{"id":715067,"date":"2026-04-09T05:50:26","date_gmt":"2026-04-09T05:50:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/715067\/"},"modified":"2026-04-09T05:50:26","modified_gmt":"2026-04-09T05:50:26","slug":"ucla-recognizes-its-players-fans-at-championship-celebration","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/715067\/","title":{"rendered":"UCLA recognizes its players, fans at championship celebration"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Lauren Betts<\/a> and her UCLA teammates celebrated the Bruins\u2019 first NCAA women\u2019s basketball championship<\/a> with their fans at Pauley Pavilion on Wednesday night.<\/p>\n

Betts, Gabriela Jaquez<\/a> and Charlisse Leger-Walker<\/a> capped the party by hitting the court to perform their TikTok dance<\/a> with the championship trophy in the background. Angela Dugalic<\/a> made a snow angel in the blue-and-gold confetti littering the court.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis group is so special,\u201d Jaquez told the crowd that filled half the arena. \u201cWe\u2019re all best friends.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"UCLA <\/p>\n

UCLA players and coach Cori Close stand on stage during their national championship victory celebration at Pauley Pavilion on Wednesday night.<\/p>\n

(Ronaldo Bola\u00f1os \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

Jaquez led a spirited eight-clap, the band blared the school fight song, and mascots Joe Bruin and Josie Bruin danced.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s been a whirlwind for the Bruins since their 79-51 rout of South Carolina<\/a> in the title game in Phoenix on Sunday. The game averaged 9.9 million viewers, the third most-viewed women\u2019s championship game since 1996.<\/p>\n

Coach Cori Close<\/a> recalled arriving in Westwood as head coach in 2011 and someone saying they didn\u2019t know if she could ever make Los Angeles care about women\u2019s basketball.<\/p>\n

The crowd booed.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet me tell you,\u201d she said. \u201cL.A. cares about women\u2019s basketball now and you guys helped do that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"UCLA <\/p>\n

UCLA center Lauren Betts holds the NCAA championship trophy during the Bruins\u2019 national championship celebration.<\/p>\n

(Ronaldo Bola\u00f1os \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

Close received a standing ovation from her team and the crowd that chanted: \u201cCori! Cori!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to say thank you to you,\u201d she said. \u201dIt truly does take a village to go win a championship.\u201d<\/p>\n

Eventually, a banner signifying the first NCAA women\u2019s basketball title will be raised to the ceiling in Pauley Pavilion, where currently the only women\u2019s basketball title banner is from the school\u2019s 1978 AIAW championship, the precursor to the NCAA.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s getting some company. I can\u2019t wait,\u201d said Denise Curry, who starred for the Bruins on that team, along with Ann Meyers Drysdale<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Via video, Meyers Drysdale told the team, \u201cThis is your TLC moment \u2014 your team, your legacy, your championship.\u201d<\/p>\n

1 <\/p>\n

\"UCLA <\/p>\n

2 <\/p>\n

\"UCLA <\/p>\n

3 <\/p>\n

\"UCLA <\/p>\n

4 <\/p>\n

\"UCLA's <\/p>\n

5 <\/p>\n

\"UCLA <\/p>\n

1.<\/strong> UCLA forward Angela Dugalic waves to fans during the Bruins\u2019 victory celebration at Pauley Pavilion. 2.<\/strong> UCLA fan Papo Fernandez, 29, waves a towel in celebration. 3.<\/strong> UCLA guard Charlisse Leger-Walker, right, embraces UCLA coach Cori Close. 4.<\/strong> UCLA\u2019s Gabriela Jaquez signs autographs for fans. 5.<\/strong> UCLA guard Kiki Rice, center, smiles while speaking to fans at the Bruins\u2019 championship celebration. (Ronaldo Bola\u00f1os \/ Los Angeles Times) <\/p>\n

John Wooden\u2019s<\/a> single gold seat in a sea of blue ones sat empty behind the Bruins bench. He coached the men\u2019s teams to 10 national titles, including seven in a row, and was a mentor to Close before his death<\/a> in 2010.<\/p>\n

Now, Close\u2019s title run will be represented in the same rarified air as Wooden.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s such a symbol of something that\u2019s really made a difference in my life,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Wooden\u2019s son Jim texted congratulations to Close. Wooden\u2019s great-granddaughter Cori Anderson sent a photo of her and her daughter dressed in UCLA gear.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019ve been incredibly gracious to me,\u201d Close said.<\/p>\n

The team\u2019s six seniors took the stage in front of a mix of adults and young kids.<\/p>\n

\"UCLA <\/p>\n

UCLA coach Cori Close waves to fans during the Bruins\u2019 championship victory celebration at Pauley Pavilion.<\/p>\n

(Ronaldo Bola\u00f1os \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

\u201cWe could not have done it without you,\u201d Jaquez said. \u201cI want to shout out all the little kids who gave us friendship bracelets, cookies and notes.\u201d<\/p>\n

A group of young men from the Tamaki Basketball Academy in Auckland, New Zealand, performed a traditional Maori dance signifying respect and honor for Leger-Walker, who wrapped herself in her native country\u2019s flag. The group flew into Los Angeles just to perform at the celebration.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m the first New Zealand women\u2019s basketball player to ever win a national title, so that\u2019s been kind of the talk of the town,\u201d she said before the party. \u201cIt\u2019s huge for the kids back home to see that this is possible for them, too.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Bruins headed to the Clippers game against Oklahoma City afterward. They\u2019ve already visited the Lakers<\/a> and Jimmy Kimmel\u2019s late-night show. Next week, they\u2019ll be at a Dodgers game.<\/p>\n

\"UCLA's <\/p>\n

UCLA\u2019s Gabriela Jaquez, left, and Lauren Betts dance during the Bruins\u2019 victory celebration at Pauley Pavilion on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

(Ronaldo Bola\u00f1os \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

\u201cI did wake up this morning after a couple more hours of sleep and I\u2019m like, \u2018Wow, this is real. I did wake up again and I\u2019m still a national champion,\u2019\u201d Leger-Walker said, laughing.<\/p>\n

Betts was wearing a backward championship cap with a piece of the net tucked in front.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is my net, man,\u201d she said. \u201cNo one can take this from me. It\u2019s mine forever.\u201d <\/p>\n

Harris writes for the Associated Press.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Lauren Betts and her UCLA teammates celebrated the Bruins\u2019 first NCAA women\u2019s basketball championship with their fans at…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":715068,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5123],"tags":[1339,32072,1582,276,1441,282924,27226,4537,93427,5169,294922,2961,23245,224,2444,5337,2089,22100,3007,11459],"class_list":["post-715067","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles","tag-basketball","tag-bruins","tag-ca","tag-california","tag-championship","tag-charlisse-leger-walker","tag-close","tag-crowd","tag-gabriela-jaquez","tag-group","tag-john-wooden","tag-la","tag-lauren-betts","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-times","tag-losangeles","tag-man","tag-pauley-pavilion","tag-team","tag-woman"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116373188575850956","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/715067","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=715067"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/715067\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/715068"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=715067"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=715067"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=715067"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}