PHOENIX -- UCLA might be making its first appearance in an NCAA championship game, but head coach Cori Close said Saturday she felt her team faced more pressure last year while making its first Final Four.
The Bruins lost in the semifinals a year ago, and that spurred their run to this year's national title game, where they will face South Carolina on Sunday. Close said that having last year's experience has helped the team approach this game much differently.
"Last year, we were reacting to everything, not anticipating," Close said during a news conference previewing the title game. "Whereas now that we have been a part of this, it just was a totally different planning experience. I just felt like we were able to be more strategic in how we put our players in position to be successful."
Close said she heard several of her returning players from last year telling players new to the Final Four what to expect. "That makes all the difference in the world."
UCLA will be facing a veteran South Carolina team that has been on this stage many times. The Gamecocks have made six straight Final Fours and are playing in their fourth national title game. UCLA has not won a national title since 1978, before the NCAA governed women's basketball.
Close said her team has taken a "businesslike" approach and did not celebrate in the locker room after beating Texas 51-44 to clinch its spot in the title game.
"We have really come to this tournament very focused," Close said. "We really believe that the job wasn't done yet. We want to have a chance to compete for a national championship. We want to do that at the highest of levels. I don't think there was a sigh of, 'Oh, thank goodness we made that next step.' We want to compete to win."
Gabriela Jaquez, who has played at UCLA her entire college career, said the team is far more "calm and confident" this year.
"We have a sense of calmness that we know we're meant to be here," Jaquez said. "We know we've put in the work. We know we're prepared. We're going to be focused, and we're going to come out ready to play."
Guard Kiki Rice reiterated that the team took a different approach this year, and the fact that the Bruins have yet to experience a title game will not be a factor.
"I felt like we're just much better prepared," Rice said. "We know that we have to go out there and compete and not let the title of the game distract us from the task that we have to get done. We'll be ready."
