All Bruins

WATCH: Cori Close, Natalie Chou, IImar'I Thomas on UCLA Beating UC Irvine

The Bruins picked up a home win to open the WNIT on Friday and set up a game versus Air Force on Sunday.

Sam Connon

WATCH: Cori Close, Natalie Chou, IImar'I Thomas on UCLA Beating UC Irvine
WATCH: Cori Close, Natalie Chou, IImar'I Thomas on UCLA Beating UC Irvine /

UCLA women's basketball coach Cori Close, forward IImar'I Thomas and guard Natalie Chou spoke with reporters following the Bruins' 61-48 win over UC Irvine in the opening round of the WNIT on Friday. Close talked about her team's resiliency, defensive effort and how they compare to the 2015 WNIT championship squad, while Thomas and Chou touched on how they were able to pull away from the Anteaters down the stretch.

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Sam Connon
SAM CONNON

Sam Connon was the Publisher and Managing Editor at Sports Illustrated and FanNation’s All Bruins from 2021 to 2023. He is now a staff writer at Sports Illustrated and FanNation’s Fastball. He previously covered UCLA football, men's basketball, women's basketball, baseball, men's soccer, cross country and golf for The Daily Bruin from 2017 to 2021, serving as the paper's Sports Editor from 2019 to 2020. Connon has also been a contributor for 247Sports' Bruin Report Online, Rivals' BruinBlitz, Dash Sports TV, SuperWestSports, Prime Time Sports Talk, The Sports Life Blog and Patriots Country, Sports Illustrated and FanNation’s New England Patriots site. His work as a sports columnist has been awarded by the College Media Association and Society of Professional Journalists. Connon graduated from UCLA in June 2021 and is originally from Winchester, Massachusetts.