SPOKANE, Wash. — UCLA is advancing to the Women’s NCAA Tournament Final Four for the first time in program history after a 72-65 win over LSU. But Cori Close wanted to make sure everyone knew this won’t be the first Final Four for the Bruins.
“1978 AIAW, they won the national championship and went to the Final Four, and we had some of the alumni here from that team,” Close said after UCLA’s Elite Eight victory. “Debbie Willie Haliday and Denise Curry, and we had so many other alums.”
Only 16 teams were competing in that tournament, but that trophy set the standard and is still UCLA’s only national title. The alumni are not just part of history; they are also part of the present because some, like Curry, are still big supporters of the program and even made the trip to Spokane.
Curry knows a thing or two about the Final Four, as she registered a double-double of 22 points and 14 rebounds against Montclair State in the 1978 AIAW semifinals.
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