2024–25 UCLA Bruins women's basketball team

2024–25 UCLA Bruins women's basketball
2024–25 UCLA Bruins women's basketball
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 1
AP	No. 1
Record	23–1 (11–1 Big Ten)
Head coach	Cori Close (14th season);
Associate head coach	Shannon Perry-LeBeauf
Assistant coaches	Tasha Brown; Tony Newnan; Soh Matsuura; James Clark;
Home arena	Pauley Pavilion
	Seasons ← 2023–24 2025–26 →

2024–25 Big Ten women's basketball standings
v t e	Conf.				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
No. 6 USC	12	–	1	.923	22	–	2	.917
No. 1 UCLA	11	–	1	.917	23	–	1	.958
No. 9 Ohio State	10	–	3	.769	21	–	3	.875
Illinois	10	–	4	.714	20	–	5	.800
No. 22 Michigan State	9	–	4	.692	19	–	5	.792
No. 17 Maryland	9	–	5	.643	19	–	6	.760
Michigan	9	–	5	.643	18	–	7	.720
Iowa	8	–	6	.571	18	–	7	.720
Nebraska	8	–	6	.571	17	–	8	.680
Oregon	8	–	6	.571	17	–	8	.680
Indiana	8	–	6	.571	16	–	9	.640
Minnesota	7	–	7	.500	19	–	7	.731
Washington	5	–	8	.385	14	–	11	.560
Wisconsin	2	–	12	.143	11	–	14	.440
Rutgers	2	–	12	.143	10	–	15	.400
Purdue	2	–	12	.143	9	–	16	.360
Northwestern	1	–	11	.083	8	–	15	.348
Penn State	1	–	13	.071	10	–	15	.400

† 2025 Big Ten tournament winner As of February 15, 2025 Rankings from AP Poll

The 2024–25 UCLA Bruins women's basketball team represents the University of California, Los Angeles during the 2024–25 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Bruins are led by head coach Cori Close in her fourteenth year, and play their home games at Pauley Pavilion. This marks the program's first season as a member of the Big Ten Conference.^[1] The Bruins were ranked No. 1 in the polls for the first time in program history after defeating the defending 2024 national champion South Carolina on November 24, 2024.^[2]

Previous season

The Bruins finished the 2023–24 season with a 27–7 record, including 13–5 in Pac-12 play to finish in third place. They received an at-large bid to the 2024 NCAA Tournament, and were eliminated in the sweet sixteen by LSU.^[3]

Offseason

Departures

UCLA departures
Name	Num	Pos.	Height	Year	Hometown	Reason for Departure
Emily Bessoir	11	F	6'4"	Redshirt junior	Munich, Germany	Graduated
Charisma Osborne	20	G	5'9"	Graduate student	Moreno Valley, CA	Declared for WNBA Draft
Lina Sontag	21	F	6'3"	Sophomore	Kleinmachnow, Germany	Retired
Camryn Brown	35	G	5'11"	Graduate student	Lewisville, TX	Graduated
Izzy Anstey	43	F	6'4"	Redshirt junior	Melbourne, Australia	Graduated
Christeen Iwuala	22	F	6’2”	Sophomore	San Antonio, Texas	Transferred to Mississippi

Incoming

UCLA incoming transfers
Name	Position	Height	Year	Hometown	Previous school
Janiah Barker	F	6'4"	Junior	Marietta, GA	Texas A&M
Charlisse Leger-Walker	F	5'10"	Graduate student	Waikato, New Zealand	Washington State
Timea Gardiner	F	6'3"	Junior	Ogden, UT	Oregon State

Recruiting

College recruiting information
Name	Hometown	High school / college	Height	Weight
Kendall Dudley W	Centreville, VA	Sidwell Friends School	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	N/A
Kendall Dudley W	Star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN: ESPN grade: 96
Avary Cain G	Santa Maria, CA	Saint Joseph High School	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	N/A
Avary Cain G	Star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN: ESPN grade: 96
Zania Socka-Nguemen F	Washington, D.C.	Sidwell Friends School	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	N/A
Zania Socka-Nguemen F	Star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN: ESPN grade: 95
Elina Aarnisalo G	Helsinki, Finland	Mäkelänrinne Upper Secondary School	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)	N/A
Elina Aarnisalo G	Star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN: N/A ESPN grade: N/A
Overall recruiting rankings:
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2024 Player Commits". ESPN.com. Archived from the original on November 17, 2023.

Roster

2024–25 UCLA Bruins women's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Year	Previous school	Hometown
F	0	Janiah Barker	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	Jr	Montverde Academy Texas A&M	Marietta, GA
G	1	Kiki Rice	5 ft 11 in (1.8 m)	Jr	Sidwell Friends	Bethesda, MD
G	2	Avary Cain	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	Fr	St. Joseph	Santa Maria, CA
G	3	Londynn Jones	5 ft 4 in (1.63 m)	Jr	Centennial	Riverside, CA
F	5	Charlisse Leger-Walker	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)	GS	St Peter's School, Cambridge Washington State	Waikato, New Zealand
F	6	Zania Socka-Nguemen	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	Fr	Sidwell Friends	Silver Spring, MD
G	7	Elina Aarnisalo	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)	Fr	Mäkelänrinne Upper Secondary School	Helsinki, Finland
F	11	Gabriela Jaquez	5 ft 11 in (1.8 m)	Jr	Camarillo	Camarillo, CA
F	22	Kendall Dudley	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	Fr	Sidwell Friends	Manassas Park, VA
F	30	Timea Gardiner	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	Jr	Fremont Oregon State	Ogden, UT
F	32	Angela Dugalić	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	GS	Maine West Oregon	Des Plaines, IL
F	33	Amanda Muse	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	So	Heritage	Brentwood, CA
C	51	Lauren Betts	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	Jr	Grandview Stanford	Centennial, CO

Head coach

Cori Close (UC Santa Barbara)

Assistant coach(es)

Shannon Perry-LeBeauf (Iowa)
Tony Newnan (UC Santa Barbara)
Tasha Brown (St. Ambrose)
Soh Matsuura (UCLA)

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on

Injured
Current redshirt

Roster
Last update: October 2, 2024

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Regular season
November 4, 2024* 11:30 a.m., ESPN2	No. 5	vs. No. 17 Louisville Aflac Oui-Play	W 66–59	1–0	Halle Georges Carpentier (3,472) Paris, France
November 10, 2024* 2:00 p.m., B1G+	No. 5	Colgate	W 81–63	2–0	Pauley Pavilion (3,285) Los Angeles, CA
November 12, 2024* 11:30 a.m., B1G+	No. 5	Pepperdine	W 91–54	3–0	Pauley Pavilion (3,898) Los Angeles, CA
November 17, 2024* 4:30 p.m., BTN	No. 5	Arkansas	W 101–52	4–0	Pauley Pavilion (2,255) Los Angeles, CA
November 24, 2024* 1:00 p.m., FS1	No. 5	No. 1 South Carolina	W 77–62	5–0	Pauley Pavilion (13,659) Los Angeles, CA
November 29, 2024* 2:00 p.m.	No. 1	vs. UT Martin Rainbow Wahine Showdown	W 97–37	6–0	SimpliFi Arena Honolulu, HI
November 30, 2024* 2:00 p.m.	No. 1	vs. Fresno State Rainbow Wahine Showdown	W 97–41	7–0	SimpliFi Arena Honolulu, HI
December 1, 2024* 4:30 p.m., ESPN+	No. 1	at Hawaii Rainbow Wahine Showdown	W 70–49	8–0	SimpliFi Arena (2,481) Honolulu, HI
December 8, 2024 2:00 p.m., B1G+	No. 1	at Washington	W 73–62	9–0 (1–0)	Alaska Airlines Arena (3,453) Seattle, WA
December 14, 2024* 2:00 p.m., ESPN+	No. 1	at Long Beach State	W 102–51	10–0	Walter Pyramid (2,463) Long Beach, CA
December 16, 2024* 7:00 p.m., B1G+	No. 1	Cal Poly	W 69–37	11–0	Pauley Pavilion (2,356) Los Angeles, CA
December 20, 2024* 8:00 p.m., FS1	No. 1	vs. Creighton Invisalign Bay Area Women's Classic	W 70–41	12–0	Chase Center (3,766) San Francisco, CA
December 29, 2024 2:00 p.m., B1G+	No. 1	Nebraska	W 91–54	13–0 (2–0)	Pauley Pavilion (5,339) Los Angeles, CA
January 1, 2025 2:00 p.m., BTN	No. 1	No. 24 Michigan	W 86–70	14–0 (3–0)	Pauley Pavilion (4,566) Los Angeles, CA
January 4, 2025 9:00 a.m., FOX	No. 1	at Indiana	W 73–62	15–0 (4–0)	Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall (11,528) Bloomington, IN
January 7, 2025 4:00 p.m., BTN	No. 1	at Purdue	W 83–49	16–0 (5–0)	Mackey Arena (3,742) West Lafayette, IN
January 12, 2025 2:00 p.m., B1G+	No. 1	Northwestern	Postponed^[a]		Pauley Pavilion Los Angeles, CA
January 15, 2025 6:30 p.m., Peacock	No. 1	Penn State	W 83–67	17–0 (6–0)	Walter Pyramid^[b] (1,563) Long Beach, CA
January 20, 2025 12:00 p.m., FOX	No. 1	vs. No. 25 Baylor Coretta Scott King Classic	W 72–57	18–0	Prudential Center (6,147) Newark, NJ
January 23, 2025 4:00 p.m., FS1	No. 1	at Rutgers	W 84–66	19–0 (7–0)	Jersey Mike's Arena (3,138) Piscataway, NJ
January 26, 2025 11:00 a.m., NBC	No. 1	at No. 8 Maryland	W 82–67	20–0 (8–0)	Xfinity Center (13,648) College Park, MD
February 2, 2025 12:00 p.m., BTN	No. 1	Minnesota	W 79–53	21–0 (9–0)	Pauley Pavilion (6,184) Los Angeles, CA
February 5, 2025 6:30 p.m., Peacock	No. 1	No. 8 Ohio State	W 65–52	22–0 (10–0)	Pauley Pavilion (6,822) Los Angeles, CA
February 9, 2025 1:00 p.m., B1G+	No. 1	at Oregon	W 62–52	23–0 (11–0)	Matthew Knight Arena (6,534) Eugene, OR
February 13, 2025 7:00 p.m., Peacock	No. 1	at No. 6 USC Rivalry	L 60–71	23–1 (11–1)	Galen Center (10,258) Los Angeles, CA
February 16, 2025 6:00 p.m., BTN	No. 1	No. 22 Michigan State			Pauley Pavilion Los Angeles, CA
February 20, 2025 6:30 p.m., BTN		Illinois			Pauley Pavilion Los Angeles, CA
February 23, 2025 11:00 a.m., Peacock		at Iowa			Carver–Hawkeye Arena Iowa City, IA
February 26, 2025 5:00 p.m., Peacock		at Wisconsin			Kohl Center Madison, WI
March 1, 2025 6:00 p.m., FOX		USC Rivalry			Pauley Pavilion Los Angeles, CA
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Pacific Time. Source:^[6]^[7]

Notes:

^ Game postponed due to the January 2025 Southern California wildfires in Los Angeles.^[4]
^ Game moved from Pauley to the Walter Pyramid in Long Beach due to the ongoing wildfires in Los Angeles.^[5]

Rankings

Ranking movements
**Legend:** ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
( ) = First-place votes
	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	Final
AP	5	5	5	1 (20)	1 (25)	1 (24)	1 (30)	1 (30)	1 (30)	1 (30)	1 (29)	1 (27)	1 (31)	1 (32)	1 (31)						Not released
Coaches	6	6	6	2 (14)	1 (16)	1 (23)	1 (31)	1 (30)	1 (31)	1 (31)	1 (30)	1 (29)	1 (30)	1 (29)	1 (31)

References

^ "UCLA Officially Joins Big Ten Conference". uclabruins.com. August 2, 2024. Retrieved October 2, 2024.
^ UCLA moves up to No. 1 in AP Top 25 women's basketball poll for first time in history. CBS News, November 25, 2024
^ "Bruins Fall to LSU in Sweet Sixteen, 78-69". uclabruins.com. March 30, 2024. Retrieved October 2, 2024.
^ McNeill, Dylan (January 11, 2025). "UCLA-Northwestern game Sunday postponed due to wildfires around Los Angeles". USA Today Sports. Retrieved January 13, 2025.
^ "Penn State vs UCLA game moved from Pauley to the Walter Pyramid". January 12, 2025. Retrieved January 12, 2025.
^ "2024-25 Women's Basketball Schedule". uclabruins.com. Retrieved October 2, 2024.
^ "Big Ten Announces 2024-25 Women's Basketball Conference Schedule". uclabruins.com. September 19, 2024. Retrieved October 2, 2024.

[5] Game postponed due to the January 2025 Southern California wildfires in Los Angeles.^[4]

[7] Game moved from Pauley to the Walter Pyramid in Long Beach due to the ongoing wildfires in Los Angeles.^[5]

[1] "UCLA Officially Joins Big Ten Conference". uclabruins.com. August 2, 2024. Retrieved October 2, 2024.

[2] UCLA moves up to No. 1 in AP Top 25 women's basketball poll for first time in history. CBS News, November 25, 2024

[3] "Bruins Fall to LSU in Sweet Sixteen, 78-69". uclabruins.com. March 30, 2024. Retrieved October 2, 2024.

[4] McNeill, Dylan (January 11, 2025). "UCLA-Northwestern game Sunday postponed due to wildfires around Los Angeles". USA Today Sports. Retrieved January 13, 2025.

[6] "Penn State vs UCLA game moved from Pauley to the Walter Pyramid". January 12, 2025. Retrieved January 12, 2025.

[8] "2024-25 Women's Basketball Schedule". uclabruins.com. Retrieved October 2, 2024.

[9] "Big Ten Announces 2024-25 Women's Basketball Conference Schedule". uclabruins.com. September 19, 2024. Retrieved October 2, 2024.

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v t e UCLA Bruins women's basketball
Venues	Pauley Pavilion (1974–present)
Rivalries	USC Crosstown Cup
Culture & lore	Joe & Josie Bruin Full Court Press
People	Head coaches
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AIAW and NCAA national championships in bold; AIAW and NCAA Final Four appearances in italics