in a gritty game that tested them mentally and physically. The hard-earned win was a historic one – it made for the longest winning streak in program history.

The Bruins (22-0, 10-0 Big Ten) remain the only unbeaten college women’s basketball team in the nation and the attention is pouring in, whether in the form of individual milestones, media coverage or celebrity support.

Close has spoken about standing on the shoulders of those who came before them, and now UCLA is carrying its own weight at center stage.

“It’s elevating the expectations of this program,” Close told reporters after the Ohio State game. “We get to experience special. That’s what we talk about – protecting this and understanding what a privilege this is to be a part of this journey.”

UCLA heads to Oregon (16-7, 7-5) this weekend for a Sunday afternoon game before returning to L.A. to play USC at Galen Center. After that, only five games are left on the regular-season schedule before the Big Ten Conference Tournament.

The message from the team throughout the season is that they’re not concerned with rankings, even though they’ve been the No. 1 team for a Big Ten record-setting 11 weeks.

“(Assistant coach) Tasha (Brown) did such a great job, not only in the scout but before the game,” Close said. “She talked about how much will you have to work to protect ‘special’ and that it’s not easy. No one’s just going to allow you to waltz in there.”

The Buckeyes certainly made sure of that Wednesday night, trapping and pressing and making UCLA work for every point. Cotie McMahan tied the game at 44 in the fourth quarter, forcing UCLA to go on a 19-1 run in order to survive.

“We needed a game like that,” Close said. “Chaos, disappointment, we look tired at times and we had to find a way to buckle down and do it with toughness and rebounding and defense. And that’s exactly what happened in the fourth quarter.”

Gabriela Jaquez shot 5 for 6 for 11 points in the fourth quarter and Lauren Betts, a Lisa Leslie Center of the Year finalist, fought for touches in the paint to finish with 19 points, 14 rebounds and three blocks. It was her 12th double-double of the season.

“These games are fun when they’re close games,” Jaquez said. “And this might have been one of the first games where it got close. It was tied, but those games are fun and prepare us for March and tournament play. We need to experience other teams going on the runs and tying the games.”

Oregon could be a more manageable task. The Ducks are coming off back-to-back losses to Michigan and Maryland and were outscored 159-109 across the two games. They shot just 16% in the first quarter against the Terrapins.

Ducks coach Kelly Graves said after the loss that shuffling the starting lineup could be an option moving forward. Starting guard Peyton Scott, who averages 10 points per game, scored only four against Maryland.

“We’ve got to prepare ourselves,” Graves told reporters. “That’s two in a row where we haven’t looked good. The defense let us down. I’m not worried about UCLA, I’ve gotta worry about the Ducks and get our heads right.”

No. 1 UCLA (22-0, 10-0) at OREGON (16-7, 7-5)

When: 1 p.m. Sunday

Where: Matthew Knight Arena, Eugene, Oregon

TV: B1G+

Orange County Register

News Details

No. 1 UCLA women working to ‘protect special’ in historic season

No. 1 UCLA (22-0, 10-0) at OREGON (16-7, 7-5)

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

News

CONTACT INFO

QUICK LINKS

SERVICES

CURRENT NEWS