UCLA women’s basketball reflects on campaign, anticipates road ahead

This post was updated April 12 at 11:11 p.m.

Cori Close has been coaching for more than two decades.

But the Bruins’ coach said no two seasons have been more challenging than the last two.

“This has been the hardest two years of my career, there’s no question about it,” Close said.

In 2021, UCLA women’s basketball overcame COVID-19 pauses and roster shortages to rank in the top 10 in the AP Poll for most of the season but sustained an early exit from the NCAA Tournament.

And while game cancellations and injuries plagued the program again in the 2021-2022 season, the Bruins didn’t make the Big Dance and fell short of winning the Women’s National Invitation Tournament, unlike the last time they were forced to play in the tournament in 2015.

“It’s been the most trying for the young women, too,” Close said. “It’s been really challenging emotionally, physically.”

With graduate student transfers – such as forward IImar’I Thomas and guard Jaelynn Penn – joining reigning All-Pac-12 junior guard Charisma Osborne and a refreshed roster, UCLA entered the season ranked No. 20, among the highest in the Pac-12.

The ranking didn’t last for long.

The blue and gold dropped two games to a pair of non-Power Five opponents in Kent State and South Dakota State in the first month of the season to drop out of the national rankings.

And after a 4-1 start to Pac-12 play following a 28-day break due to COVID-19 cases, the Bruins lost seven of their next nine games to fall below .500 in their conference schedule.

Even a late-season three-game winning streak, including an 18-point win over then-No. 12 Arizona, couldn’t improve UCLA’s resume to NCAA Tournament standards. For Thomas, that meant her All-Pac-12 season wasn’t enough to prevent her five-year collegiate career from ending without a March Madness appearance.

Thomas said she was thankful for a chance to don the blue and gold despite the season’s shortcomings.

“I’d definitely say it’s (this season) had its ups and downs; of course it wasn’t the year that we all wanted,” Thomas said. “But I’m super grateful for meeting these girls and playing for this coaching staff and being able to put the four letters across my chest. It’s not something I took for granted.”

The campaign culminated in a 62-59 loss to South Dakota State – the team’s second defeat against the Jackrabbits this season – to end the blue and gold’s WNIT run in the semifinals.

Following a 3-of-16 shooting performance in the season-ending loss – including six misses from beyond the arc without a single make – Osborne said this was the most difficult season of her career.

“This has definitely been the most challenging season for me,” Osborne said. “Individually, (I was) just figuring out who I am as a player and stepping into a role that maybe I didn’t really want to play this year.”

For the entire 2021-2022 campaign, Osborne was forced to shift from playing off the ball to starting at point guard because of a foot injury that caused Wake Forest transfer and graduate student guard Gina Conti to miss her entire first season in Westwood. Despite earning All Pac-12 honors and ranking third in the conference in scoring, Osborne also missed multiple games and said she struggled with several lingering injuries, including a knee injury that affected her until the end of the season.

“(I’m) excited to get my knee together,” Osborne said. “Can’t wait for that.”

While Osborne can come back from her injury-riddled season next year, several of her teammates won’t have the same opportunity.

Her starting backcourt mate – Penn – missed several games herself with a wrist injury, but averaged 10.5 points per game in her lone season as a Bruin and final year of eligibility in the NCAA.

Among the longer-tenured Bruins, graduate student guard Natalie Chou will end her three-year stint at UCLA, and redshirt senior guard Chantel Horvat will say goodbye after playing five years in Westwood. Both guards helped the Bruins reach their fourth and fifth consecutive NCAA tournament appearances prior to this season.

Close said she was appreciative of all her departing seniors, but said Horvat especially helped lead the blue and gold through the challenging campaign.

“We don’t persevere in this program this year without Chantel, period,” Close said. “She’s really just a special young woman, and she’s been through all the ups and downs.”

With the 2022-2023 season on the horizon, the nation’s No. 1 recruiting class will come to Westwood to join those – such as Osborne and Conti – who will be back. But Close said next year’s UCLA team won’t forget the championship habits that this year’s seniors helped create.

“We’re going to honor the work of these seniors by coming back next year with incredible drive, an incredible togetherness, an incredible giving spirit and competitive nature,” Close said. “Just watch what we’re going to do.”