It's 'all or nothing' for UCLA seniors chasing NCAA women's basketball title

UCLA's Kiki Rice, left, and Gianna Kneepkens celebrate during a win over Duke in the Elite Eight of the NCAA women's basketball tournament on Sunday. (Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times) You’d be forgiven if you thought this year’s Final Four was just a case of déjà vu. On paper, that seems true — four No.

1 seeds who have dominated every round of the NCAA tournament arrived in Phoenix this week and they are the same four teams who reached the Final Four last year in Tampa, Fla. Sustaining that level of success during the modern college basketball era, the four teams insist, isn’t as easy. Connecticut doesn’t have Paige Bueckers; South Carolina doesn’t have Kamilla Cardoso; and UCLA coach Cori Close and the Bruins have a much different lineup.

“Getting here,” UConn coach Geno Auriemma said, “is the hard part. ” Read more: UCLA confident it can turn last year's hard lessons into Final Four success UCLA coach Close noted during the Sweet 16 that the work to stay competitive in this era is exhausting for coaches, and it's only getting harder. She will have another rebuild ahead of her immediately after getting to the pinnacle of the sport during back-to-back campaigns.

The Bruins will graduate the majority of its rotation after this season, with all five starters and top bench player Angela Dugalic projected to be WNBA draft picks in April. Does that make this a make-it-or-break-it year for UCLA? "I think in the back of our heads, we all know that this is our last go at this," Bruins senior center Lauren Betts said.