1977–78 UCLA Bruins women's basketball team

American college basketball season March 2026 March 2026 Women's basketball 1977-78 UCLA Bruins 200px Western Collegiate Athletic Association WCAA 5 27-3 8-0 1st Billie Moore 1st Colleen Matsuhara Pauley Pavilion AIAW, Reg. 8, WCAA 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.Mueller, Corey - 2025-26 UCLA Women's Basketball Information Guide UCLA Athletics, October 2025UCLA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL '79-'79 (Media guide). UCLA Athletics, October 1978 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. Led by senior Ann Meyers, freshman Denise Curry and junior Anita Ortega, the Bruins finished the season with a 27–3 record. They won the WCAA conference title with an undefeated 8–0 record.Kort, Michelle - That Championship Season. UCLA Magazine, January 1, 2000 The team won the 1978 AIAW National Large College Basketball Championship on March 25, 1978, the first National Championship for the Bruins in women's basketball.Feinberg, Paul - Title I Members of UCLA's champion 1978 women's basketball team recall what basketball was like then, and how the game has changed.. UCLA Magazine, January 1, 2018 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.Harvin, Al - Montclair State Gains Final With Delta State. New York Times, January 2, 1978 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. In the AIAW semifinal game, the Bruins faced one of the greatest scorers in the history of women's basketball, Carol Blazejowski and the Montclair State team. The Bruins won 85-77, even with Blazejowski scoring 40 points.Women's Basketball vs UCLA on 3/23/1978 - Box Score. Montclair State University Athletics, March 23, 1978Wheeler, Elizabeth - UCLA Puts Out Montclair, but Can't Put Out The Blaze. UCLA AND MARYLAND GAIN FINAL Los Angeles Times, March 24, 1978 Section III, pg 1, 10 Three Bruin players recorded double-doubles: Denise Curry with 22 points and 14 rebounds, Heidi Nestor with 22 points and 10 rebounds, and Ann Meyers with 19 points and 14 rebounds.UCLA Title IX Memories - 1978 AIAW W. Basketball Championship. uclabruins.com, May 16, 2012 In the national championship game, the Bruins defeated Maryland 90–74, in front of a record crowd of 9,351 at Pauley Pavilion for the 1978 AIAW National Large College Basketball Championship.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, 1978Huff, Donald - Slow Start Sinks Terps In Title Loss to UCLA. Washington Post, March 27, 1978 Meyers had 20 points, 10 rebounds, nine assists and eight steals. Ortega recorded a team high 23 points.Wheeler, Elizabeth - UCLA's Women Win the Title. Meyers Leads Rout of Maryland. Los Angeles Times, March 26, 1978 Section III, pg 1, 6 The 1978 national championship represented a shift from the smaller schools to larger schools with larger athletic budgets such as UCLA and MarylandHerman, Robin - Women's Basketball Arrives. New York Times, March 20, 1978 It was pivotal in terms of hosting, organization, format, television rights, and attendance.Nelson, Murry R.. American Sports: A History of Icons, Idols, and Ideas [4 Volumes]. United States: ABC-CLIO, 2013. pg 140 The NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament, which was first played at the end of the 1981-82 women's basketball season, would prevail as the season-completing tournament for women's college basketball.Bechtel, Mark - AIAW vs. NCAA: When Women's College Basketball Had to Choose. Sports Illustrated, June 14, 2022 Ann Meyers being the first woman to receive a four-year athletic scholarship is regarded as one of the defining moments in the history of women's sports.Kuwana, Claire - 50 Years of Title IX: The Defining Moments of Women's Sports. Sports Illustrated, June 9, 2022 Previous season Under previous head coach Ellen Mosher the Bruins won the WCAA with a 7–1 record. The largest win of the season was over number 5 ranked Cal State Fullerton coached by Billie Moore, which was the first Bruin win over a top ten ranked team. Moore's Fullerton teams had won the WCAA conference each of the previous 7 seasons.Y. Women's Team Heads to Playoffs. Deseret News, March 16, 1978 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.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.' Mosher took a job as the coach of the Minnesota Golden Gophers women's basketball team. Roster w 1977 UCLA Bruins y y w Ann Meyers y 15 F 5 9 SR La Habra, CA Sonora HS w Denise Curry y 12 F 6 1 FR Davis, CA Davis HS w Dianne Frierson n 31 G 5 6 SO Nashville, TN Hillwood HS w Anita Ortega y 11 G 5 8 JR Los Angeles, CA Los Angeles HS w Denise Corlett 13 F 5 11 SO w Beth Moore n 21 G JR w Heidi Nestor n 24 C 6 1 SR Los Angeles, CA Granada Hills HS w Tem Breckenridge n 30 w Debbie Willie n 10 F 5 9 FR Santa Barbara, CA San Marcos HS w Janet Hopkins n 20 FR Billie Moore Colleen Matsuhara https://static.uclabruins.com/old_site/pdf/w-baskbl/2011-12/misc_non_event/history.pdf 2026-03-28 Ann Meyers was the first player to be offered a four-year scholarship in 1974. All the players on the team had financial assistance by this season. Schedule yes 2025-26 NCAA Division I women's basketball rankings 2025 yes yes yes |- !colspan=9 style="UCLA Bruins white"| Regular season December 8, 1977 7 San Jose State 85-70 yes Los Angeles, CA Pauley Pavilion - - - - - - 1-0 December 17, 1977 8 Arizona State 106-69 yes Los Angeles, CA - - - - - - 2-0 December 20, 1977 8 Utah State 125-62 yes Los Angeles, CA - - - - - - 3-0 December 22, 1977 7 BYU 116-62 yes Los Angeles, CA - - - - - - 4-0 January 1, 1978 7 Delta State @ New York 2 78-84 yes yes New York, NY Madison Square Garden Madison Square Garden Invitational - - - - - - 4-1 5,181 January 2, 1978 7 Rutgers @ New York 18 104-77 yes yes New York, NY Madison Square Garden Madison Square Garden Invitational - - - - - - 5-1 January 4, 1978 7 Maryland 10 88-92Maryland Women Top U.C.L.A. Five by 92-88. New York Times, January 5, 1978 yes yes College Park, MD Cole Field House - - - - - - 5-2 January 6, 1978 7 Kentucky @ Raleigh 97-72 yes yes Raleigh, NC Reynolds Coliseum Wolfpack Doubleheaders - - - - - - 6-2 January 7, 1978 7 North Carolina State 5 81-91 yes yes Raleigh, NC Reynolds Coliseum Wolfpack Doubleheaders - - - - - - 6-3 January 18, 1978 11 Long Beach State 107-94 yes Long Beach, CA West Gym - - - - - - 7-3 1-0 January 20, 1978 11 Kansas State 123-62 yes Los Angeles, CA - - - - - - 8-3 January 25, 1978 9 Cal State Fullerton 101-55 Los Angeles, CA - - - - - - 9-3 2-0 January 28, 1978 9 San Diego State 96-49 yes San Diego, CA - - - - - - 10-3 3-0 February 1, 1978 9 USC 88-63 Los Angeles, CA UCLA-USC rivalry - - - - - - 11-3 4-0 February 8, 1978 9 Long Beach State 94-65 Los Angeles, CA - - - - - - 12-3 5-0 February 10, 1978 9 San Francisco State 109-40 yes yes San Francisco, CA - - - - - - 13-3 February 11, 1978 9 Stanford 99-69 yes yes Stanford, CA - - - - - - 14-3 February 14, 1978 9 Cal Poly Pomona 99-72 yes Los Angeles, CA - - - - - - 15-3 February 16, 1978 9 Cal State Fullerton 100-73 yes Fullerton, CA - - - - - - 16-3 6-0 February 18, 1978 9 Stephen F. Austin 85-74 yes Los Angeles, CA - - - - - - 17-3 February 22, 1978 8 San Diego State 104-44 Los Angeles, CA - - - - - - 18-3 7-0 March 1, 1978 8 Cal Poly Pomona 101-72 yes yes Pomona, CA - - - - - - 19-3 March 3, 1978 8 USC 78-50 yes Los Angeles, CA UCLA-USC rivalry - - - - - - 20-3 8-0 |- !colspan=9 style="UCLA Bruins"| UCLA Bruins 1978 AIAW National Large College Basketball Championship AIAW Region 8 tournament March 9, 1978 7 @ Stanford 80-54 Stanford, CA - - - - - - 21-3 March 10, 1978 7 Long Beach State 79-78 Stanford, CA - - - - - - 22-3 yes March 11, 1978 7 UNLV 17 100-88 Stanford, CA - - - - - - 23-3 yes |- !colspan=9 style="UCLA Bruins"| UCLA Bruins 1978 AIAW National Large College Basketball Championship AIAW Sectionals March 17, 1978 7:00pm 5 BYU 102-57 Long Beach, CA West Gym - - - - - - 24-3 yes March 18, 1978 5 Stephen F. Austin 14 86-60 Long Beach, CA West Gym - - - - - - 25-3 yes |- !colspan=9 style="UCLA Bruins"| UCLA Bruins 1978 AIAW National Large College Basketball Championship AIAW Final Four March 23, 1978 5 Montclair State 4 85-77 Los Angeles, CA Pauley Pavilion AIAW National Semifinal Tied 22 Tied 14 Meyers 8 26-3 7,822 March 25, 1978 5 Maryland 6 90-74A Title for U.C.L.A. Women. New York Times, March 27, 1978 Los Angeles, CA Pauley Pavilion AIAW National Championship NBC Ortega 23 Corlett 11 Meyers 9 27-3 9,351 Pacific Time Source: 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.UCLA Women's basketball media guide, uclabruins.comSKYHAWK JUNIOR MAKES NCAA HISTORY WITH QUADRUPLE-DOUBLE https://web.archive.org/web/20080605031812/http://www.utmsports.com/fullstory.cfm?id=2855&sport=Men%27s%20Basketball June 5, 2008 . University of Tennessee at Martin – UT Martin Sports, November 14, 2007 (Quadruple-double history mention) 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-WCAA 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 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 UCLA Category:UCLA Bruins women's basketball seasons UCLA Bruins women's basketball UCLA Bruins women's basketball