LOS ANGELES — This weekend one year ago, UCLA women’s basketball was in a really different place.
After starting 14-0, the Bruins were in the midst of a 5-5 stretch, marred by major challenges related to Olympic qualifiers and the medical absence of Lauren Betts. At the time, head coach Cori Close repeatedly emphasized mental toughness, expressing optimism, echoed by her players.
“It’s about what’s in between our ears and how big our hearts are more than anything else,” Close said last year. “That’s really the secret to our success: our commitment to each other, and how much we want it honestly.”
The team’s use of the “mind gym” was a big part of that.
Since then, the cause of Betts’ absence has come to light, as recently profiled by Yahoo!’s Eden Laase: a lack of confidence and self-love that permeated her freshman year at Stanford and followed her in her first season with the Bruins. Laase shared that Betts “went to therapy and committed herself to speaking up, even when it was hard,” sitting out four games. She told Laase, “I was finally honest. Continuing to put on a mask for my coaches and my teammates wasn’t going to make it better. And it was at the point where it needed to be fixed, immediately.”
‘Rare Gems’ is out now!
Howard Megdal, founder and editor of The IX Basketball and The IX Sports, wrote this deeply reported book. “Rare Gems” follows four connected generations of women’s basketball pioneers, from Elvera “Peps” Neuman to Cheryl Reeve and from Lindsay Whalen to Sylvia Fowles and Paige Bueckers.
If you enjoy Megdal’s coverage of women’s basketball every Wednesday at The IX Sports, you will love “Rare Gems: How Four Generations of Women Paved the Way for the WNBA.”
Now? Betts is in the running for National Player of the Year, leading No. 1 UCLA to its longest winning streak in program history, including victories over powerhouses like South Carolina, Ohio State and Maryland. The demand for mental toughness isn’t gone though; it’s just different.
Being the No. 1 team in the country has its own challenges: more eyes, more pressure. Not only that, but teams inevitably come into your matchup ready to play their best basketball. On Wednesday, No. 8 Ohio State came in motivated. The Buckeyes forced eight UCLA turnovers in the first quarter, anchored by their formidable full-court pressure, prompting Close to tell the crowd, “Would be helpful if we passed to the people in the white jerseys, not the red jerseys” during a halftime on-court interview.
When asked about how this year’s pressure differs from last year’s, Close told reporters postgame, “I don’t really think we try to focus on the pressure of being No. 1. I just think pressure is a privilege and that that’s something you gotta lean into. And I just want them to feel a lot of pressure to have a growth mindset, and I want them to feel a lot of pressure to be a great teammate.”
UCLA indeed leaned into the pressure on Wednesday, after Ohio State went on a late surge to tie the game with 9:26 left in the fourth quarter. The Bruins didn’t look rattled. In fact, they looked motivated. Junior guard Gabriela Jaquez looked like she was having the time of her life.
“I didn’t have the best first half, but I took time in the locker room and calmed myself down and remembered what I’ve earned and the hard work I’ve put in, and just came out there with my teammates and had fun,” she told reporters after the game. “These games are fun when they’re close games. … Those games prepare us for March and tournament play.”
Repeatedly this season, the Bruins have had games where it may not look like they are blowing out the other team, but they suddenly find themselves up by double digits, slowly wearing teams down with their depth, size and strength. They closed out the Ohio State game on a 21-7 run, with Jaquez scoring 11 points in the final seven minutes.
Regarding their undefeated record and top rank, Close said, “I think that it obviously brings some different things, but I think it forces us to rise up, and we have really special objectives in mind for this year. And so it’s going to take really special preparation, and I do think they’re willing to be pushed to that end.”
“Becoming Caitlin Clark” is out now!
Howard Megdal’s newest book is here! “Becoming Caitlin Clark: The Unknown Origin Story of a Modern Basketball Superstar” captures both the historic nature of Clark’s rise and the critical context over the previous century that helped make it possible, including interviews with Clark, Lisa Bluder (who also wrote the foreword), C. Vivian Stringer, Jan Jensen, Molly Kazmer and many others.
