Cori Close looked relieved.
The UCLA women’s basketball coach, admittedly nervous before tipoff, had watched her team dominate its second-round game in the NCAA tournament and earn a shot at top-ranked, unbeaten-since-2014 Connecticut.
“[UConn is] a great team; they obviously have our respect,” Close said after the Bruins, the No. 4 seed in the Bridgeport Regional, routed No. 5 Texas A&M, 75-43, Monday at Pauley Pavilion. “But my team has my respect and I need to lead them the same way that we’ve done it all year long.”
This is the first time the Bruins (25-8) have advanced as far as a regional semifinal for a second consecutive season.