UCLA's Cori Close can complete her resume by getting Bruins a championship

PHOENIX — A few years ago, when the gender disparity between the men’s and women’s NCAA Tournaments was on full display, a group of the most prominent voices in women’s basketball started holding weekly calls about how to push their sport forward.Among those on the calls were South Carolina’s Dawn Staley and UConn’s Geno Auriemma, two of the biggest names in women’s basketball (their recent drama, aside). Then-Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer — their fellow Naismith Hall of Famer — participated, too.Advertisement