UCLA head coach Cori Close and players Angela Dugalić and Gabriela Jaquez met with reporters Thursday in Sacramento ahead of the top-seeded Bruins’ regional semifinal against fourth-seeded Minnesota.
The game Friday will air at 4:30 p.m. on ESPN from the Golden 1 Center.
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Close said looking back on the lone meeting between the Big Ten foes, an 18-point road win over the Golden Gophers in mid-January, is only one piece of the scouting puzzle.
“They present a lot of problems,” Close said. “They force you to be really fundamentally sound defensively.
“There’s a sense of how did they attack us in that last matchup, and then what tendencies have they shown since then.”
It will be UCLA’s fourth consecutive Sweet 16 appearance. Dugalić, who transferred from Oregon in 2021, credited “a lot of the success” to the arrival of Jaquez and guard Kiki Rice, who have been with the program for four years.
Jaquez said the international experience on the roster, which includes a pair of Olympics appearances for Dugalić, has helped with understanding and accepting various roles on a deep, experienced UCLA team.
UCLA press conference in Sacramento before Sweet 16
Watch the full video below courtesy of the NCAA: