The UCLA Bruins women's basketball team, established in 1974, represents the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in the Big Ten Conference. The team competes in women's college basketball against teams from the Division I level of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). The current coach is Cori Close. Home games are played in Pauley Pavilion in Los Angeles.
The team was a member of the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) until joining the NCAA in 1981–82 season. The team was a member of the Western Collegiate Athletic Association conference until women's basketball was organized in the Pac-10 conference for the 1986–87 season. The 1977-78 UCLA Bruins women's basketball team won the 1978 AIAW National Large College Basketball Championship, and a banner commemorating the championship hangs in Pauley Pavilion. The 2014–15 UCLA Bruins women's basketball team won the 2015 WNIT championship. In the 2024–25 Bruins' season, the Bruins made their first Final Four appearance in the modern era of the NCAA championship., The 2025–26 Bruins went 37–1 and won the program's second women's basketball national championship, and the first basketball championship in the NCAA era.
Contents
History
Women's sports programs at UCLA were established as a response to Title IX. Dr. Judith Holland was named the athletic director for women's sports. In 1974, UCLA was a well established men's basketball powerhouse, having won 9 of their 10 championships under Coach John Wooden. The first UCLA Women's basketball team was established for the 1974-75 season. Ann Meyers was the first woman recruited to play in college basketball at any university with a four-year scholarship. This is regarded as one of the defining moments in the history of women's sports.
Coach Kenny Washington (1974-75)
Kenny Washington, a basketball star on UCLA men's championship teams, became the first coach of the UCLA women's basketball program. He coached one season, leading the Bruins to an 18–4 record behind star Ann Meyers. He was the first African-American head coach at UCLA in any sport.
Coach Ellen Mosher (1975-77)
In the 1976-77 season Coach Ellen Mosher and the Bruins won the WCAA with a 7–1 record. The largest win of the season was over number 5 ranked Cal State Fullerton coached by Billie Moore, which was the first Bruin win over a top ten ranked team. Moore's Fullerton teams had won the WCAA conference each of the previous 7 seasons. Overall the Bruins finished with a 16–1 regular season record and an invitation to the 1977 AIAW National Large College Basketball Championship. They lost in the regionals to the same Cal State Fullerton team with whom they had split the regular season conference games. Subsequently, the Bruins were invited to the 1978 National Women's Invitational Tournament (NWIT). Advancing to the finals of the NWIT, they lost to Number 7 ranked Wayland Baptist in the championship game. Their win loss record was 20–3. In April, Mosher resigned and Moore was hired as the new head coach. Mosher took a job as the coach of the Minnesota Golden Gophers women's basketball team.
Coach Billie Moore (1977-93)
Billie Moore was hired from Cal State Fullerton for the 1977 season. Moore had been the first women's basketball coach to lead Team USA in the inaugural women's basketball competition at the 1976 Summer Olympic games.
In her first two seasons, Moore led the Bruins to high national rankings and conference championships. The Bruins won their first national championship in the AIAW in the 1977-78 season, and then achieved an AIAW third place finish in the 1978-79 season. Two more conference second place finishes followed, with appearances in the AIAW tournament. The Bruins would compete in the NCAA tournament for the first time in the 1982-83 season. The 1984-85 team advanced to the NCAA sweet sixteen for the first time. The Pac-10 conference women's basketball competition began in the 1986-87 season.
The Bruins were 127–102 in Moore's last eight seasons, and never finished higher than third place in the Pacific-10 Conference during that span. She resigned after a 13–14 finish in the 1992–93 season, amid criticism in recent years of her coaching methods, as well as an ongoing review of her program after a player alleged mental and verbal abuse by Moore. She coached at UCLA for 16 seasons, compiling a 296–181 record.
The 1978 team, led by Ann Meyers, Denise Curry and Anita Ortega, won the 1978 AIAW tournament under head coach Billie Moore. The Bruins defeated Maryland 90–74 on March 25, 1978 in front of a record crowd of 9,351 at Pauley Pavilion for the championship. Meyers had 20 points, 10 rebounds, nine assists and eight steals. Ortega recorded a team high 23 points. This team finished the season with a 27–3 record, including a then WCAA conference title.
Coach Kathy Olivier (1994-2008)
Kathy Olivier moved from rival USC under Linda Sharp as an assistant coach under Billie Moore in 1986. Following Moore's resignation, UCLA promoted Olivier to head coach on May 3, 1993. In 15 seasons at UCLA, Olivier went 232–208, with the program's first Pac-10 regular season title in 1999 and first Pac-10 Tournament title in 2006. UCLA made five NCAA Tournaments (1998–2000, 2004, 2006), with its most successful run being to the Elite Eight in 1999. Following a 16–15 season, Olivier resigned from UCLA on March 11, 2008.
Coach Nikki Fargas (2008-11)
Nikki Fargas was named the head coach at UCLA on April 17, 2008, with a five-year contract valued at nearly $1.5 million. In her first season, UCLA compiled a regular-season record of 18 wins and 11 losses. During the 2009–2010 season, UCLA placed second in the Pac-10 (25–9) and was defeated by second-ranked Stanford in the Pac-10 tournament.
Coach Cori Close (2011 - Present)
Cori Close was named head coach on April 21, 2011. Close was on the Bruin coaching staff in for the 1993-94 and 1994-95 seasons, where she also formed a mentorship relationship with mens's coach emeritus, John Wooden.
The Bruins finished the 2024–25 season with a 34–3 record, including 16–2 in Big Ten play (both losses to rival USC) to finish in second place to USC. UCLA proceeded to beat USC 72–67 in the 2025 Big Ten conference tournament to win the championship. They were ranked No. 1 in the polls for the first time in program history. They received the number 1 overall seed in the 2025 NCAA Tournament and reached their first NCAA Final Four , where they were eliminated 85–51 by the eventual national champion UConn. A documentary named You See LA produced by Fox Sports was broadcast on March 1, 2026 on FS1 immediately following the 2026 UCLA-USC women's basketball game. The episode includes footage from games and post-game locker room team meetings, team gatherings, and interviews.
The 2025–26 Bruins went 37–1 and won the program's second women's basketball national championship, and the first basketball championship in the NCAA era. The Bruins won the outright regular season Big Ten conference championship, going undefeated Seeded number 1 in the Big Ten tournament, the Bruins won all three games, concluding with a tournament record-setting 51-point win over number 8 ranked Iowa. For the NCAA tournament, the Bruins were the number 2 seed overall and number one in the Sacramento region. Reaching the Final Four, the Bruins won a re-match with the Texas Longhorns, the one loss they experienced all season, in a 51–44 victory. In a dominating performance, UCLA defeated South Carolina 79–51 in the national championship game. All six senior players were selected in the 2026 WNBA draft, five in the first round, setting a record.
Venue
The Pauley Pavilion is UCLA's home venue. The building, designed by architect Welton Becket, was dedicated in June 1965, named for University of California Regent Edwin W. Pauley, who had matched the alumni contributions. Pauley donated almost one fifth of the more than $5 million spent in constructing the arena. The arena was renovated in 2010–12 and was reopened on November 9, 2012, when it hosted a men's basketball game against Indiana State.
The arena contains 11,307 permanent theater-style upholstered seats, plus retractable seats for 2,492 spectators (466 seats without backs used by the band and students), making a total basketball capacity of 13,800. When the floor seats are retracted, there is space for three full-sized basketball courts. These courts are used for team practice, intramural games, and pickup basketball games. It can also serve as a convention hall or large dining area when in this configuration.
Pauley Pavillion also serves as home venue to the men's and women's volleyball teams.
Players
Notable players
Other Players
Denise Curry
Jackie Joyner-Kersee
Ann Meyers, Phoenix Mercury Vice President
Natalie Nakase, Golden State Valkyries Head Coach
Teiko Nishi
Anita Ortega
Year by year results
Conference tournament winners noted with # Source
Postseason results
NCAA Division I
UCLA has reached the NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament 21 times. They have a record of 33–20.
AIAW Division I
The Bruins made three appearances in sectionals and finals of the AIAW National Division I basketball tournament, with a combined record of 8–3.
The Bruins have also appeared in the Western Regionals of the AIAW playoffs in 1976, 1977, and 1980.
Player and coach awards
Naismith Women’s College Defensive Player of the Year
Lauren Betts – 2025
National coach awards
Naismith College Coach of the Year
Cori Close – 2025
WBCA National Coach of the Year
Cori Close – 2025
WBCA Assistant Coach of the Year
Tony Newnan – 2025