Cori Close believes in women's sports, and needs the media to believe too

LOS ANGELES - No. 4 UCLA head coach Cori Close made waves Sunday after the Bruins' thrilling victory over no. 19 Ohio State with her displeasure at the lack of media coverage for the matchup of two Big Ten powerhouses. 

The Bruins outlasted the Buckeyes in an 82-75 victory on the road in a return to conference play with double-digit scoring performances by five different Bruins to secure the win. But after the game, Close was met with an empty conference room and just one reporter, Benjamin Royer of the Orange County Register, over the phone to discuss the game. 

Close was frustrated, to say the least.

"If I'm being really blunt with you, the energy in the building was great, but having no media here at all from either team or either -- no AP, nothing, doesn't say a lot. We're the only double-ranked game out today; the only one in the country, and we had no media day today. No media here... Like for the only game that had two ranked opponents to not have more coverage over this particular game -- disappointing honestly, " Close said after UCLA's win (via Benjamin Royer of the Orange County Register). 

A Full Audience After Penn State 

Close's words quickly took over over online discourse and revealed two key things: coverage of women's sports still suffers in the face of other sports, namely college football, despite the meteoric rise in popularity for women's basketball, and the overall media landscape is suffering from a lack of resources for road coverage.

When the Bruins stepped onto the court next for a dominant 97-61 over Penn State, Close and senior center Lauren Betts were met with a different sight after the game: a Zoom conference full of reporters from outlets like the Orange County Register, Los Angeles Times, and of course, The Sporting Tribune. 

Close made it clear in her opening statement that her frustrations earlier in the week stemmed from her desire to continue to promote women's sports and the game that she loves and the passion she has for her team. 

Jessica Cryderman - The Sporting Tribune

UCLA guard, Kiki Rice (1) dribbling during a NCAA basketball game against Cal Poly on December 16, 2025 in Los Angeles, CA.

"The reality of what my comments were after the Ohio State game were, I have two really passionate agendas in regards to this: I want to be a pioneer of growing the game period. I want to really be a part of the surge that's happening and and I want to be a part of telling these amazing stories that these players have, and they're incredible young women as well as amazing basketball players," Close said. 

She continued, "This is nothing to take away from any men's program at all. I love men's sports just as much as I love women's sports. But, if there was a top five team all year long, and they were playing another ranked team, I don't care what time of year it would be, I think there would be more coverage there. So I just want to fight for our players getting that same proportionate coverage and exposure that I believe they've earned."

Women's Basketball on the Rise

Women's basketball has experienced more growth than ever in recent years with stars like Caitlin Clark and Paige Bueckers, now both WNBA superstars with the Indiana Fever and Dallas Wings respectively, shining a massive spotlight on the sport at both the college and professional levels. 

UCLA has been a part of that growth as well. An elite squad with several of their starters projected to be first-round picks in the upcoming WNBA Draft, the Bruins under Cori Close have brought a stellar brand of basketball to Westwood. Last season's Final Four-reaching squad brought in over 88,000 fans to Pauley Pavilion to watch a team that ranked no. 1 in the country for most of the season and were led by a superstar in Betts. 

Jordan Teller - The Sporting Tribune

Center Lauren Betts #51 high fives guard Kiki Rice #1 of the UCLA Bruins during an NCAA basketball game against the Oregon Ducks, Sunday December 7, 2025 in Los Angeles, Calif.

Betts also spoke after the Penn State win on the issue of media coverage that the Bruins have contended.

"You have two really amazing teams, and I don't think that's something that should hopefully ever happen again [lack of coverage]," Betts said. "So, just continuing to grow the game in any way that we can, and to make sure that we speak out on situations like that. But, obviously I have a lot of respect for Coach Cori and what she had to say about it."

Close has been a vocal advocate for the media and for coverage of her team and women's basketball as a whole, and the gratitude she has for reporters at her team's games is something she makes a point of stating in many postgame conferences. 

Robert Talamantes- The Sporting Tribune

UCLA G Gabriela Jaquez (11) scores a fast break layup during an NCAA basketball game against the Michigan Wolverans, Wednesday January 1st, 2025 in Los Angeles, California.

There are systemic issues facing the modern sports media landscape, issues acquiring access and resources among them, but just as there are issues there has also been a proliferation of outlets that serve a wide variety of niches in the athletic world. Close wants to serve both traditional and non-traditional outlets in terms of access and availability so that she can continue shining a light on the accomplishments her team has achieved and continue to elevate women's sports as a whole. 

Expanding Access and Increasing Impact

"I always want to be solution minded. I don't want to be just a complainer," Close said. "I really want us to be a team that makes ourselves available, that gives good stories to tell... I think there needs to be access for non-traditional media outlets, as long as you're going for the right reasons, and you're really a part of wanting to tell the stories of these women. I think the days of limiting it to just traditional media outlets are over if we want to continue because.. there are so many squeezes on those traditional media outlets, I think we can't limit ourselves to what's worked in the past or how we've done things in the past."

John Panganiban-The Sporting Tribune

UCLA Bruins Coach Cori Close breaking down the game for Avary Cain (2) during an NCAA basketball game against Colgate, Sunday November 10th, 2024 in Los Angeles, California.

The impact of covering women's programs like UCLA goes well beyond entertainment factor. This new wave of women's sports popularity and the stories that athletes tell serves a humanitarian purpose as well. The inspiration that athletes can bring elevates the lives of the next generation that watches them. 

Following Betts' portion of Wednesday's conference. Close shared a story that illustrates that impact potential. Betts spoke with ESPN in an article published March 2025 about her mental health journey and after Wednesday's game, Close said that Betts met with one young girl waiting for an autograph that said Betts' article saved her own life. Betts came back to the locker room with happy tears in her eyes.

"That's just a real time example about why storytelling of these amazing women are so important."