The UCLA women's basketball team has been nothing short of dominant this season under head coach Cori Close.
In her 14 years with the Bruins, the team has only missed the NCAA Tournament on four occasions and has made it to the Sweet 16 in each of the last two seasons. However, her team has only made one appearance in the Elite 8, which was back in 2018, and the program is still searching for its first trip to the Final Four.
This year's squad certainly has the makeup to do so, as they dethroned South Carolina by earning the No. 1 overall seed in this year's tournament. They went 8-2 against nationally ranked teams during the regular season, losing twice to rival USC, but they remedied that loss by taking down the Trojans in the Big Ten Championship Game last week.
Center Lauren Betts has been the main catalyst for the Bruins this season, but guard Kiki Rice and forwards Gabriela Jaquez and Angela Dugalic have also played a pivotal role in the team's success as well. There are currently seven players on the roster who average seven points per game or more for the team, so their well-rounded attack should make them difficult to stop in March.
UCLA will have a favorable draw in the first round of the tournament as they'll take on the winner of UC San Diego and Southern University, a First Four game between No. 16 seeds.
How to watch UCLA vs. UC San Diego/Southern
- Date: Friday, March 21
- Time: 10:00 p.m. ET
- Venue: Pauley Pavilion (Los Angeles, CA)
- How to Watch: ESPN
- How to stream: ESPN App or fuboTV
- UCLA record: 30-2 (16-2)
- UC San Diego record: 20-15 (13-7)
- Southern University record: 20-14 (15-3)
UCSD was the automatic qualifier from the Big West, who went on a Cinderella run in their conference tournament, winning as the No. 4 seed. Southern was the top seed in the Southwestern Athletic Conference and ran the table in their conference tournament.
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