Close refutes Reese, saying “that’s just not who we are” about heated exchange.
There is no doubt that when it comes to the college basketball national tournament, emotions will get high as the competition gets fierce which is exactly what happened between the UCLA women’s basketball team and the LSU Tigers Saturday. Tigers star Angel Reese was caught on video after LSU beat UCLA, 78-69, in a heated exchange of words with a Bruins assistant coach, but made sure to say it was not Bruins head coach Cori Close.
“She [Close] told me good game,” Reese said when addressing who she was furiously talking to after the game. “It was another coach that was talking a little crazy.”
— Rashard (@_rasharddd) March 30, 2024
The Tigers beat the Bruins in the Sweet Sixteen to advance to the Elite Eight, 78-69, led by Reese who scored 16 points, collected 11 rebounds, recorded four steals, and had two blocks. Coach Close would refute Reese’s claim about the exchange of words saying “that’s just not who we are” according to Andrew Graham of On3 Sports.
“That’s just not who we are,” Close said. “I don’t want to say anything about Angel [Reese], I will only speak to what the Bruins are and the Bruins are classy, speaking life into each other. We are not going to give that any — we would never do that. And especially would never come from one of my coaches. So we will — maybe she heard something mistakenly but I can tell you, and I’m not saying anything about Angel — I’m just saying from what comes from my camp, absolutely not.”
Reese and Tigers beat Bruins, Close talks what went wrong in defeat
Close would take accountability after the game for the loss as the UCLA women’s basketball team were actually the No. 2 seed going into the national tournament with LSU being third. She mentioned that the Bruins not only “gave up layups,” but they also “missed” some as well according to Ben Bolch of The Los Angeles Times.
“We gave up layups and free throws and we missed layups and free throws down the stretch,”Close said. “And ultimately I’m responsible.”
UCLA women’s players give initial reactions to disappointing loss to LSU
Sophomore guard for the Bruins in Kiki Rice finished the game with 13 points and five assists and was blunt in her reaction. She had high expectations for the UCLA women’s basketball team as they were “capable of winning it all,” saying that “it sucks.”
“It sucks,” Rice said. “Because I felt like we had a team this year that was for sure capable of winning it all and that didn’t happen.”
Another major contributor to the Bruins is sophomore forward Gabriela Jaquez, the sister of Miami Heat rookie Jaime Jaquez Jr., who scored 14 points and collected five rebounds off the bench. She also was candid to the media after the elimination as while she is “very pissed,” she said the “best thing” to focus on now is next season.
“Definitely hard, very frustrating, I’m very pissed right now,” Jaquez said. “But I think the best thing for me to do is to use this to fuel myself for next year.”
Even though the Tigers won the national title from last season, the UCLA women’s basketball team had no shortage of confidence coming into the game. Their leading scorer in Lauren Betts who had 14 points and 17 rebounds was straight forward saying that they were “the better team.”
“I think we are the better team,” Betts said. “And I thought that we just didn’t show up today.”
Reese emphasized how the rebound battle will be fierce
As for the LSU side, they had to overcome a lot this game against the Bruins as while an emphasis was the battle of the glass, the Tigers were out rebounded 44-38. Reese would compliment Betts after the game saying she is a “great player” and even revealed they played with each other during the summer per On3 Sports.
“Man, I mean coach Bob (Starkey) told us before the game, ‘No rebounds, no rings,’” Reese said. “So we knew we had to rebound. Lauren Betts is a great player, playing with her this summer was amazing. So being able to be composed and dominant this game was important.”
Cori Close apologizing for reposting an article bashing LSU
UCLA and LSU were at odds off the court as well as Bruins head coach Cori Close reposted a column from The Los Angeles Times that accused Tigers head coach Kim Mulkey and the team of being “villains” of the sport. She would apologize on her social media accounts that it was a mistake as she didn’t read the article, but reposted after reading the headline since it praised UCLA.
“I made a mistake,” Close said on X (formerly known as Twitter). “I reposted that article after reading the headline, not the contents of the column. In an effort to increase coverage for our game, I shared it and went back to try to stay focused on my task at hand. … I made a huge mistake in reposting without reading it first, and I am very sorry for that.”
Regarding the Los Angeles Times column. pic.twitter.com/kzZThRTigt
— Cori Close (@CoachCoriClose) March 30, 2024
The UCLA women’s basketball team finished 27-7 on the season as they were 13-5 in conference play. They look to next season to make more noise trying to improve after being second in the Pac-12.
About the Author
Zachary Weinberger joined ClutchPoints in October 2023 as a Miami Heat reporter as well as an Associate Editor. He graduated from Florida Atlantic University in 2022 after covering the school’s athletic programs since his freshman year at the FAU University Press, where he was a Sports Editor and Editor-in-Chief. He then covered FAU Sports for The Palm Beach Post.
