Coach Cori Close on UCLA Women’s Historic National Title Win
Cori Close, though, she’s doing fine, without any close games. That’s true! Speaking of, the head coach of the UCLA women’s basketball team is now involved, she’s Cori Close. Coach Close, good morning! Congratulations on that historic win. How do you feel? How does it feel to bring UCLA its first women’s basketball championship? Well, it’s such an honor to be associated with UCLA, and to come back to Westwood last night and see the reception, it makes you realize how special it is, because we share it with the community we share it with. It’s really special. Coach, you know, your team is led by seniors, graduate students, who are scoring every point of the game.
The team is led by a coach who has been building it for 15 years. How important was that experience in reaching this win? You know, experience has been a great teacher. You know, last year, we reached the Final Four for the first time since 1978 and ’79, but didn’t perform well at all. But that experience was important. It taught us all year how to be better leaders as a coaching staff, but also for the team, how they can prepare at a higher level. And so I really think, having continuity, I have a great staff. But having that continuity with the players as well as the staff, learning from each experience, was really important. We saw a big change. Your defense. Your team allowed the second-fewest points in the National Championship.
Defense wins championships. What did it take to build that wall of defense? Well, Coach Tasha Brown is our defensive coordinator, and I was like, look, you don’t need any more time to work on defense. Look how good we are! And she said, “No, I’m not going for it. You’re going to take everything away.” But I give my staff a lot of credit. The scouting reports, the video team that put it together, they had a really good scouting report that put our team in a very important position defensively. And so I give them all the credit. Coach Close, you also faced one of the best coaches in women’s basketball history, a dear friend, Dawn Staley.
After the loss, she had some very nice words for you. Here’s what she said. Listen. I’m always happy for people who work hard in this game, who are really quality people. I want good things to happen to them. And Cori is one of those people. Even though we didn’t win, I can take it because we lost to a really good person and a good team that represents women’s basketball well. Coach Close, what does it mean for such words to come from such a prominent figure in the game?
Well, she’s a huge figure in the game. Before the game, I just thanked her for everything she does with her platform, not only for leading South Carolina so effectively, but for truly being a change agent. Being an advocate, and truly using her platform for the betterment of others. And so it’s really meaningful to hear that from her, because I have so much respect for what she’s done for so many people. Coach Close, well done! Congratulations! Congratulations!
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