UCLA’s Cori Close, Sacramento State’s Mark Campbell share a mutual respect

UCLA women’s basketball coach Cori Close and Sacramento State coach Mark Campbell have a bond that’s been built through years of basketball and familial ties. So when Campbell called in the middle of a game plan meeting on Wednesday, Close knew exactly what to say:

“Sorry, we’re trying to figure out how to beat Sac State.”

Saturday’s 8:30 p.m. NCAA tournament first-round game will be the sixth meeting between the two programs, but the history between the head coaches runs deep.

Close recruited Campbell’s wife, Ashley, when she played at Oregon City High School and had a working relationship with his father-in-law, Brad Smith, when he coached at the same school.

Campbell became familiar with Close when he started dating Ashley, and they crossed paths even more frequently during his seven seasons coaching at Oregon. Campbell’s daughters even grew up with an affection for the Bruins’ mascots, Joe and Josephine.

“Ever since I’ve been in the women’s game, Cori has been a mentor and a great friend and just an awesome person,” Campbell said.

There’s mutual respect between the coaches, but game time might not be so rosy. No. 13 seed Sacramento State (25-7) is looking to make the most of its first appearance in the NCAA tournament and fourth-seeded UCLA (25-9) is eager to be dancing again.

UCLA senior guard Cam Brown said this feels like the first true NCAA tournament for many players on the team. The Bruins played in the WNIT last season and COVID-19 drastically affected the 2021 NCAA tournament.

The Bruins also have a healthy starting lineup and bench this season, which is perhaps the biggest difference from last season.

“Being able to look on the bench and actually know you have subs coming is an amazing feeling,” Brown said. “We’ve been able to play this whole season rotating a good majority of our entire team. So we’re used to all playing with each other. We’re used to different lineups.”

Redshirt sophomore Emily Bessoir missed last season due to a torn ACL and has come back to be a valuable starter and key cog. She is the third-leading scorer at 9.4 ppg and averages a team-best 5.8 rebounds per game.

“I’m just so grateful to be out there,” she said. “I didn’t know I would feel this way two years ago about basketball. But now that I’m able to play, I’m just glad for every opportunity that we get.”

Senior Charisma Osborne leads the team in scoring (15.5 ppg) and has played the most minutes of any Pac-12 player with 1,089. Freshman Kiki Rice is second on the team in both scoring (11.7 ppg) and assists (106).

Sacramento State is on a nine-game winning streak heading into Saturday’s game and is led by Kahlaijah Dean and Isnelle Natabou.

Dean is the Big Sky Conference Player of the Year and averaged 21.1 points in the conference tournament. Natabou is averaging 15.8 ppg on 64.2% shooting. As a team, the Hornets are the fourth-best 3-point shooting team in the nation at 38.64%.

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“We’re here to win,” Campbell said. “That’s been the goal. We’re 32 games into the season. It’s a business trip and we’re preparing and going to do everything we can to try to find a way to scrap out a win.”

The winner of Saturday night’s game will face the winner of the game between fifth-seeded Oklahoma or No. 12 seed Portland on Monday at Pauley Pavilion. Although there’s love and respect between Close and Campbell off the court, each desperately wants to get to that second-round game.

“Make no mistake about it, it doesn’t make me want to beat him any less,” Close said. “I don’t care if I’m playing ping pong. I’m gonna want to win. That’s my job.”

UCLA (25-9) vs. Sacramento State (25-7)

NCAA tournament, first round

When: Saturday, 8:30 p.m.

Where: Pauley Pavilion

TV: ESPN2