UCLA coach Cori Close disputes Angel Reese's claim from handshake line: 'That's just not who we are'
There’s been no shortage of controversy around the No. 3 seed LSU women’s basketball team of late, and the Tigers and No. 2 seed UCLA added a new layer after LSU’s Sweet 16 win on Saturday afternoon. And it stemmed from an alleged bit of trash talking by a Bruins assistant.
At least, that is what LSU star Angel Reese said during her postgame press conference after an apparent moment of friction in the postgame handshake line. Reese made clear that it was not UCLA head coach Cori Close, but an assistant that was “talking a little crazy.”
In her press conference shortly after, Close strongly rebuffed such a claim.
“That’s just not who we are,” Close said. “I don’t want to say anything about Angel, I will only speak to what the Bruins are and the Bruins are classy, speaking life into each other. We are not going to give that any — we would never do that. And especially would never come from one of my coaches. So we will — maybe she heard something mistakenly but I can tell you, and I’m not saying anything about Angel — I’m just saying from what comes from my camp, absolutely not.”
In what turned into a close, intense and emotional game, Reese and the UCLA bench seemed to trade a few words late in the contest but there was no intervention from the officials or even a moment when anyone boiled over.
But after LSU won, 78-69, to advance to the Elite 8, Reese apparently heard some smack talk and wasn’t going to let it slide — even if Close insists the source was misidentified.
Reese didn’t elaborate on what might’ve been said
Reese’s response was short and simple and she declined to comment further. The LSU star also said it was not Close who said something.
“She told me good game,” Reese said. “It was another coach that was talking a little crazy.”
Reese finished the game with 16 points, 11 rebounds and one assist.
Guard Flau’jae Johnson was phenomenal in the win, scoring a game-high 24 points in the contest on 7-of-11 shooting, which included a 2-of-2 mark from beyond the 3-point line. She took over in the final frame, securing a key rebound in the waning moments to finally put some distance between the two teams.
“I’ve been focused. I’ve been in the gym. I’ve been locked in,” Johnson told ESPN’s Holly Rowe after the game. “Every day I’m in the gym putting in that work, every day. Because I know people are going to discredit me because I rap and I hoop, so I know I’ve got to go extra hard. So that’s what I do, I be in the gym.”