3 Takeaways From Cori Close's Postgame After UCLA Victory

Here are three very important things Cori Close said following UCLA's win vs Indiana

Oct 8, 2025; Rosemont, Illinois, USA; UCLA Head Coach Cori Close speaks during Big Ten Women’s Basketball Media Days at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center. Mandatory Credit: Talia Sprague-Imagn Images | Talia Sprague-Imagn Images

The Bruins were able to thrash Indiana 92-48; here is what Cori Close said following the win.

Things UCLA Did Well

UCLA's Lauren Betts, left, celebrates with Kiki Rice after Rice's 3-pointer against Michigan State during the third quarter on Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2026, at the Breslin Center in East Lansing. | Nick King/Lansing State Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Bruins clearly played a very good game just by looking at the scoreboard. However, the Bruins played hard in all four quarters, which is something Close is very pleased with. Moving forward, the Bruins need to play with the same intensity.

"And I was most pleased that four turnovers for the game hit our passion play goal of, I think we were 83 or 84. Um passion plays. Um today that's huge...so to me, it's all about growth and you know, seeing Gianna [Kneepkens]...really be intentional about her defensive growth, getting over screens, seeing Lena [Bilic] come in and play with great intentionality and aggression, and we've been challenging that to see Kiki [Rice] come out in the second half and really set the tone on defense and really flip the switch for her. Those are the things I'm pleased with for today and excited to just be able to celebrate the ways we're getting better."

Cori Close

UCLA Keeping the Intensity

Jan 21, 2026; Los Angeles, California, USA; UCLA Bruins head coach Cori Close reacts on the sidelines in the second half against the Purdue Boilermakers at Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom Financial. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images | Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

UCLA is clearly one of, if not the best, team in college basketball. However, at times, they take their foot off the gas and coast into these big wins. Cori Close understands this is not the standard in Westwood. Close takes us through how she remains competitive in blowouts like this.

"We're playing to get closer to that standard as a habit every single game. And I've been really honest. We haven't been doing that as consistently against opponents that uh you know maybe you know don't get the score will won't give us that exact read and so I'm really you know of them that they made a step in that direction that really they and I got on I didn't think we did a great job in the first half I think we did an okay job but I think really coming out in and reestablishing how we wanted to play it probably was one of our better games in terms of game adjustments from the halftime so there were some specific things on both sides of the ball that we wanted to adjust and I thought they did a really good job and actually improved in all those area."

Cori Close

Improvement Turnover-wise

Feb 1, 2026; Los Angeles, California, USA; UCLA Bruins guard Charlisse Leger-Walker (5) is defended by Iowa Hawkeyes guard Addie Deal (7) as she drives to the basket in the first half at Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom Financial. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images | Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

The Bruins have struggled with ball security as of late. Against Michigan State the Bruins had a whooping 18 on the night. This time, they only had four. Huge improvements across the board, and it is exciting to see these improvements come this quickly.

"Success leaves clues no matter where you are. And one of the things is that, whether it be football or NBA or WNBA or college, that the reality is is that there's about four things that are pretty steady and one of them is you can't give away plays so that can look like turnovers in football that can look like different things in different sports different levels. But when you turn the ball over with careless turnovers, I don't want us to have none because I want us to play aggressively and confidently. But I think that you can't give away plays, especially as talented as we are offensively. And that's a big deal to me."

Cori Close

Apr 4, 2025; Tampa, FL, USA; UCLA Bruins head coach Cori Close reacts during first quarter in a semifinal of the women's 2025 NCAA tournament against the Connecticut Huskies at Amalie Arena. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images | Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

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