Overview:
UCLA’s 79-51 romp past South Carolina on Sunday marked the third-largest margin of victory in an NCAA Women’s Basketball championship game
Cori Close’s first thoughts on Sunday after coaching UCLA to its first-ever NCAA Women’s Basketball championship were about … Close-ness.
“It’s meaningful because of the people I’ve gotten to share it with,” she told a television interviewer in the aftermath of the Bruins’ 79-51 rout of South Carolina in Phoenix, Arizona. “It’s all about the heart.
“It would be shallow without an amazing village of incredible people who have poured into me my whole life.”
UC Santa Barbara did a good share of that pouring, beginning with her four seasons as the Gauchos’ point guard and continuing in the nine years — from 1995 to 2004 — that she served head coach Mark French as his top assistant.
Combined, those were unquestionably 13 of the best years in the history of Gaucho women’s basketball. UCSB advanced to the NCAA Tournament in 10 of them — two with her as a player and eight as an assistant coach.
Her last game coaching UCSB at the Thunderdome came on March 22, 2004, when a sellout crowd turned out to cheer the Gauchos in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
“It was just an amazing moment,” she recalled. “It was spectacular to be able to share that with the community and student body.
“To go from the beginning when nobody cared to be at games to gaining respect and getting the community excited about our team was powerful.”
Her creation of the Fast Breakers support group gave the Gauchos what French described as “one of the biggest booster clubs on the West Coast.”
“People in the community felt that these were their players,” French said. “Kids would beg their parents to go to games.”
The Gauchos’ 56-52 win over Houston advanced them to the school’s first and only NCAA Sweet 16 in basketball.
She rated it last year as her second top coaching moment. No. 1 was the first of the seven Sweet 16s she’s reached during her 15 completed seasons at UCLA.
That Gaucho win over Houston has now been bumped to third place.
Sunday’s triumph over South Carolina extended UCLA’s winning streak to a program-best 31 games.
The 28 points represented the third-largest margin of victory in the women’s final.
“It’s immeasurably more than I could ask for or imagine,” Close said. “It’s beyond my wildest dreams.”
The Bruins’ decisive victory was a lesson in togetherness.
Their offense passed the ball with such efficiency that 23 of their 30 baskets were assisted.
Associate head coach Tony Newnan, a former UCSB assistant, served as the architect of that offense.
UCLA’s defense ganged up on South Carolina’s dynamic backcourt, making seven steals while limiting the Gamecocks to a field-goal percentage of just 29%. The Bruins allowed just two three-point baskets in 15 attempts.
Tasha Brown, another former Gaucho assistant, coordinated the Bruins’ defense.
After the Bruins throttled Texas 51-44 in Friday’s Final Four semifinal, Close told Brown, “See! You don’t need more time to work on defense … Look at how good we are!”
But Brown wasn’t satisfied.
“She was like, ‘No, I’m not going for that … You’re going to take it all the way,’” Close said. “I really give so much credit to our staff.
“The scouting reports and the video team that put it together, we really had a great scouting report to put our team in an important position defensively. I give them all the credit.”
Joining in the fun was Amanda Muse, a redshirt sophomore forward who came off the bench for the Bruins on Sunday. She is the daughter of two former Gaucho players: Doug Muse and Amy Hughlett Muse.
Close’s days as a coach can actually be traced back to her freshman season at UCSB.
French gave her a spot next to him on the bench after she had ruptured her Achilles’ tendon during the Gauchos’ 13th game that season.
“I came to a game in a wheelchair, and Coach French made a space for me,” she said. “He kept me sane when I was so sad.
“Being coached by him changed the course of my life.”
Close didn’t hesitate to start coaching her teammates.
“I’d hear what she said to other players,” French said, “and I would think, ‘That’s a good idea … That makes sense.’”
Close, who returned to the lineup the next season, led UCSB in assists for three straight years. She finished with 603 for her career — the third-most in school history.
She also achieved a Gaucho-first when she surpassed 1,000 points and 600 assists — a feat matched only by Stacy Clinesmith in 2000. She ranks 19th all-time at UCSB with 1,224 points.
Close also served as captain of the Gauchos’ NCAA Tournament teams of 1992 and 1993.
She made 11-of-11, clutch free throws during her junior season to help beat Houston, 80-69, in the first round of the 1992 NCAA Tournament.
The Gauchos lost at Stanford in the next round, 82-73. It was the Cardinal’s closest game in its dominating run to the 1992 NCAA Championship.
The graduation of such stars as Barb Beainy, Lisa Crosskey and Erika Kienast turned the Gauchos into Big West underdogs the following season.
But they still had Close to lead them to three straight wins at the Big West Conference Tournament — the last two over No. 2 seed UNLV and No. 1 Hawai’i — to win their second-straight championship.
Tournament officials named her as the Most Valuable Player after her late three-pointer beat Hawai’i in the final, 80-77.
She also led the Gauchos to a first-round NCAA win over BYU.
Close finished her senior season with team-high averages of 15.4 points and 8.3 assists — a school record that still stands.
She also impressed Kathy Olivier, UCLA’s coach at the time, when she worked one of her summer camps. Olivier hired her as a restricted earnings coach soon after her UCSB graduation in 1993.
Close was also introduced at that time to UCLA men’s basketball coach John Wooden by Steve Lavin, one of his top assistants.
She soon became a frequent visitor to Wooden’s home.
“I went there almost every Tuesday when I was an assistant coach in ’93 to ’95, and then pretty much even when I went to Santa Barbara,” Close said. “I sat in that den and I sat in his living room and heard his stories.”
Close would take the entire Gaucho team to visit Wooden once a season after French hired her as his top assistant in 1995.
Former UCSB athletic director Gary Cunningham, who’d both played and coached for Wooden at UCLA, said she called it “going to the shrine.”
“He used to say to me, ‘You know, you’re not coaching people’s jump shots, Cori. You’re coaching people’s hearts,’” Close said. “But then he would also say, ‘But if you coach their hearts really well, usually their jump shots end up pretty good, too.’
“That’s where my whole mission comes from.”
South Carolina coach Dawn Staley spoke to that after losing to the Bruins on Sunday.
“I’m always happy for people who’ve worked hard in this game, who are really quality people,” Staley said. “I want good things to happen for them. Cori is one of those people.
“Although we didn’t win, I can swallow it because we lost to a really good human being, and to a team that represent women’s basketball well.”