The No. 1-seed UCLA women’s basketball team will host No. 16-seed California Baptist on Saturday in the first round of the women’s NCAA tournament.
The Bruins (31-1, 18-0 Big Ten), who won the Big Ten tournament championship last week, were the second overall seed in the tournament field revealed Sunday, just behind overall No. 1 UConn.
“We watched a lot of UConn, we watched a lot of UCLA,” NCAA tournament committee chair Amanda Braun said on ESPN. “The way we watched UConn win throughout the year from beginning to the end, UCLA did a lot of winning too, but ultimately we gave UConn the edge.”
There was a question as to whether UCLA would be named the top seed overall after going undefeated in Big Ten play and winning the conference tournament final over Iowa by 51 points, but the undefeated Huskies stayed atop the bracket.
UCLA guard Kiki Rice celebrates after hitting a three-pointer against Iowa during the Big Ten tournament on Sunday.
(Michael Conroy / Associated Press)
Coach Cori Close seemed unconcerned with the slight.
“Everybody else can talk about whatever they want,” she said on Sunday. “We’re going to talk about what that takes, and we are completely committed to just being really focused on us and our journey and keeping the main thing, the main thing.”
The Lancers (23-10) won the Western Athletic Conference title with a victory over Abilene Christian. It is their second NCAA tournament bid in the past three seasons after falling to UCLA in the first round as a 15-seed in 2024.
California Baptist, based in Riverside, is led by freshman guard Lauren Olsen (15.1 points per game) and junior guard Filipa Barros (10.0 rebounds per contest). The Lancers elevated to a Division I program in 2021 and qualified for the NCAA tournament that season but were not allowed to participate while transitioning from Division II.
Also at Pauley Pavilion, Ivy League champion Princeton (26-3) will face Oklahoma State (23-9) in the first round, advancing to face the winner of UCLA and California Baptist on Monday.
“It’s just another opportunity to grow and get better,” said UCLA guard Angela Dugalic, who was the Big Ten’s sixth player of the year. “I think we got the seed that we got, and everything that is well deserved for us and that we’ve worked hard for, everything that we’ve done so far. So I’m excited.”
Some other potent teams within UCLA’s region include No. 2-seed Louisiana State (27-5), No. 3 seed Duke (24-9) and No. 5-seed Ole Miss (23-11).
The Bruins are in the second quadrant, matching up with the third overall seed — Texas — on the Sacramento side of the bracket. The Longhorns are the only team that has beaten UCLA so far this season.
The UCLA Bruins celebrate after winning the Big Ten regular season championship at Pauley Pavilion on Feb. 22.
(Melina Pizano / Getty Images)
“It’s sometimes tough to play at a high level consistently each possession, but I think that Texas loss has taught us that we need to do that,” Kiki Rice said on Sunday. “We can do that in order to achieve our goals, to get to where we want to get to.
UCLA fell to UConn in the Final Four a season ago, and this year are led by a group of upperclassmen in seniors Lauren Betts, Gabriela Jaquez and Rice, along with graduate students Charlisse Leger-Walker and Gianna Kneepkens.
“We know what it takes to get there,” Rice said. “We know the habits that it takes to get there. And I do think that we are all as a collective group, we feel prepared going into this moment. I think you do build on, obviously, what happened last year. But then again, like once we started this season, this is a new team, a new group.”
