# 2017–18 UCLA Bruins women's basketball team

The 2017–18 UCLA Bruins women's basketball team represented the University of California, Los Angeles during the 2017–18 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Bruins, led by seventh-year head coach Cori Close, played their home games at the Pauley Pavilion and were members of the Pac-12 Conference. They finished the season 27–8, 14–4 in Pac-12 play, to finish in a tie for third place. They advanced to the semifinals of the Pac-12 women's tournament where they lost to Oregon. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA women's tournament in which they defeated American and Creighton in the first and second rounds, respectively. They went on to defeat Texas in the Sweet Sixteen and advance to the program's first Elite Eight since 1999. They lost to Mississippi State in the Elite Eight.

## Offseason
### Departures

| Name | Pos. | Height | Year | Hometown | Reason for departure |
| Nicole Kornet | G | 6' 1" | RS Sr. | Lantana, TX | Graduated |
| Kari Korver | G | 6' 1" | RS Sr. | Paramount, CA | Graduated |
| Dominique Williams | G | 5' 8" | RS Jr. | Phoenix, AZ | Medically retired; will serve as an undergraduate assistant during the 2017–18 season |
| Paulina Hersler | F | 6' 3" | RS Jr. | Malmö, Sweden | Graduated; transferred to Florida |

### 2017 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight |
| Michaela Onyenwere F | Aurora, CO | Grandview | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) | N/A |
| Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN: ESPN grade: 98 ||||||
| Chantel Horvat G | Geelong, Australia | Geelong College | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | N/A |
| Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN: ESPN grade: 98 ||||||
| Kayla Owens W | Houston, TX | Langham Creek | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | N/A |
| Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN: ESPN grade: 97 ||||||
| Lauryn Miller F | Kirkwood, MO | Kirkwood | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 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: ||||||

## Schedule

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| November 5, 2017* 2:00 p.m. | No. 8 | Vanguard | W 87–40 | | Pauley Pavilion (759) Los Angeles, CA |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| November 10, 2017* 7:00 p.m. | No. 8 | San Jose State | W 129–69 | 1–0 | Pauley Pavilion (1,437) Los Angeles, CA |
| November 12, 2017* 2:00 p.m. | No. 8 | Presbyterian | W 76–40 | 2–0 | Pauley Pavilion (1,101) Los Angeles, CA |
| November 18, 2017* 1:00 p.m., P12N | No. 8 | No. 3 Baylor | W 82–68 | 3–0 | Pauley Pavilion (3,912) Los Angeles, CA |
| November 21, 2017* 7:30 p.m., ESPNU | No. 5 | No. 1 Connecticut | L 60–78 | 3–1 | Pauley Pavilion (9,263) Los Angeles, CA |
| November 24, 2017* 1:15 p.m. | No. 5 | vs. Kansas State South Point Thanksgiving Shootout | W 64–55 | 4–1 | South Point Arena (550) Las Vegas, NV |
| November 25, 2017* 3:30 p.m. | No. 5 | vs. Creighton South Point Thanksgiving Shootout | W 72–63 | 5–1 | South Point Arena (550) Las Vegas, NV |
| November 28, 2017* 7:00 p.m. | No. 7 | UC Riverside | W 68–48 | 6–1 | Pauley Pavilion (1,890) Los Angeles, CA |
| December 3, 2017* 1:30 p.m., P12N | No. 7 | UC Santa Barbara | W 74–44 | 7–1 | Pauley Pavilion (2,044) Los Angeles, CA |
| December 8, 2017* 5:00 p.m., FSOK | No. 7 | at Oklahoma State | L 72–87 | 7–2 | Gallagher-Iba Arena (2,969) Stillwater, OK |
| December 17, 2017* 10:00 a.m. | No. 11 | at Seton Hall | W 77–68 | 8–2 | Walsh Gymnasium (1,165) South Orange, NJ |
| December 20, 2017* 4:00 p.m. | No. 11 | at Fordham | W 67–30 | 9–2 | Rose Hill Gymnasium (1,327) The Bronx, NY |
| Pac-12 regular season ||||||
| December 29, 2017 5:30 p.m., P12N | No. 11 | at Stanford | L 65–76 | 9–3 (0–1) | Maples Pavilion (3,102) Stanford, CA |
| December 31, 2017 11:00 a.m., P12N | No. 11 | at No. 20 California | W 82–46 | 10–3 (1–1) | Haas Pavilion (2,570) Berkeley, CA |
| January 5, 2018 6:00 p.m., P12N | No. 14 | No. 16 Oregon State | W 84–49 | 11–3 (2–1) | Pauley Pavilion (1,986) Los Angeles, CA |
| January 7, 2018 5:00 p.m., P12N | No. 14 | No. 9 Oregon | L 61–70 | 11–4 (2–2) | Pauley Pavilion (7,190) Los Angeles, CA |
| January 12, 2018 7:00 p.m., P12N | No. 14 | at Utah | W 81–74 | 12–4 (3–2) | Jon M. Huntsman Center (3,281) Salt Lake City, UT |
| January 14, 2018 3:00 p.m., P12N | No. 14 | at Colorado | W 93–55 | 13–4 (4–2) | Coors Events Center (2,160) Boulder, CO |
| January 19, 2018 6:00 p.m., P12N | No. 13 | No. 21 California | W 60–52 | 14–4 (5–2) | Pauley Pavilion (2,704) Los Angeles, CA |
| January 21, 2018 3:00 p.m., P12N | No. 13 | Stanford | W 64–53 | 15–4 (6–2) | Pauley Pavilion (2,948) Los Angeles, CA |
| January 26, 2018 7:00 p.m., P12N | No. 13 | at Washington | W 86–69 | 16–4 (7–2) | Alaska Airlines Arena (1,688) Seattle, WA |
| January 28, 2018 3:00 p.m., P12N | No. 13 | at Washington State | W 79–71 | 17–4 (8–2) | Beasley Coliseum (1,093) Pullman, WA |
| February 2, 2018 8:00 p.m., P12N | No. 9 | USC Rivalry | W 59–46 | 18–4 (9–2) | Pauley Pavilion (6,057) Los Angeles, CA |
| February 5, 2018 6:00 p.m., P12N | No. 8 | at USC Rivalry | W 84–70 | 19–4 (10–2) | Galen Center (876) Los Angeles, CA |
| February 9, 2018 8:00 p.m., P12N | No. 8 | Arizona | W 69–46 | 20–4 (11–2) | Pauley Pavilion (1,883) Los Angeles, CA |
| February 11, 2018 1:00 p.m., P12N | No. 8 | No. 25 Arizona State | W 71–63 | 21–4 (12–2) | Pauley Pavilion (3,690) Los Angeles, CA |
| February 16, 2018 8:00 p.m., P12N | No. 7 | at No. 15 Oregon State | L 64–67 $^{OT}$ | 21–5 (12–3) | Gill Coliseum (5,011) Corvallis, OR |
| February 19, 2018 7:00 p.m., ESPN2 | No. 10 | at No. 8 Oregon | L 94–101 $^{OT}$ | 21–6 (12–4) | Matthew Knight Arena (7,098) Eugene, OR |
| February 22, 2018 8:00 p.m., P12N | No. 10 | Colorado | W 73–67 | 22–6 (13–4) | Pauley Pavilion (902) Los Angeles, CA |
| February 24, 2018 2:00 p.m. | No. 10 | Utah | W 78–71 $^{OT}$ | 23–6 (14–4) | Pauley Pavilion (3,866) Los Angeles, CA |
| Pac-12 women's tournament ||||||
| March 2, 2018 2:00 p.m., P12N | (4) No. 9 | vs. (5) California Quarterfinals | W 77–74 | 24–6 | KeyArena (4,852) Seattle, WA |
| March 3, 2018 6:00 p.m., P12N | (4) No. 9 | vs. (1) No. 6 Oregon Semifinals | L 62–65 | 24–7 | KeyArena Seattle, WA |
| NCAA women's tournament ||||||
| March 17, 2018* 12:30 p.m., ESPN2 | (3 KC) No. 9 | (14 KC) American First round | W 71–60 | 25–7 | Pauley Pavilion (2,304) Los Angeles, CA |
| March 19, 2018* 6:00 p.m., ESPN2 | (3 KC) No. 9 | (11 KC) Creighton Second round | W 86–64 | 26–7 | Pauley Pavilion (1,860) Los Angeles, CA |
| March 23, 2018* 6:00 p.m., ESPN2 | (3 KC) No. 9 | vs. (2 KC) No. 8 Texas Sweet Sixteen | W 84–75 | 27–7 | Sprint Center (4,280) Kansas City, MO |
| March 25, 2018* 4:30 p.m., ESPN | (3 KC) No. 9 | vs. (1 KC) No. 4 Mississippi State Elite Eight | L 73–89 | 27–8 | Sprint Center (4,089) Kansas City, MO |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. KC=Kansas City Region. All times are in Pacific. ||||||
Source:

## Rankings

Legend :
| | Increase in ranking |
| | Decrease in ranking |
| | No change |
| (RV) | Received votes |
| (NR) | Not ranked |