While all eyes will be on the Bruins to see how they stack up against the defending champion South Carolina Gamecocks on Sunday, UCLA head coach Cori Close wants to see growth in the Bruins’ “toughness and grit” despite a 4-0 start to the season for the Bruins.
“The reality for us is that this is just another step. It’s an awesome opportunity but it’s just another opportunity to develop championship habits,” Close said of the game against Dawn Staley’s 5-0 Gamecocks. “To have championship-level character and develop that toughness and grit.”
While it won’t be easy against the #1 team in the country, Close has never defeated Staley as a head coach, with a career 0-4 record against Gamecocks. The Bruins are 0-4 against South Carolina in program history, having their first meeting less than a decade ago, in November of 2015.
“I actually showed them a clip today of [Erik] Spoelstra of the Miami Heat,” Close said during a postgame press conference from UCLA’s win Sunday over Arkansas. “Talking about that grit and toughness is a learned skill and if you want to be a championship program, and he was talking about the NBA, you must have that grit and toughness. It’s a prerequisite.”
Spoelstra is a 2x NBA Finals winner as a coach, something that Close and the Bruins are aspiring to, with UCLA having never won the NCAA Tournament.