The 2021–22 UCLA Bruins women's basketball team represented the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school the ...

during the

2021–22 NCAA Division I women's basketball season The 2021–22 NCAA Division I women's basketball season began on November 9, 2021. The regular season ended on March 6, 2022, with the 2022 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament beginning on March 18, and ending with the championship ga ...

. The Bruins were led by eleventh-year head coach

Cori Close Cori Rashel Close (born July 29, 1971) is an American college basketball coach who has served as the head women's basketball coach for the UCLA Bruins since 2011. Before UCLA, she spent time as an assistant coach at Florida State University and h ...

. They played their home games at

Pauley Pavilion Edwin W. Pauley Pavilion, commonly known as Pauley Pavilion, is an indoor arena located in the Westwood Village district of Los Angeles, California, on the campus of UCLA. It is home to the UCLA Bruins men's and women's basketball teams. Th ...

and competed as members of the

Pac-12 Conference The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the Western United States. It participates at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I level for all sports, and its Co ...

. The Bruins were invited to the WNIT as the automatic qualifier for the Pac-12 Conference. It was the Bruins' first WNIT appearance since 2015, when they were WNIT champions.

Previous season

The Bruins finished the season 17–6, 12–4 in Pac-12 play to finish in third place. As the third seed in the Pac-12 women's tournament they advanced to the championship game where they lost to Stanford. As a three seed in the NCAA tournament, the Bruins managed to beat Wyoming in the 1st round, but then they lost to Texas in the second round to end their season.

Offseason

Departures

Due to COVID-19 disruptions throughout NCAA sports in 2020–21, the NCAA announced that the 2020–21 season would not count against the athletic eligibility of any individual involved in an NCAA winter sport, including women's basketball. This meant that all seniors in 2020–21 had the option to return for 2021–22.

Incoming transfers

Preseason

* October 12, 2021 – The Bruins were picked to finish third in both the 2021-22 Pac-12 Preseason Media and Coaches Polls, behind Stanford and Oregon * October 25, 2021 – Gina Conti was named to the

Nancy Lieberman Award The Nancy Lieberman Award, named for Basketball Hall of Fame legend Nancy Lieberman is given to the nation's top collegiate point guard in women's Division I basketball. Sue Bird won the inaugural award in 2000, making her the first of only thre ...

top 20 watch list (Top point guard) * October 26, 2021 – Charisma Osborne was named to the Ann Meyers Drysdale Award top 20 watch list (Best shooting guard) * November 3, 2021 – Preseason All-Pac-12 team: Charisma Osborne; Gina Conti and

Natalie Chou Natalie Chou (born December 22, 1997) is an American professional basketball player for the Perth Redbacks of the NBL1 West. Growing up in Texas, she was named a McDonald's All-American as a high school senior in 2016. Chou played two seasons o ...

(Honorable mention) * November 9, 2021 – Charisma Osborne was named to three watch lists (

Wade Trophy The Wade Trophy is an award presented annually to the best upperclass women's basketball player in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I competition. It is named after three–time national champion Delta State ...

, Wooden Award, and

Naismith Trophy The Naismith Trophy is a trophy awarded to the men's champion of the FIBA Basketball World Cup, and is named in honor of basketball's inventor, James Naismith. The trophy was first awarded to the winner of the 1967 FIBA World Championship. The ...

)

Roster

Schedule

, - !colspan=9 style=, Regular Season , - !colspan=9 style=, , - !colspan=12 style=, Source:

Rankings

''*The preseason and week 1 polls were the same.''
''^Coaches did not release a week 2 poll.''

Awards and honors

* January 5, 2022 – Charisma Osborne named to the mid-season top 25 John R. Wooden Award watch list * January 31, 2022 – Charisma Osborne was named to the John R. Wooden Award's late season top 20 watch list * February 8, 2022 – Charisma Osborne was selected to the Ann Meyers-Drysdale Award top 10 watch list and to the Jersey Mike's Naismith Trophy midseason team * April 4, 2022 – IImar'I Thomas named to the WNIT All-Tournament team

Statistics

:''Updated through February 26, 2022''

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2021-22 UCLA Bruins women's basketball team

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

UCLA Bruins women's basketball seasons UCLA Bruins women's basketball UCLA Bruins women's basketball