"I hope we have a team": UCLA's Lauren Betts, Kiki Rice and more leave HC Cori Close stunned with hilarious prank

UCLA women's basketball team, including Lauren Betts, Kiki Rice and Janiah Barker, pulled off an April Fool's Day prank on their coach Cori Close and the coaching staff. The Bruins are preparing for their Final Four matchup against UConn on Friday.

During Tuesday's practice, the Bruins were gathered to listen to Barker's speech before starting practice. Ira Gorawara, a sports editor for the Daily Bruin, shared the video on X of Barker's speech in which she was getting her teammates hyped up.

Here's the video:

After she gave her speech, she raised her hands for a fist-in and the whole team, including the coaching staff, put their fists up in the air.

"Here we go! One, Two, Three. Earn it," Close said.

However, instead of heading to the court for practice, the entire team ran off the court and out the doors, leaving Close and the rest of the coaching staff stunned and in shock.

"I hope we have a team," Close joked.

She then moved closer to the camera and asked:

"You know something I don't know?"

After a few moments, the team came back into the facility shouting:

"April Fool."

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Kiki Rice and Lauren Betts focused on UCLA's historic Final Four game

The UCLA Bruins will be making their first-ever NCAA Final Four appearance in the program's history when they take on Paige Bueckers' UConn on Friday in Tampa, Florida.

While the Bruins won the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women championship in 1978 and made two Final Four appearances in that tournament, they have not advanced past the Elite Eight since the NCAA began sponsoring women's basketball in 1982.

This season, junior center Lauren Betts and fellow junior guard Kiki Rice have played a huge part in the Bruins making it to the national semifinal.

Betts, the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year and Big Ten Tournament MOP, leads UCLA in scoring, averaging 20.0 points, 9.6 rebounds, and 2.8 assists per game. Rice, on the other hand, is averaging 12.9 ppg, 5.1 apg and 3.5 rpg this season.

The Bruins have only lost two games this season and are currently on a seven-game winning streak. Both of their losses were against the USC Trojans, which is the team that UConn beat to advance to the Final Four.

According to ESPN BET, the Huskies are favored to win the game, advance to the national championship, and potentially secure their 12th title at -180 odds. Meanwhile, UCLA is considered the least likely team to cut down the nets in Tampa, with +800 odds.