PHOENIX (AP) — Mission accomplished for UCLA.
Gabriela Jaquez, Lauren Betts and the rest of the UCLA seniors captured the first NCAA women’s basketball championship in school history — a goal set after last season’s first Final Four loss.
Jaquez scored 21 points, Betts added 16 and UCLA defeated South Carolina 79-51 in the title game on Sunday.
“I knew we were going to do it. When we came to UCLA, we all started looking for a purpose, and I imagined this moment,” Jaquez said. “I’ve imagined it so many times, and I’m just so proud. … A lot of crying, the confetti, all the fans being here to support us, my family being here, it just means everything. Celebrating with this group, like … I’m so happy.”
The near-record lopsided victory completed the Bruins’ journey through the year March madness. The Bruins outplayed their opponents this season with their only loss coming in November, against Texas in a Thanksgiving tournament.
“It’s immeasurably more than I could ask for or imagine,” said UCLA coach Cori Close. “It’s beyond my wildest dreams.”
UCLA (37-1) was led by Betts and her fellow seniors and students, like Jaquez – who played all four years with the Bruins. She also had 10 rebounds and five assists for her brother Jaime, who plays for the Miami Heat flew to attend the game to see his alma mater win.
The group that coach Close brought together through a combination of high school commitments and transfer portal players capped their stellar careers with a championship and scored all the points in the title game.
“Connectivity. Attention to detail. You know, I looked them in the eye before in the locker room, before the game, and I said, ‘I’m so proud to say this,’” Close said. “Because we’ve said all year long that talent is our floor, but our character is going to be our ceiling.”
The title is UCLA’s first since winning the 1978 AIAW Championship, the women’s basketball postseason tournament before the NCAA took over in 1982.
The loss in the championship game was the second straight for the Gamecocks, who won the title in 2024. Dawn Staley and her Gamecocks (36-4) will be favored to return to the game’s biggest stage with a talented group of expected returners, led by Joyce Edwards and Agot Maker.
Like them 51-44 victory over Texas in the semifinals, the Bruins were locked in defensively, anchored by Betts. She finished with 11 rebounds and left the game with 3:45 to go, giving Close a huge hug. The 6-foot-1 senior earned Most Outstanding Player honors of the Final Four.
“UCLA is a quality team with very experienced players who got a taste of the Final Four last year, and you make adjustments,” South Carolina’s Staley said. “From last year to this year – they played with determination last year, but this year they played more determined because they were so close.”
Offensively, the Bruins had a much easier time than in the semifinals, in which the team scored only 20 points in the first half. The Bruins surpassed that total in the first ten minutes against South Carolina. Kiki’s Rice 3-pointer just before the buzzer in the first quarter made it 21-10 as the Bruins got off to a strong start and South Carolina struggled at 17% shooting, its worst quarter of the season.
The Bruins extended the lead to 15 points in the second quarter by clogging the paint on defense and working the ball inside on offense for a 36-23 halftime lead.
UCLA put the game away in the third quarter, opening the period on a 12-3 run. Jaquez had five points during the sprint. South Carolina never threatened again, as the Bruins outscored them 25-9 in that period.
“We just didn’t have it today. We tried, but we just didn’t have it today,” Staley said. “They were the better team.”
South Carolina avoided the most lopsided loss in championship history by 33 points, which came in 2013 when UConn defeated Louisville. The Gamecocks also surpassed Louisiana Tech’s 1987 title game low of 44 points against Tennessee.
The Gamecocks sought to cement their name as the sport’s premiere program with a fourth championship and a third in the past five seasons. It just wasn’t meant to be on Sunday as they played their worst shooting game of the season against a talented UCLA team.
“This isn’t the ending we wanted, but we got here. No one thought we would do that, and we did it,” said Tessa Johnson, who led South Carolina with 14 points.
Maker has added 11 for the Vechthanen.
“The score speaks for itself.” said Gamecocks senior Raven Johnson, who played in five Final Fours in her career.
Close has been at UCLA for 15 seasons, but her ties to the school run deeper as she was mentored by legendary Bruins men’s coach John Wooden, who won 10 national championships at the school.
Their bond began when she was 22 years old and he was 83. She shares the same first name with one of his great-granddaughters. Close visited Wooden biweekly, adopted his “Pyramid of Success” and focused on character and it paid off with her team.
“Coach Wooden always said, ‘You have to do it the way you’re capable of doing it, not the way someone else did it.’ And I just tried imperfectly to stay true to that,” Close said.
AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-womens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness
