3 Takeaways From Cori Close’s Postgame After Bruins Victory

The Bruins would waltz past the Wildcats in a very convincing fashion winning 80-46.

UCLA has been on a roll all season long, and Northwestern was just another team set to face their wrath. We saw a lot of notable performances from our Bruins in this one, which ultimately helped move the needle in this matchup. Here is what Cori Close had to say:

Kiki Rice's Impact

Kiki Rice lit up the stat sheet in this one. She score 15 points with 8 assists and 10 rebounds. While it was not her best shooting night, everything else she did on the court made up for it. Moving forward Rice cannot slow down.

" I love Kiki's stat line. I just think her passing decisions with eight assists, the way that she's making other people better, and then her steals rate. She's doing it without fouling. She's moving her feet. She's just making the other team uncomfortable. But there's so many people on the team that are making teamwork plays really challenged their third quarter. They stepped up to that. So, you know, I'm just looking for, how are we going to continue to get better?"
Cori Close

Lauren Betts Dealing With Adversity

Not a bad game from Lauren Betts, but overall, you could see some frustration bubbling up. Betts struggled in the first half, scoring 5 of her 16 points. However, she was able to push through and have a great second half. This resilience is what UCLA needs from its leader.

"Actually, I was really proud of, I asked our team after the game, what did you conquer today? And she [Lauren Betts] said, 'I conquered,' being frustrated with the officials and being frustrated with. You know, how I was playing and really delivered in the second half. We really challenged the whole team to establish Lauren. With some, no move is needed. And those were going to happen on the break to look for her earlier in transition. And then to really focus on our feeds with her from the middle of the floor, which. You know, it makes it harder to bring that double. And so I thought having her 11 of her 16 points in the second half, I was really proud of how she responded to that early adversity."
Cori Close

How UCLA Stopped Grace Sullivan

Suliva — Iowa forward Hannah Stuelke (45) drives to the basket against Northwestern forward Grace Sullivan (22) Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City, Iowa. | Julia Hansen/Iowa City Press-Citizen / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Entering this game, Grace Sullivan was poised to give the Bruins trouble. This season, Sullivan is averaging 22.1 points and 6.9 rebounds while shooting 56.4% from the line. A path to a blowout started with slowing her down, and UCLA did allowing 21 points on 10-23 shooting.

"Yeah, Grace Sullivan is a great player. I just thought we defended her really well in terms of we know she likes to turn over that right shoulder. We decided just to switch everything with her involved and make every catch a little bit harder. A lot of people switched on her and, and to have, you know, but she had 21 points, but that was on 23 shots. And, uh, you know, and, and. no assists. And so I thought we made a lot of our shots really hard. And so I was actually pleased there."
Cori Close

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

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