1977–78 UCLA Bruins women's basketball team
| 1977–78 UCLA Bruins women's basketball | |
|---|---|
AIAW, Reg. 8, WCAA | |
| Conference | Western Collegiate Athletic Association |
| Ranking | |
| AP | No. 5 |
| Record | 27-3 (8-0 1st WCAA) |
| Head coach |
|
| Assistant coach | Colleen Matsuhara |
| Home arena | Pauley Pavilion |
| Conf. | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Team | W | L | PCT | W | L | PCT | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 5 UCLA | 8 | – | 0 | 1.000 | 27 | – | 3 | .900 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Cal State Fullerton | 5 | – | 3 | .625 | 16 | – | 9 | .640 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 20 Long Beach State | 4 | – | 4 | .500 | 18 | – | 9 | .667 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| USC | 3 | – | 5 | .375 | 11 | – | 13 | .458 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| San Diego State | 0 | – | 8 | .000 | 10 | – | 18 | .357 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| As of March 15, 1978 Rankings from Poll | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The 1977–78 UCLA Bruins women's basketball team represented the University of California, Los Angeles during the 1977-78 AIAW women's basketball season.[1] This was the fourth season of competition in women's basketball for UCLA. The Bruins, headed by first-year coach Billie Moore, played their home games at Pauley Pavilion. and were members of the Western Collegiate Athletic Association.[1] Led by Ann Meyers, Denise Curry and Anita Ortega, the Bruins finished the season with a 27–3 record. They won the WCAA conference title with an undefeated 8–0 record.[2] The finished the season by winning the 1978 AIAW National Large College Basketball Championship, the first for the Bruins in Women's basketball.
The Bruins began 1978 with a number of games on the East coast, including the inaugural Madison Square Garden Invitational over New Year's weekend.[3] They lost to defending national champion and number 2 ranked Delta State in the first game. A later road trip brought them to Maryland, for the first meeting with the Terrapins, which the Bruins lost. Returning to California, the Bruins won the rest of their regular season games and advanced to the AIAW regionals.
The 1978 national championship represented a shift from the smaller schools to larger schools with larger athletic budgets such as UCLA and Maryland[4] The Bruins defeated Maryland 90–74 on March 25, 1978, in front of a record crowd of 9,351 at Pauley Pavilion for the 1978 AIAW National Large College Basketball Championship.[5][6] Meyers had 20 points, 10 rebounds, nine assists and eight steals. Ortega recorded a team high 23 points.
Previous season
Under previous head coach Ellen Mosher the Bruins won the WCAA with a 7–1 record.[1] The deciding conference game was a win over number 5 ranked Cal State Fullerton coached by Billie Moore, which was the first Bruin win over a top ten ranked team. Overall the Bruins finished with a 16–1 regular season record and an invitation to the 1977 AIAW National Large College Basketball Championship. They lost in the regionals to the same Cal State Fullerton team with whom they had split the regular season conference games. Subsequently, the Bruins were invited to the 1978 National Women's Invitational Tournament (NWIT). Advancing to the finals of the NWIT, they lost to Number 7 ranked Wayland Baptist in the championship game. Their win loss record was 20–3. In April, Mosher resigned and Moore was hired as the new head coach.[7] Mosher took a job as the coach of the Minnesota Golden Gophers women's basketball team.
Roster
- Ann Meyers (#15): Senior guard/forward, 4-time All-American, and team leader.
- Denise Curry (#12): Freshman forward who led the team with a 20.3-24.6 scoring average.
- Dianne Frierson (#31): Sophomore guard (sometimes listed as forward/guard) who served as a key shooter.
- Anita Ortega (#11): Junior guard known for her speed.
- Denise Corlett (#13): Sophomore forward.
- Beth Moore (#21): Junior guard.
- Heidi Nestor (#24):.
- Tam Breckenridge:.
- Debbie Willie: Freshman.
- Janet Hopkins: Freshman
Ann Meyers was the first player to be offered a four year scholarship in 1974. All the players on the team had financial assitance by this season.[4]
Schedule
| Date time, TV |
Rank# | Opponent# | Result | Record | High points | High rebounds | High assists | Site (attendance) city, state | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Regular season | |||||||||||
| December 8, 1977* |
No. 7 | San Jose State | W 85-70 | 1-0 |
- – - | - – - | - – - | Pauley Pavilion Los Angeles, CA | |||
| December 17, 1977* |
No. 8 | Arizona State | W 106-69 | 2-0 |
- – - | - – - | - – - | Los Angeles, CA | |||
| December 20, 1977* |
No. 8 | Utah State | W 125-62 | 3-0 |
- – - | - – - | - – - | Los Angeles, CA | |||
| December 22, 1977* |
No. 7 | BYU | W 116-62 | 4-0 |
- – - | - – - | - – - | Los Angeles, CA | |||
| January 1, 1978* |
No. 7 | vs. No. 2 Delta State @ New York Madison Square Garden Invitational |
L 78-84[3] | 4-1 |
- – - | - – - | - – - | Madison Square Garden (5,181) New York, NY | |||
| January 2, 1978* |
No. 7 | vs. No. 18 Rutgers @ New York Madison Square Garden Invitational |
W 104-77 | 5-1 |
- – - | - – - | - – - | Madison Square Garden New York, NY | |||
| January 4, 1978* |
No. 7 | at No. 10 Maryland | L 88-92[8] | 5-2 |
- – - | - – - | - – - | Cole Field House College Park, MD | |||
| January 6, 1978* |
No. 7 | vs. Kentucky @ Raleigh Wolfpack Doubleheaders |
W 97-72 | 6-2 |
- – - | - – - | - – - | Reynolds Coliseum Raleigh, NC | |||
| January 7, 1978* |
No. 7 | at No. 5 North Carolina State Wolfpack Doubleheaders |
L 81-91 | 6-3 |
- – - | - – - | - – - | Reynolds Coliseum Raleigh, NC | |||
| January 18, 1978 |
No. 11 | at Long Beach State | W 107-94 | 7-3 (1-0) |
- – - | - – - | - – - | Long Beach, CA | |||
| January 20, 1978* |
No. 11 | Kansas State | W 123-62 | 8-3 |
- – - | - – - | - – - | Los Angeles, CA | |||
| January 25, 1978 |
No. 9 | Cal State Fullerton | W 101-55 | 9-3 (2-0) |
- – - | - – - | - – - | Los Angeles, CA | |||
| January 28, 1978 |
No. 9 | at San Diego State | W 96-49 | 10-3 (3-0) |
- – - | - – - | - – - | San Diego, CA | |||
| February 1, 1978 |
No. 9 | USC UCLA-USC rivalry |
W 88-63 | 11-3 (4-0) |
- – - | - – - | - – - | Los Angeles, CA | |||
| February 8, 1978 |
No. 9 | Long Beach State | W 94-65 | 12-3 (5-0) |
- – - | - – - | - – - | Los Angeles, CA | |||
| February 10, 1978* |
No. 9 | at San Francisco State | W 109-40 | 13-3 |
- – - | - – - | - – - | San Francisco, CA | |||
| February 11, 1978* |
No. 9 | at Stanford | W 99-69 | 14-3 |
- – - | - – - | - – - | Stanford, CA | |||
| February 14, 1978* |
No. 9 | Cal Poly Pomona | W 99-72 | 15-3 |
- – - | - – - | - – - | Los Angeles, CA | |||
| February 16, 1978 |
No. 9 | at Cal State Fullerton | W 100-73 | 16-3 (6-0) |
- – - | - – - | - – - | Fullerton, CA | |||
| February 18, 1978* |
No. 9 | Stephen F. Austin | W 85-74 | 17-3 |
- – - | - – - | - – - | Los Angeles, CA | |||
| February 22, 1978 |
No. 8 | San Diego State | W 104-44 | 18-3 (7-0) |
- – - | - – - | - – - | Los Angeles, CA | |||
| March 1, 1978* |
No. 8 | at Cal Poly Pomona | W 101-72 | 19-3 |
- – - | - – - | - – - | Pomona, CA | |||
| March 3, 1978 |
No. 8 | at USC UCLA-USC rivalry |
W 78-50 | 20-3 (8-0) |
- – - | - – - | - – - | Los Angeles, CA | |||
| AIAW Region 8 tournament | |||||||||||
| March 9, 1978 |
No. 7 | @ Stanford | W 80-54 | - – - | - – - | - – - | Stanford, CA | ||||
| March 10, 1978 |
No. 7 | vs. Long Beach State | W 79-78 | - – - | - – - | - – - | Stanford, CA | ||||
| March 11, 1978 |
No. 7 | vs. No. 17 UNLV | W 100-88 | - – - | - – - | - – - | Stanford, CA | ||||
| AIAW Sectionals | |||||||||||
| March 17, 1978 |
No. 5 | vs. BYU | W 102-57 | - – - | - – - | - – - | Long Beach, CA | ||||
| March 18, 1978 |
No. 5 | vs. No. 14 Stephen F. Austin | W 86-60[4] | - – - | - – - | - – - | Long Beach, CA | ||||
| AIAW Final Four | |||||||||||
| March 23, 1978 |
No. 5 | No. 4 Montclair State | W 85-77 | 22 – Tied | 14 – Tied | 8 – Meyers | Pauley Pavilion (7,822) Los Angeles, CA | ||||
| March 25, 1978 NBC |
No. 5 | No. 6 Maryland | W 90-74[9] | 23 – Ortega | 11 – Corlett | 9 – Meyers | Pauley Pavilion (9,351) Los Angeles, CA | ||||
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
All times are in Pacific Time. Source:[1] | |||||||||||
Awards and Honors
- February 18, 1978 - In the game against Stephen F. Austin Ann Meyers recorded the first quadruple-double in NCAA Division I basketball history, with 20 points, 14 rebounds, 10 assists and 10 steals.[10][11]
- WCAA Championship undefeated (8–0)
- AIAW Championship
- Ann Meyers was named to the Kodak First-team all America team for the fourth time
- Bruins on the all conference teams: Ann Meyers (1st Team), Denise Curry (1st Team), Anita Ortega (1st Team), Heidi Nestor (2nd Team)
- A number of single season and individual program records set in 1977-78 still stood as of the end of the 2024–25 season[1]
- Field goal percentage: .621 (Denise Curry)
- Points by a freshman: 610 (Denise Curry)
- Steals: 125 (Ann Meyers)
- Winning streak: 28 into the 1978–79 season
- Field goals made: 1,216 (team)
- Conference winning percentage: 1.000 (8–0)
- Scoring average per game: 96.2
- The attendance of 9,351 for the AIAW championship game stood as the record for a UCLA women's basketball game in Pauley Pavilion until the 1999 USC game.
- Victories over the two top ten teams in the finals were the second and third such wins in the history of the Bruin women's basketball team, and the first in post-season play.
See also
1977-78 UCLA Bruins men's basketball team
References
- ^ a b c d e Mueller, Corey - 2025-26 UCLA Women's Basketball Information Guide UCLA Athletics, October 2025
- ^ Kort, Michelle - That Championship Season. UCLA Magazine, January 1, 2000
- ^ a b Harvin, Al - Montclair State Gains Final With Delta State. New York Times, January 2, 1978
- ^ a b c Herman, Robin - Women's Basketball Arrives. New York Times, March 20, 1978
- ^ Baccellieri, Emma - This Isn’t UCLA’s First Women’s Final Four. Sports Illustrated, April 5, 2025. 'It may not be in the NCAA record books, but the 1978 AIAW championship is a big part of the Bruins’ storied program history'
- ^ Sports Illustrated, April 3, 1978
- ^ Olympic cage coach joins UCLA staff. Associated Press, April 20, 1977. 'Billie Moore, the U.S. women's basketball coach at the 1976 Olympic Games, has been named to that position at UCLA. Miss Moore, 33, succeeds Ellen Mosher, who resigned last week after two years as the UCLA women's basketball coach. Miss Moore, who led the U.S. team to a silver medal at Montreal, was an assistant athletic director and the women's basketball coach for the past cight years at California State University, Fullerton, where her teams compiled a 146-17 record.'
- ^ Maryland Women Top U.C.L.A. Five by 92-88. New York Times, January 5, 1978
- ^ A Title for U.C.L.A. Women. New York Times, March 27, 1978
- ^ UCLA Women's basketball media guide, uclabruins.com
- ^ SKYHAWK JUNIOR MAKES NCAA HISTORY WITH QUADRUPLE-DOUBLE. University of Tennessee at Martin – UT Martin Sports, November 14, 2007 (Quadruple-double history mention)