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UCLA placed on a masterclass efficiency to down South Carolina 79-51 in the women’s nationwide championship on Sunday on the Mortgage Matchup Center in Phoenix.
The win secured the Bruins their first women’s title in program history.
UCLA got here out the gates on hearth and continued their torrid play all through the sport.
Despite star heart Lauren Betts spending a while on the bench, coping with what she described as one thing being caught in her throat, UCLA was in a position to climate the storm with protection.
They held the Gamecocks to a 26% capturing share from the sphere via the first two quarters, together with 1 for 8 from three-point vary and took a 13-point lead into halftime.
The Bruins didn’t take their foot of the fuel to begin the third quarter, growing the lead to 22, the most important deficit SC has confronted all season.
There hasn’t been many occasions this season – or certainly in the final decade and a half – the place one can say South Carolina had no solutions however on Sunday, the staff had nothing.
UCLA outscored South Carolina by 16 factors in the third quarter, the most important scoring margin of any quarter in women’s title-game history, in accordance the ESPN broadcast.
The Gamecocks wanted one thing past a miracle to safe the applications fourth title since 2017 however got here up quick for the second straight 12 months after a blowout loss to UConn in the 2025 championship sport.
Betts and Gabriela Jaquez each completed with double-doubles and acquired a standing ovation from UCLA followers in attendance when taken out of the sport with lower than 5 minutes to go. Every Bruins starter completed in double figures.
As the clock reached zeroes, an emotional UCLA head coach Cori Close embraced with South Carolina coach Dawn Staley and the remainder of the staff celebrated the win.
UCLA finishes the season with a 37-1 report and a brand new, shiny trophy to add to their case in Westwood, California, that already options an NCAA-record 11 males’s basketball titles.
The win additionally extends the Bruins’ win streak to 31 video games, the longest in program history.
The 54-year-old Close, standing alongside her mom, stated the second was “immeasurably more” than she might ever think about.
“It’s beyond my wildest dreams,” Close informed the ESPN broadcast. “But it’s meaningful because of the people I’ve gotten to share it with. It’s all about the heart. And it would be shallow without an amazing village and incredible people that are important to me my whole life.”
Close’s UCLA squad turns into the second-ever Big Ten college to win the women’s title, becoming a member of Purdue in 1998.
Jaquez, who completed with a team-high 21 factors, added that it was “definitely” a purpose of the varsity’s profitable senior class to carry a title again to UCLA.
“I knew we were going to do it. Coming to UCLA, we all set out for a goal and I imagined this moment. I imagined it so many times. And I am just so, so proud,” Jacquez stated along with her brother – Jaime, a ahead for the NBA’s Miami Heat – watching in attendance.
The 22-year-old Betts, a projected excessive choose in the upcoming WNBA draft, was named the 2026 Most Outstanding Player in this 12 months’s event.
Betts completed Sunday with 14 factors and 11 rebounds and stated basketball has helped her develop as an individual after coping with adversity via her life.
“Basketball has given me the platform to change peoples lives,” an emotional Betts stated.
She added, “I was put on this earth not just to score points, but to help people. And I’ve gone through my journey because other people have experienced the same thing. I’m always going to speak my truth because I know its going to help people.”
