The UCLA Bruins women's basketball team, established in 1974, represents the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in the Big Ten Conference. The current coach is

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 ...

. The team was a member of the

Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women The Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) was a college athletics organization in the United States, founded in 1971 to govern women's college competitions in the country and to administer national championships (see AIAW Cham ...

(AIAW) until joining the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

in 1984. The UCLA Bruins women's basketball team won the AIAW National Championship in 1978, and a banner commemorating the championship hangs in

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 ...

, the current home of the Bruins basketball teams. The 2014–15 team won the 2015 WNIT championship.

Current roster

2012–13 season

* November 9, 2012 – The team returned to the newly renovated

and defeated San Diego State 66–52 * November 23, 2012 – No. 19 UCLA were defeated by No. 5 Notre Dame 76–64 * January 13, 2013 – UCLA opened the conference with 4 straight victories.

2011–12 season

While Pauley Pavilion was being renovated, the women's basketball team played its 2011–12 season home games at the John Wooden Center. * April 21, 2011 – Cori Close was named head coach.

2010–11 season

*November 12, 2010 – The No. 16 Bruins opened the season with a win over San Diego State 55–48. *November 18, 2010 – UCLA upset No. 12 Notre Dame in double overtime, 86–83 at Notre Dame to begin the season with a 3–0 record. * February 6, 2011 – UCLA defeated USC for the second time this season at

Galen Center The Galen Center is a multipurpose indoor arena and athletic facility owned and operated by the University of Southern California. Located at the southeast corner of Jefferson Boulevard and Figueroa Street in the Exposition Park area of Los Ang ...

. * March 12, 2011 – The Bruins were defeated by Stanford in the 2011 Pac-10 Women's Basketball Tournament Final in the

Staples Center Crypto.com Arena (originally and colloquially known as Staples Center) is a multi-purpose indoor arena in downtown Los Angeles. Opened on October 17, 1999, as Staples Center, it is located next to the Los Angeles Convention Center complex along F ...

. * March 25, 2011 – Mariah Williams, Rebekah Gardner and Markel Walker were named to the 2011

Pac-10 Conference The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate athletic conference in the Western United States. It participates at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level for all sports, and its football teams compete in the Football Bowl ...

Women's Basketball All-Academic Team.

1978 National championship

The 1978 team, led by

Ann Meyers Ann Meyers Drysdale (born Ann Elizabeth Meyers; March 26, 1955) is an American retired pro basketball player and a sportscaster. She was a standout player in high school, college, the Olympic Games, international tournaments, and at professiona ...

Denise Curry Denise Curry (born August 22, 1959) is an American former basketball player and college and professional basketball coach. Curry was inducted in the inaugural class at the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 1999. She was inducted into the Naismit ...

and Anita Ortega, won the 1978 AIAW tournament under head coach

Billie Moore Billie Jean Moore (May 5, 1943December 14, 2022) was an American college basketball coach. She was the first head coach in women's college basketball history to lead two different schools to national championships. Moore coached the California ...

. The Bruins defeated Maryland 90–74 on March 25, 1978 in front of a record crowd of 9,351 at

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.

Head coaches

Nikki Fargas Yolanda Nicole Fargas (; born May 21, 1972) is an American basketball coach and executive. She is the president of the Las Vegas Aces of the WNBA. Fargas was formerly the head coach for the women's basketball programs at UCLA and LSU. Early li ...

Kathy Olivier Katherine Ann Olivier (née Ricks; born November 6, 1959) is an American college basketball coach who most recently was the women's basketball head coach at UNLV. She resigned from that position on March 6, 2020. Early life and education Born Ka ...

*Ellen Mosher * Kenny Washington

Notable players

Bruins in the WNBA

Drafted

Undrafted

Other Players

Jackie Joyner-Kersee Jacqueline Joyner-Kersee (born March 3, 1962) is an American former track and field athlete who competed in both the heptathlon and long jump. She won three gold, one silver, and two bronze Olympic medals at four different Olympic Games. Joyne ...

Phoenix Mercury The Phoenix Mercury are an American professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. The Mercury compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member of the Western Conference. One of eight original franchises, it wa ...

Vice President *

Natalie Nakase Natalie Mitsue Nakase (/nɑːˈkɑːseɪ/;born April 18, 1980) is an American professional basketball coach and former player who is the head coach of the Golden State Valkyries of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). After retiri ...

Golden State Valkyries The Golden State Valkyries are an American professional basketball team based in San Francisco. The Valkyries compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member of the Western Conference. The team began play in the 2025 se ...

Head Coach * Teiko Nishi * Anita Ortega

Retired numbers

Year by year results

Conference tournament winners noted with # Source , -style="background: #ffffdd;" , colspan="8" align="center" ,

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 ...

Postseason results

NCAA Division I

AIAW Division I

The Bruins made three appearances in the

AIAW National Division I basketball tournament The AIAW women's basketball tournament was a national tournament for women's collegiate basketball teams in the United States, held annually from 1972 to 1982. The winners of the AIAW tournaments from 1972 to 1981 are recognized as the national ...

, with a combined record of 8–3.

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 The Naismith College Coach of the Year Award (officially known for sponsorship reasons as the Werner Ladder Naismith College Coach of the Year) is an award given by the Atlanta Tipoff Club to one men's and one women's NCAA Division I collegiate c ...

: Cori Close – 2025 * WBCA National Coach of the Year : Cori Close – 2025 * WBCA Assistant Coach of the Year : Tony Newnan – 2025

Conference awards

References

External links

* {{Big Ten Conference women's basketball navbox