The UCLA Bruins women's basketball team, established in 1974, represents the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in the Big Ten Conference.Mueller, Corey - 2025-26 UCLA Women's Basketball Information Guide UCLA Athletics, October 2025 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.Robinson, Cameron Teague - UCLA clobbers South Carolina for first NCAA national title in program history. New York Times, April 5, 2026
History Women's sports programs at UCLA were established as a response to Title IX.Huang, Hon - Women of Westwood and the Legacy of Title IX at UCLA. UCLA Magazine, August 26, 2022 Dr. Judith Holland was named the athletic director for women's sports.UCLA Sports Hall of Fame - Judith Holland 2010. uclabruins.com, retrieved April 7, 2026 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.Mueller, Corey - 2025-26 UCLA Women's Basketball Information Guide UCLA Athletics, October 2025 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.Kuwana, Claire - 50 Years of Title IX: The Defining Moments of Women’s Sports. Sports Illustrated, June 9, 2022
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.2010–11 UCLA women's basketball media guide , accessed August 12, 2011 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.Y. Women's Team Heads to Playoffs. Deseret News, March 16, 1978 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.Olympic cage coach joins UCLA staff. Associated Press, April 20, 1977. 'Billie Moore, the U.S. women's basketball coach at the 1976 Olympic Games, has been named to that position at UCLA. Miss Moore, 33, succeeds Ellen Mosher, who resigned last week after two years as the UCLA women's basketball coach. Miss Moore, who led the U.S. team to a silver medal at Montreal, was an assistant athletic director and the women's basketball coach for the past cight years at California State University, Fullerton, where her teams compiled a 146-17 record.' 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.Gustkey, Earl - Charges by Female Player to Be Studied. Los Angeles Times, April 3, 1993 She coached at UCLA for 16 seasons, compiling a 296–181 record. 1977-78 Season: AIAW National Championship
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.Shultz, Alec - UCLA women's basketball Coach Cori Close learned from a legend, John Wooden. Los Angeles Times, March 17, 2016Jennings, Chantel - Tuesdays with Wooden: How visits with legendary UCLA coach shaped Cori Close’s Final Four path. New York Times, April 4, 2025
2024-25 Season: NCAA Final Four
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.UCLA moves up to No. 1 in AP Top 25 women's basketball poll for first time in history. CBS News, November 25, 2024 They received the number 1 overall seed in the 2025 NCAA Tournament and reached their first NCAA Final Four Knoblauch, Austin - The Sports Report: UCLA women make history on Selection Sunday Los Angeles Times, March 17, 2025, where they were eliminated 85–51 by the eventual national champion UConn.Green, Austin - UConn routs UCLA, advances to national championship: Live updates and reaction from women’s Final Four. New York Times, April 5, 2025 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.FOX Sports, AV8 Productions, Allez! Sports, and Hello Sunshine Announce New Documentary Special You See L.A. Fox Sports, February 25, 2026 The episode includes footage from games and post-game locker room team meetings, team gatherings, and interviews.Bolch, Ben - UCLA women’s basketball documentary unveils raw, vulnerable moments. New York Post, February 25, 2026
2025-26 Season: 1st NCAA National 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. The Bruins won the outright regular season Big Ten conference championship, going undefeatedHarris, Beth - UCLA rolls past Wisconsin 80-60, celebrates first outright Big Ten title with 21st win in a row. Associated Press, February 22, 2026Gibson, Charlotte - UCLA completes undefeated Big Ten regular season, 1st since 2014-15. espn.com, March 1, 2026. Note: the 2014-15 Maryland Terrapins were the last Big Ten team to go undefeated in conference play. 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.Maloney, Jack - After 51-point rout of Iowa in Big Ten final, can UCLA steal the No. 1 overall seed from undefeated UConn? CBS Sports, March 8, 2026 Article Note, "UCLA has 18 Quad 1 wins, while UConn only has 10" For the NCAA tournament, the Bruins were the number 2 seed overall and number one in the Sacramento region.Ingemi, Marissa and Felicia Keller - 'We know what it takes to get there.'; No. 1 UCLA ready to begin NCAA title chase. Los Angeles Times, March 15, 2026 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.Raynor, Grace - UCLA takes down Texas, advances to program’s first NCAA national championship game. New York Times, April 3, 2026 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.Ingemi, Marisa - UCLA breaks WNBA draft records with five first-round picks and six overall. Los Angeles Times, April 13, 2026
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.