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UCLA Basketball: 2019 Pac-12 Women’s Basketball Tournament Preview

By Mike Regalado

LAS VEGAS, NV - MARCH 08: A Pac-12 basketball logo is displayed on the court after a quarterfinal game of the Pac-12 basketball tournament between the Stanford Cardinal and the UCLA Bruins at T-Mobile Arena on March 8, 2018 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Bruins won 88-77. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
LAS VEGAS, NV - MARCH 08: A Pac-12 basketball logo is displayed on the court after a quarterfinal game of the Pac-12 basketball tournament between the Stanford Cardinal and the UCLA Bruins at T-Mobile Arena on March 8, 2018 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Bruins won 88-77. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images) /
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The UCLA basketball women’s team has clinched a first-round bye in the Pac-12 Tournament, giving them an easier path to try an claim a conference tourney championship.

It has been an action-packed season for head coach Cori Close and her UCLA basketball team as they ran through the conference portion of their schedule with much success. Their efforts late in the season allowed them to climb the standings and land them a bye in the first round of the Pac-12 Tournament.

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The Bruins have been on fire since the start of conference play which not only saw them end the Pac-12 season 12-6, but won 10 of their last 12 games, went 7-2 on the road, and took down three ranked teams in the process. Now it is time for UCLA to use that momentum in the postseason with their first stop at the Pac-12 Women’s Basketball Tournament in Las Vegas this week.

With the Bruins clinching the fourth spot, it gives them an extra day to prepare for the tourney as seeds 5-12 battle it out on Thursday. UCLA will begin their postseason on Friday morning at 11:30 a.m. PT as they await the winner between #5 Arizona State and #12 Colorado.

Since the Bruins have a bye, we really do not need to be concerned with what happens in the first round, except for the 5/12 game, so we will jump to the quarterfinals.

Pac-12 Tournament Quarterfinals Schedule

  • #4 UCLA vs. #5 ASU/#12 Colorado winner, 11:30 a.m.
  • #1 Oregon vs. #8 Arizona/#9 USC winner, 2 p.m.
  • #2 Stanford vs. #7 Cal/#10 Washington State winner, 6 p.m.
  • #3 Oregon State vs. #6 Utah/#11 Washington winner, 8:30 p.m.

So far, the odds are in UCLA’s favor as they have gone 3-0 against ASU and Colorado this year. The Bruins should be a lock to win against the Buffaloes pending a win over the Sun Devils, but it looks as though ASU will be the team to move on. If that is the case, this will not be a pushover for the Bruins, especially since they bumped the Devils from the fourth spot and will be looking to get back at UCLA, especially after the Bruins beat them in Tempe in their only meeting this season.

The tournament gets really interesting if the Bruins move onto the semifinals as they will most likely face #1 Oregon. Two weeks ago, UCLA went up to Eugene to take on the then-#2 nationally ranked Ducks. With Oregon going up by 22 points during the game, it looked as if the Bruins would suffer a very bad road loss. That was not the case as UCLA made a furious comeback to get the win. Because of that result, Oregon should make this a tough one for UCLA.

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Now if the Bruins make it to the championship game then they are going to have play otherworldly and do something that has not been done this season, beat Stanford or Oregon State. The Cardinal and Beavers will most likely duke it out on the other side of the of the tournament bracket during the semifinals, and that means UCLA will have to tangle with the winner. This season, the Bruins have a collective 0-4 record against both teams so Close is going to have to find a way to finally beat whichever one of these teams they face.

That is not out of the question as the Bruins have come close. In their third conference game this season, UCLA went up to Palo Alto and nearly pulled out a win, but fell 86-80. After beating Oregon, the Bruins nearly pulled off the impossible Oregon sweep but lost a very close neck-and-neck game against Oregon State, 75-72.

This is not going to be an easy tournament, but claiming some hardware is very doable. The way the Bruins have been playing lately, especially away from Pauley Pavilion, they should make their mark against every team they go up against. UCLA seems to be a lock for the NCAA Tournament, so now, they should just focus on raising their first Pac-12 Tournament Championship trophy in the Cori Close era.