# 2020–21 UCLA Bruins women's basketball team

The 2020–21 UCLA Bruins women's basketball team represented the University of California, Los Angeles during the 2020–21 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Bruins, led by tenth year head coach Cori Close, played their home games at Pauley Pavilion and competed as members of the Pac-12 Conference.

## Previous season

The Bruins finished the season 26–5, 14–4 in Pac-12 play to finish in a tie for second place. As the second seed in the Pac-12 women's tournament they advanced to the semifinals where they lost to Stanford. The NCAA tournament and WNIT were cancelled due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

## Offseason
### Departures

| Name | Pos. | Height | Year | Hometown | Reason for Departure |
| Ally Rosenblum | F | 6'4" | Sr. | Newport Coast, California | Graduated |
| Japreece Dean | G | 5'6" | Sr. | Austin, Texas | Graduated; selected 30th overall by the Chicago Sky in the 2020 WNBA draft |
| Jaden Owens | G | 5'6" | Fr. | Plano, Texas | Transferred to Baylor |

### 2020 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight |
| Emily Bessoir F | Munich, Germany | Wilhelm-Hausenstein Gymnasium | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | N/A |
| Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN: N/A ESPN grade: N/A ||||||
| Isobel Anstey P | Melbourne, Australia | Caulfield | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | N/A |
| Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN: ESPN grade: 90 ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: ||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: ||||||

## Roster

* Kayla Owens and Kiara Jefferson declined to participate in the 2020-21 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
* Brynn Masikewich chose to remain home in Canada for the 2020-21 season to rehab from an injury.
* Izzy Anstey and Gemma Potter, both from Australia, were not allowed to enter the United States for the 2020-21 academic year due to immigration restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Potter later elected to play professionally in Australia.
* December 28, 2020: Class of 2021 high school recruit Dominque Darius graduated early so she could enroll at UCLA and participate in the 2020-21 season.

## Schedule

Source:
| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Regular season ||||||
| November 27, 2020* 4:00 p.m. | No. 9 | Cal State Fullerton | W 98–49 | 1–0 | Pauley Pavilion (0) Los Angeles, CA |
| November 29, 2020* 4:00 p.m., WCCN | No. 9 | at Pepperdine | Canceled | Canceled | Firestone Fieldhouse Malibu, CA |
| December 4, 2020 6:00 p.m., P12N | No. 9 | at No. 7 Arizona | L 65–68 | 1–1 (0–1) | McKale Center (0) Tucson, AZ |
| December 6, 2020 1:00 p.m., P12N | No. 9 | at Arizona State | W 63–59 | 2–1 (1–1) | Desert Financial Arena (0) Tempe, AZ |
| December 9, 2020* 11:00 a.m. | No. 11 | UC Santa Barbara | W 102–45 | 3–1 | Pauley Pavilion (0) Los Angeles, CA |
| December 13, 2020 Noon, P12N | No. 11 | at USC Rivalry | W 73–52 | 4–1 (2–1) | Galen Center (0) Los Angeles, CA |
| December 19, 2020 Noon, P12N | No. 11 | California | W 71–37 | 5–1 (3–1) | Pauley Pavilion (0) Los Angeles, CA |
| December 21, 2020 Noon, P12N | No. 10 | No. 1 Stanford | L 49–61 | 5–2 (3–2) | Pauley Pavilion (0) Los Angeles, CA |
| January 1, 2021 TBD, P12N | No. 11 | at Oregon State | Canceled | Canceled | Gill Coliseum Corvallis, OR |
| January 3, 2021 1:00 p.m., P12N | No. 11 | at No. 8 Oregon | W 73–71 | 6–2 (4–2) | Matthew Knight Arena (0) Eugene, OR |
| January 8, 2021 4:00 p.m., P12N | No. 9 | Colorado | Canceled | Canceled | Pauley Pavilion Los Angeles, CA |
| January 10, 2021 1:00 p.m., P12N | No. 9 | Utah | W 92–67 | 7–2 (5–2) | Pauley Pavilion (0) Los Angeles, CA |
| January 15, 2021 6:30 p.m., P12N | No. 8 | Washington | Canceled | Canceled | Pauley Pavilion Los Angeles, CA |
| January 17, 2021 11:00 a.m., P12N | No. 8 | Washington State | W 68–66 $^{OT}$ | 8–2 (6–2) | Pauley Pavilion (0) Los Angeles, CA |
| January 22, 2021 7:00 p.m., P12N | No. 6 | at No. 5 Stanford | W 70–66 | 9–2 (7–2) | Maples Pavilion (1) Stanford, CA |
| January 24, 2021 3:00 p.m. | No. 6 | at California | Canceled | Canceled | Haas Pavilion Berkeley, CA |
| January 29, 2021 6:00 p.m., P12N | No. 5 | Arizona State | W 60–57 | 10–2 (8–2) | Pauley Pavilion (0) Los Angeles, CA |
| January 31, 2021 3:00 p.m., P12N | No. 5 | No. 10 Arizona | Canceled | Canceled | Pauley Pavilion Los Angeles, CA |
| February 5, 2021 Noon | No. 5 | at Washington State | L 63–67 | 10–3 (8–3) | Beasley Coliseum (0) Pullman, WA |
| February 7, 2021 2:00 p.m. | No. 5 | at Washington | W 84–50 | 11–3 (9–3) | Alaska Airlines Arena (0) Seattle, WA |
| February 12, 2021 10:00 p.m. | No. 8 | at Utah | W 69–58 | 12–3 (10–3) | Jon M. Huntsman Center (0) Salt Lake City, UT |
| February 14, 2021 Noon | No. 8 | at Colorado | Canceled | Canceled | CU Events Center Boulder, CO |
| February 19, 2021 5:00 p.m., P12N | No. 8 | No. 13 Oregon | W 83–56 | 13–3 (11–3) | Pauley Pavilion (0) Los Angeles, CA |
| February 21, 2021 1:00 p.m., ESPN2 | No. 8 | Oregon State | L 64–71 | 13–4 (11–4) | Pauley Pavilion (0) Los Angeles, CA |
| February 26, 2021 5:00 p.m. | No. 10 | USC Rivalry | W 93–51 | 14–4 (12–4) | Pauley Pavilion (0) Los Angeles, CA |
| Pac-12 Women's Tournament ||||||
| March 4, 2021 8:00 p.m., P12N | (3) No. 9 | vs. (11) Washington Quarterfinals | W 58–46 | 15–4 | Michelob Ultra Arena (38) Paradise, NV |
| March 5, 2021 8:00 p.m., P12N | (3) No. 9 | vs. (2) No. 11 Arizona Semifinals | W 58–49 | 16–4 | Michelob Ultra Arena (0) Paradise, NV |
| March 7, 2021 5:00 p.m, ESPN2 | (3) No. 9 | vs. (1) No. 4 Stanford Finals | L 55–75 | 16–5 | Michelob Ultra Arena (0) Paradise, NV |
| NCAA tournament ||||||
| March 22, 2021 7:00 p.m., ESPN | (3 H) No. 9 | vs. (14 H) Wyoming First Round | W 69–48 | 17–5 | Frank Erwin Center Austin, TX |
| March 24, 2021 6:00 p.m., ESPN2 | (3 H) No. 9 | vs. (6 H) Texas Second Round | L 62–71 | 17–6 | Alamodome San Antonio, TX |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. H=HemisFair. All times are in Pacific Time. ||||||

## Rankings

Ranking Movement Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking. NR = Not ranked. RV = Received votes. :
| Poll | Pre | Wk 2 | Wk 3 | Wk 4 | Wk 5 | Wk 6 | Wk 7 | Wk 8 | Wk 9 | Wk 10 | Wk 11 | Wk 12 | Wk 13 | Wk 14 | Wk 15 | Wk 16 | Final |
| AP | 9 | 9 | 11 | 11 | 10 | 11 | 9 | 8 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 8 | 8 | 10 | 9 | 10 | 9 |
| Coaches | 10 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 12 | 9 | 8 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 7 | 9 | 10 | 9 | 10 | 9 | |