The UCLA Bruins women’s basketball team, holding the No. 1 seed, will begin their campaign in the 2026 Allstate Big Ten Women’s Basketball Tournament on Friday, March 6. The Bruins secured a double-bye as one of the top four seeds after an undefeated run in conference play.
UCLA is set to face either No. 8-seed Washington or No. 9-seed USC in Friday’s quarterfinals at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. The game is scheduled for a 9 a.m. PT tip-off and will be broadcast on the Big Ten Network.
Last season, UCLA won its first Big Ten tournament title by defeating top-seeded USC in the championship game. This year, they aim to repeat that success.
In their matchup history against Washington, UCLA has won nine straight games and holds a 42-33 lead overall. Under head coach Cori Close, the Bruins are 17-6 against the Huskies. Against USC, UCLA improved its all-time record to 56-54 with recent wins this season and currently holds a three-game winning streak over their crosstown rivals.
UCLA concluded its regular season with a victory over USC on March 1, finishing with an 18-0 record in league play. Graduate guard Charlisse Leger-Walker scored a game-high 20 points, matching her season high. Gabriela Jaquez and Gianna Kneepkens contributed 14 points each while Kiki Rice added 11 points in the win. Lauren Betts recorded five points along with 15 rebounds, five assists and two blocks.
With their win over Washington on February 19, UCLA clinched a share of the Big Ten regular season title for the first time since sharing the Pac-10 title with Oregon in the 1998-99 season. They claimed sole possession of the conference championship after defeating Wisconsin on February 22—marking another program first.
The Bruins finished conference play undefeated at 18-0—their most wins ever in a single conference season—and became just the fourth team in Big Ten history to complete a perfect regular season conference record. The last team to achieve this was Maryland during the 2014-15 season.
UCLA dominated opponents throughout conference play, winning by an average margin of more than 25 points per game and securing all but two victories by double digits. Key road wins included contests against nationally ranked Ohio State and Michigan.
The team also swept four of five major individual postseason awards from the Big Ten Conference this year:
“Senior Lauren Betts earned Player of the Year and repeated as Defensive Player of the Year; she became the first player in conference history to earn both POTY and DPOY in the same season. She was also a unanimous selection for All-Big Ten First Team (Coaches + Media) and the only unanimous selection on either Big Ten All-Defensive teams (Coaches, unanimous + Media).”
“Graduate forward Angela Dugalić was named Sixth Player of the Year for her contributions off the bench.”
“Head Coach Cori Close led her program to a perfect 18-0 in conference play, earning her Coach of the Year honors for 2025-26.”
“Senior Kiki Rice joined her center on the All-Big Ten First Team (Coaches + Media) and Big Ten All-Defensive Team (Coaches). The point guard was a unanimous selection for both coaches and media First Teams, one of four unanimous honorees on both teams.”
“Gabriela Jaquez and Gianna Kneepkens earned all-conference recognitions for their work on the court; Jaquez was All-Big Ten Second Team (Coaches + Media) as UCLA’s third-leading scorer. Kneepkens joined her on the All-Big Ten Second Team (Media) and was recognized with an Honorable Mention nod by the conference coaches.”
“Sienna Betts was included on the Big Ten All-Freshman Team; she averaged 6.8 points, 4.0 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game in 19 regular season contests.”
“Graduate guard Charlisse Leger-Walker was recognized as UCLA’s Sportsmanship Honoree.”
UCLA posted ten wins over ranked opponents this season—seven within Big Ten play—and maintained an average margin of victory near twenty points against those teams while leading all programs nationally with fourteen Quad One wins according to NET rankings data.
Four players—Lauren Betts, Kiki Rice, Gabriela Jaquez, and Gianna Kneepkens—were named mid-season finalists for national position awards from both Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame and WBCA Starting Five lists.
During their historic run this year, seven Bruins reached double figures in scoring during their February win over Indiana—a program milestone dating back more than two decades.
The roster includes seven McDonald’s All Americans: Lauren Betts, Sienna Betts, Angela Dugalić, Timea Gardiner, Gabriela Jaquez, Amanda Muse and Kiki Rice; Jaquez and Rice previously shared co-MVP honors at that event.
As they enter postseason play aiming to defend their tournament crown and extend their current winning streak—which stands at twenty-two games since November—the Bruins continue to set new marks within both school history and conference records.
