For the first time in its history, the UCLA women’s basketball team will compete in the Final Four of the NCAA tournament. And Bruin fans are invited to watch.

Beginning at 6 p.m. on April 4, Pauley Pavilion will open its doors for a free public watch party as the No. 1–seed Bruins (34–2) take on the No. 2–seed University of Connecticut Huskies (35–3) at Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida. The game kicks off at 6:30 p.m. (Request tickets here.) Fans who can’t make it to Pauley can watch live on ESPN.

Bruin players Lauren Betts, Kiki Rice and Gabriela Jaquez sit behind microphones at table at the Final Four press conference.
Ross Turteltaub
Bruin players Lauren Betts, Kiki Rice and Gabriela Jaquez at the Final Four press conference.
 

The winner will face either the University of Texas or the University of South Carolina — also playing April 4 — in the NCAA championship game championship game on Sunday, April 6.

The Bruins’ exceptional run through the tournament has included wins over Southern University, the University of Richmond, the University of Mississippi and Louisiana State University.

A season to remember

UCLA women’s head coach Cori Close at table at press conference for the the 2025 NCAA tournament.
Ross Turteltaub
UCLA women’s head coach Cori Close at the 2025 NCAA tournament.
 

The tourney performance caps one of the most extraordinary seasons in team history, in which the Bruins won the Big Ten conference title and reached 30 or more wins for the first time, and in which head coach Cori Close collected the Naismith Coach of the Year Award, along with 2024–25 coach of the year honors from the Associated Press, the U.S. Basketball Writers Association and the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association. Close, now in her 14th season, also topped 300 wins this season and is the winningest coach in program history.

► Read UCLA Magazine’s 2017 profile of Close.

It has also been a season of top honors for players as well, with Lauren Betts named the Naismith Women’s Defensive Player of the Year and the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year and Janiah Barker earning the conference Sixth Player of the Year award.

Wide shot of Ferris wheel at Santa Monica Pier
Courtesy of UCLA Athletics
Getting behind the Bruins: The Ferris wheel at the Santa Monica Pier was among several Los Angeles landmarks lit up in blue in support of the women’s basketball team, including the Rose Bowl, Dodger Stadium, Dignity Health Sports Park and the U.S. Bank Tower.
 

Remembering the women’s 1978 national championship

It was nearly 50 years ago that the UCLA women’s basketball program captured its first — and, so far, only — national championship, in an era before the NCAA tournament existed. That historic team included groundbreaking players like Ann Meyers Drysdale, Denise Curry and Anita Ortega and was led by legendary head coach Billie Moore. Read more about them in UCLA Magazine.