UCLA’s First Women’s Title Came Before the NCAA Counted It

In 1978, the women’s basketball Final Four was held at Pauley Pavilion. The championship game was televised by CBS, and more than 9,000 fans filled the arena.

I remember it like it was yesterday. We walked into Pauley in full uniform, single file, with very serious game faces. I was the freshman with wide-eyed wonder, punching my teammate in the back. (I was not nearly as calm, cool and collected as the rest of my team.)

I had never heard the roar of so many people cheering for my team. Legendary trailblazer Ann Meyers was our senior captain. All-American and Olympian Denise Curry was my fellow freshman. The rest of the team consisted of Anita Ortega, Dianne Frierson, Beth Moore, Rive Nestor, Denise Corlett, Tem Breckenridge, and Janet Hopkins, my fellow walk-on.

Our team was a very gritty and determined group, much like the UCLA Bruins women’s basketball team that won this year’s national championship in Phoenix.

The governing body for women’s sports at the time was the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women. Title IX had come into existence just six years earlier, but there had been (and still are) many legal challenges around what this meant for girls and women in sports. Many institutions were reluctant to adhere to the suggested standards for greater equality.

In 1976, the NCAA challenged the legality of Title IX, eventually losing in court. Even so, participation and provision for girls and women continued to grow, slowly but surely. I know it did because this was my youth sports era, and the culmination of being able to participate in sports as a young girl was playing college basketball at UCLA.

The NCAA opposed funding for collegiate women’s sports until the 1981–82 school year. After growing popularity and failed lawsuits, it changed its mind. It saw an opportunity and reversed course.

The size and financial power of the NCAA eventually led to the dissolution of the AIAW. Unfortunately, the NCAA has also chosen to disregard the history of women’s basketball (my teammates’ and mine) under AIAW governance.

For example, when Caitlin Clark became the all-time scoring leader for women’s college basketball, finishing her career with 3,951 points, she did not pass Kelsey Plum (3,527). She passed Lynette Woodard (3,649) from the University of Kansas during the AIAW era.

Still, the Iowa Hawkeyes women’s basketball program acknowledged Woodard, honoring her on court with Clark. History validated like this is a wonderful gift.

Yet the NCAA continues to miss the mark. Why does it ignore the championships and records set during the AIAW years?

This year’s victory was not the first championship for UCLA women’s basketball. Thankfully, Head Coach Cori Close was also willing to coach the media. UCLA’s first national championship “in the NCAA era” became the caveat this year. This nod to those who laid the foundation does not diminish what the 2026 champions are accomplishing now.

The 2026 championship game attendance was announced at 15,856. Television viewership averaged 9.9 million, with a peak audience of 10.7 million, according to ESPN tracking of the event. Women’s basketball has taken off, to say the very least.

Valuing Athletes as People

Winning the championship has given Coach Close a huge platform to share her transformational coaching philosophy. She is advocating for coaching that values athletes as people and helps them grow on and off the court. She lives out the example she learned firsthand from Coach John Wooden. One of her favorite things to say is, “Banners hang in gyms and rings collect dust, but who you become and who you impact, you get to keep forever.”

I was transformed as a young athlete at UCLA. I learned about hard work and made lifelong bonds with teammates. I learned to stand strong. I figured out that, amid the ups and downs of winning and losing, I needed a more constant purpose.

National championships are an incredible way to culminate a season, yet for most athletes, they rarely happen. Still, I found a steady source of strength, peace, and purpose in the foundation of faith in Jesus Christ.

I learned I was loved. This foundation has remained in place for nearly 50 years, even as the expression of my faith has shifted and changed.

I am still impacted by my teammates today. I hope I have also been able to impact others. It is my heart’s desire, as I work with college athletes and coaches, to help them play freely.

And perhaps to help them experience a national championship or two as well.