Wave Wire Services
LOS ANGELES — A free celebration of UCLA’s first NCAA women’s basketball championship will be held at 6 p.m. April 8 at Pauley Pavilion.
An unprecedented defensive performance gave the Bruins the title April 5 as they became the first team to hold its opponent to under 30% shooting overall and under 15% shooting in 3-point shots in an NCAA championship game, men’s or women’s, according to the sports analytics website OptaSTATS.
South Carolina made 18 of 62 shots, 29%, including 2 of 15 3-point shots, 13.3%, in the 79-51 loss in Phoenix.
The 28-point margin was the third-largest among the 44 NCAA women’s basketball championship games, behind Connecticut’s 93-60 victory over Louisville in 2013 and the Huskies’ 82-51 victory over Syracuse in 2016.
UCLA (37-1) never trailed, and was tied only once, 2-2.
“We just knew we were going to win because of all the prep and work that we put in,” said Bruins’ center Lauren Betts, who was selected as the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player. “When we find a way to play together and play selflessly, do what we do, no one can stop us.”
The Gamecocks missed eight of their first nine shots as UCLA broke out to a 13-4 lead 4:51 into the game.
“I thought the first quarter, first half, we had a lot of people taking shots that aren’t normal for us,” South Carolina coach Dawn Staley said. “So we didn’t do a good job of getting the people that probably was supposed to get some better looks the ball.
“But I think UCLA had a lot to do with it.”
The Gamecocks made 3 of 18 shots in the first quarter, 16.67%, and 6 of 17 in the second, 35.29% in front of a crowd announced at 15,856 at Mortgage Matchup Center.
The Bruins led 21-10 after the first quarter and 36-23 at halftime, then outscored South Carolina, 29-5, in the third quarter, increasing their lead to 61-32 entering the fourth quarter. The Bruins’ biggest lead was 76-41
with 4:35 to play.
UCLA made 30 of 69 shots, 43.5%, including 8 of 19 3-point shots, 42.1%.
Gabriela Jaquez led five Bruin starters in double figures with a game- high 21 points with fellow forward Gianna Kneepkens adding 15, Betts 14 and guards Charlisse Leger-Walker and Kiki Rice 10 each.
The game marked the end of the college careers for all five of UCLA’s starters. All the Bruins’ points in the Final Four were scored by seniors or graduate students.
“I said I wanted to find uncommon, courageous women that were willing to make uncommon choices that maybe possibly could yield an uncommon result, and today it did,” UCLA coach Cori Close said in her opening remarks in the postgame news conference while tearing up.
The Bruins completed the season on a school-record 31-game winning streak.
Junior guard Tessa Johnson scored 14 and freshman guard Agot Makeer 11 in 23 minutes off the bench as South Carolina (36-4) lost in the final for the second consecutive season.
“We just didn’t have it today,” said Staley, who coached the Gamecocks to NCAA championships in 2017, 2022 and 2024. “We tried, but we just didn’t have it today. They were the better team today. Congratulations to them.”
Oddsmakers had made South Carolina a 3 1/2-point favorite. ESPN’s Matchup Predictor gave the Gamecocks a 52.5% chance of winning, the Bruins a 47.5% chance.
The victory gave UCLA its 126th NCAA team championship, second behind Stanford’s 138. USC is third 115 and Texas fourth with 60. The Bruins’ 1995 softball championship was vacated by the NCAA Committee on Infractions and is not included in the total.
Championships in the Football Bowl Subdivision and Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women, which conducted championships through 1982, are not included.
UCLA won the national championship in 1978 when the tournament was conducted by the AIAW. The NCAA began conducting a women’s basketball tournament in 1982.
