Cori Close had dreamt of this moment for the last 15 seasons as UCLA’s women’s basketball coach.
After a long wait, the moment she had long coached to achieve finally came to fruition on Sunday, April 5, when she led No. 1 seed UCLA to a dominant 79-51 win vs. No. 1 South Carolina at the Mortgage Matchup Center in Phoenix.
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It is the program’s first-ever Women’s NCAA Tournament championship, and first national title since the Bruins won the AIAW championship in 1978.
UCLA vs. South Carolina final score: Bruins rolls past Gamecocks for first NCAA women’s national championship
Close understandably was full of emotion in a postgame interview with ESPN’s Holly Rowe, even calling her mother over for a hug.
“It’s beyond my wildest dreams,” Close said when asked about her emotions. “It’s been cool because of the people I’ve gotten to share it with. It’s all about the heart.”
It’s the second straight season that Close, the former UCLA assistant who was hired to be the Bruins’ head coach in 2011, has led the program to the Final Four. The Bruins — in their second year in the conference — won the Big Ten its first women’s basketball national championship since Purdue in 1999.
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UCLA veteran center Lauren Betts was named the Most Outstanding Player of the tournament after the game after she averaged 15 points on a combined 13-of-20 shooting and 11 rebounds in two Final Four games this weekend in Phoenix.
REQUIRED READING: Who won MOP of NCAA Women’s Tournament? UCLA’s Lauren Betts wins award
En route to their title, the Bruins also picked up wins over Cal Baptist, Oklahoma State, Minnesota, Duke, Texas and South Carolina.
“It’s truly indescribable. The loyalty, the steadfast spirit, their character that they’ve chosen day in and day out. I just am so humbled that they’ve chosen to commit to our mission,” Close said in a separate postgame interview with Rowe. “This is meaningful because of the village that we get to share it with.”
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Cori Close brings mother in for interview after UCLA’s wins Women’s NCAA Tournament
