UCLA Women's Basketball: Cori Close Praises NCAA Crowd for Bruins Big Win

Eva Geitheim | Mar 28, 2024

Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

UCLA women's basketball played their final home game of the season on Monday when the No. 2 Bruins defeated No. 7 Creighton 67-63 at Pauley Pavilion. The game was UCLA's second game in the NCAA Tournament, and the win advanced the team to the NCAA Sweet 16 for the second straight year.

UCLA head coach Cori Close gave credit to their home crowd for helping support the Bruins during the win. "I want to just say, wow, with our crowd. They carried us."

"I thought in the third quarter, the energy they gave us was so key," Close said, via UCLA women's basketball on X. "I just know how much goes into that from everyone on our support staff, marketing, sports information and everyone that poured into that opportunity for us to have such a great crowd. 5:30 on a Monday Night is not easy and they got it done, but I thought the crowd was a total difference maker."

The Bruins were actually trailing 42-34 against Creighton during the game, but were able to rally in the second half. With the crowd noise coming in strong, UCLA outscored Creighton 22-14 in the third quarter and 33-21 overall in the second half in a win or stay-home game.

Unfortunately for UCLA, they will not be able to rely on their home crowd going forward. This includes during a crucial matchup against the defending national champion LSU on Saturday. If the Bruins can defeat the Tigers, they'll advance to the Elite Eight for the first time since 2018. Of course, theyll have to succeed in the challenge of defeating the reigning champs first.