UCLA women’s basketball routs Southern

LOS ANGELES — Cori Close emphasized the importance of avoiding complacency during midweek practices.

Southern, in many ways, is the appetizer before the two-course entrée of ranked matchups against No. 4 Texas and No. 15 Tennessee in the next seven days. The Bruins could have turned in a haphazard performance with looming giants ahead on the non-conference schedule.

Third-ranked UCLA (6-0) instead threw complacency by the wayside on Sunday afternoon. Describing the Bruins’ effort as dominant would be disrespectful to the definition of the word. Whereas UCLA defeated Southern by 38 points in the NCAA tournament first round a year ago, the Bruins led the Jaguars by 40 points at halftime.

In UCLA’s 88-37 victory Sunday, Southern (1-4) failed to score across the final 13:12 minutes of the first half — spending the entire second quarter with a goose egg — as the Bruins tallied a 38-point unanswered run into the third quarter. Southern’s scoreless quarter was the first time UCLA held an opponent without a point in a quarter since Dec. 5, 2021, against San Jose State.

Southern dropped games to ranked foes — Iowa, Iowa State and Ole Miss — and yet, UCLA blew their Associated Press Top 25 comrades out of the water. The effort ultimately boils down to the messaging that Close has shouted from the rooftops.

“Other people are focusing to beat us,” Close said Friday. “We are focusing to be us.”

She repeated the sentiment at halftime during her on-the-court interview for the crowd.

It’s clear; the Bruins are on a quest in 2025-2026 to become the best versions of themselves, an edition of UCLA women’s basketball that leaps beyond the Final Four — for which rings were handed out pregame — and into the national championship.

The 15th-year coach wanted to see Angela Dugalić impose her will better with matchups against Texas preseason All-American Madison Booker and former UCLA forward Janiah Barker, who now plays for Tennessee. The sixth-year graduate student turned in a 19-point effort, three off her career-high, combining with freshman forward Lena Bilić for 24 points in the first half — on six-of-10 shooting from beyond the arc.

Bilić, who Close said recently was the top European freshman in the country, trounced her previous high of four points to finish with 14 points and six rebounds.

Close said Friday that she wanted to see an improved and purposeful rebounding effort. UCLA won the board game 50-20. Before the season — and after UCLA’s opener against San Diego State — Close said she wanted to see improved defensive efforts.

On Sunday, the proof was in the pudding at Pauley Pavilion. UCLA forced Southern to turn the ball over 13 times, tallying seven steals and four blocks. But most impressively, Close’s Bruins held the Jaguars to 28.6% shooting. When UCLA is firing on all cylinders, like it did Sunday, it doesn’t matter that Gabriela Jaquez, Gianna Kneepkens and Charlisse Leger-Walker scored in single digits. Next woman up is squarely in UCLA’s DNA.