UCLA women’s basketball (31-1, 18-0 Big Ten) returns for its second consecutive NCAA Tournament as a No. 1 seed Saturday when it plays No. 16 seed Cal Baptist at Pauley Pavilion. UCLA was eliminated in the Final Four last season by UConn, which earned the No. 1 overall seed in this year’s bracket. The Daily Bruin’s women’s basketball beat predicts how far the Bruins will dance down the road to Phoenix.
[Related: UCLA women’s basketball earns 2nd consecutive No. 1 seed in NCAA tournament]
Sabrina Messiha
Daily Bruin senior staff
Prediction: Narrow win over UConn in the finals
I have covered UCLA women’s basketball for the past three years.
Last season, I watched as the Bruins fell to the Huskies during the Final Four following, arguably, their best season on the record.
But that was last year.
The 2025-2026 season has leaped and bounded itself into the history books yet again. But this time, with an even stronger and more senior squad than before.
According to the Athletic, the entire starting lineup is expected to be drafted during the first round – what would be a first in WNBA and NBA history.
A squad like this is unmatched by every single team in college basketball, even the Huskies.
UConn has remained undefeated in conference play for the past two seasons, and remains undefeated throughout this past regular season. UCLA, on the other hand, only lost to then-No. 4 Texas during pre-conference play.
While this looks scary on the surface, it is not as intimidating when you compare the competitiveness of the two conferences, and the rigor of non-conference schedules.
The Big Ten boasts nine teams within the top-25, while the Big East has only one – UConn.
UConn defeated five ranked teams this season, none of which were part of its conference. The highest ranked team the Huskies faced was then-No. 6 Michigan.
UCLA defeated 10 ranked teams, seven of which were part of the Big Ten. And the Bruins’ only shortcoming was to a team ranked higher than any that the Huskies faced.
Now UConn is ranked No. 1 for a reason, and I do not think the Huskies will go down easily. UConn guard Azzi Fudd and forward Sarah Strong have some of the strongest shooting at the collegiate level, with 48.1% and 60.4%, respectively.
However, I think that UCLA has had a significantly more rigorous season than UConn. The Huskies may be undefeated, but they also have not been tested as much as the Bruins.
Sinclair Richman
Daily Bruin contributor
Prediction: Win over UConn in the finals
The 2025-2026 UCLA team is the program’s best squad in the March Madness era.
This sounds like high praise, especially after the Bruins’ historic Final Four run last season, but I stand by it.
The team lost some key players to the transfer portal last offseason, but the addition of new talent has made the team even more powerful than before.
Last season, the squad did not lose until facing crosstown rivals USC towards the end of the season. This year, the Bruins have not dropped a game since its Nov. 26 loss to then-No. 4 Texas.
By getting the loss out of the way early, coach Cori Close’s squad has been able to adjust and fix its underlying issues. UCLA only grabbed 32 rebounds in that matchup, tied for the lowest mark of the season, which allowed Texas to have 16 second chance points.
The Bruins have not stepped off the gas since that loss, winning 25 straight games, including a commanding 96-45 victory over No. 2-seeded Iowa in the Big Ten Championship game.
And these wins are not over just anyone. UCLA boasts an 19-1 record versus Quad 1 opponents and a 13-1 record over top-25 opponents.
Compare this to tournament favorites UConn, which has a 9-0 record against Quad 1 opponents and has only faced five top-25 opponents – the latest being Feb. 1 – and UCLA is looking even better.
Because of the high level of competition in the Big Ten – including seven ranked teams – UCLA is prepared to handle the rapid-fire competition March brings.
The Bruins are entering this tournament with a chip on their shoulder after a big loss in the Final Four last season, but the increased experience and talent on the squad this season makes them the best women’s basketball team to walk out of Westwood and into the Madness.
Noah Massey
Daily Bruin staff
Prediction: Loss to UConn in the finals
This year’s Bruins are better than last year’s.
They returned with almost their entire core intact. They will enter March Madness with more wins than last year. They score more and allow fewer points. They turn the ball over less. They have shot 5% better from the 3-point line and 6% better from the free throw line this season.
But it still will not be enough for UCLA to defeat UConn, who has also improved in nearly every statistical category this season despite having to improve on national championship winning numbers.
Although the Huskies have not lost in more than 13 months, this season they have lacked a particularly rigorous schedule – their conference lacks a single ranked squad, and they have only played four teams that are currently ranked.
However, two of those wins were over current-No. 7 Iowa and current-No. 9 Michigan, which are also UCLA’s top two wins.
While both of those games took place back in December, the Huskies have been able to rest their stars and develop depth – two factors that could be crucial under the bright lights of postseason basketball, which will take place more than four months after the season started.
UCLA has been unable to do either this season. Strong, UConn’s best player, averages fewer minutes than all five of UCLA’s starters.
Furthermore, while UCLA relies heavily upon its top six players – all of whom average at least 23 minutes a game – UConn features eight players who average more minutes than freshman forward Sienna Betts, UCLA’s second player off the bench.
The Bruins are extremely reliant on the production of their star-studded six-woman rotation, three of which crucially fell short of their usual production in the Final Four loss last season. Senior guard Kiki Rice, senior guard Gabriela Jaquez and graduate student forward Angela Dugalić combined for just 14 points against the Huskies last season, shooting just 24% from the field.
Though it will have the tournament championship in its sights, last year’s demons will haunt UCLA once again, as it will fall to UConn in the final bout of the season.
Kai Dizon
Daily Bruin senior staff
Prediction: First-round loss
I know something top secret, but I can’t tell you.
Shhh – I said I can’t tell you.
Fine, I’ll tell you.
But you have to understand – just me telling you this puts your life at risk.
Okay, if you insist.
The Bruins are not what they seem.
Close’s team? It’s got sleeper agents, clones, shapeshifters, imposters, lizard people or something – I’ve seen it.
I saw senior guard/forward Megan Grant at Easton Stadium – supposedly playing under the alias, “senior utility Megan Grant”.
And if there’s one, there very well could be more.
In fact, there’s a non-zero chance all 12 Bruins are not who they appear to be.
Maybe redshirt sophomore forward Amanda Muse has been a UCLA rowing star this whole time – would we even know?
Maybe senior guard Kiki Rice is Spider-Man.
And before you get up in arms about how “Kiki Rice couldn’t possibly be Spider-Man,” I need to ask, do you know how a secret identity works? Just because you haven’t seen Rice shoot webs from her arms doesn’t mean she can’t.
If the world is under attack come the Bruins’ first-round match, we are all going to be happy when Rice saves the day. But barring that the Green Goblin can be defeated during halftime, UCLA is going to have to play without its point guard.
What if, come tipoff, there isn’t a single student-athlete at Pauley Pavilion?
Will the coaching staff have to suit up and take the hardwood?
Exactly how confident are we in assistant coach Soh Matsuura’s jump shot?
Can associate head coach Tony Newnan dunk?
My high school economics teacher loved the saying, “Those who can, do. And those who can’t, teach,” but for the Bruins’ sake, I hope it doesn’t apply to coaching.
Though now that I think about it, that teacher was also one of the football coaches.
Just in case, I hope Close has been practicing her free throws.
For all we know, UCLA’s chances at a national title are going to come down to what happens when she has the ball in her hands.
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