From representation to results: Women coaches define NCAA championship matchup

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From representation to results: Women coaches define NCAA championship matchup

Heather Burns, USA TODAY · USA TODAY Sports

Sun, Apr 5, 2026 ·

3 min read

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PHOENIX — The two teams playing in the women's basketball national championship will once again be coached by two women.

UCLA 's Cori Close, who is coaching in her first title game, will face off against South Carolina 's Dawn Staley, who is coaching her fifth. It's been a trend of late as women have been the head coaches of both teams in five of the past seven Women's NCAA Tournament championship games, not including 2020 − when the tournament was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Close said being part of the shift is gratifying. Only three men have won championships in the NCAA era — UConn 's Geno Auriemma, Louisiana Tech 's Leon Barmore and Texas A&M 's Gary Blair. Auriemma has been in 13 championship games, winning 12, Barmore three, winning one, and Blair went to one and won it in 2011. Of men still coaching, Louisville 's Jeff Walz and Texas' Vic Schaefer are both two-time runner-ups.

"Both Dawn and I feel a sense of pride that we are able to continue to represent women that can coach at the highest levels, to promote our game," Close said. "(We) really see this as something bigger than ourselves. That's an honor."

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Close said the key to access to coaching for young women is getting them involved in at lower levels so they can work their way up. And women need to give women opportunities. At the end of her career, former Notre Dame coach Muffet McGraw famously stopped hiring men as assistants.

"We need to promote more women at the grassroots levels to be coaching, getting involved in youth sports," Close said. "There's just a lot of things that go into that.

"There's something to be said, that if you can see it, you think you can achieve it, right?"

Close said Staley has been extremely helpful to her during her career. She hopes to keep her program at a championship level, even as her five starters leave the program for the WNBA .

"What impresses me most about what Dawn's done is, obviously, her sustained level of excellence on the court is just undeniable," Close said. "She's been a standard bearer.

"The other part I respect so much about Dawn is how much she cares for the people around her. ... How she cares for the entire community. ... To me that's really a spectacular combination, to have that level of sustained excellence and make a difference in so many people's lives, then you're doing things the right way."

Staley was equally complimentary of Close, who Staley said has done a great job of getting top talent and keeping it in the age of name, image and likeness and revenue share. All five starters for UCLA − including All-American center Lauren Betts − are seniors.

"Cori Close has done a tremendous job with keeping that group together and formulating something truly special in getting back-to-back Final Fours, now to the national championship game," Staley said. "She's done it with players who believe in her and her system. Her system works.

"They've been together. They're an experienced group that's used to playing well with each other. They've been in situations where they've been challenged. They're battle-tested. We got all of that that we're up against."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Female coaches continue to dominate NCAA women's basketball title game

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