UCLA Wins First Women's Basketball Title, Bruins Finish 37-1

The margin said everything. UCLA's 79-51 demolition of South Carolina at the Mortgage Matchup Center in Phoenix on April 5 was not a close call, a dramatic finish, or a wire-to-wire grind. It was a coronation, one 15 years in the making for head coach Cori Close and the culmination of the most dominant season in program history.

Senior guard Gabriela Jaquez led all scorers with 21 points and 10 rebounds, part of a starting five that collectively reached double figures across the board. Gianna Kneepkens contributed 15 points, Lauren Betts posted 14 with a double-double, and both Charlisse Leger-Walker and Kiki Rice added 10 apiece. The Bruins led wire-to-wire, relying on the formula that carried them through a 37-1 season: a suffocating inside presence anchored by Betts, unselfish offense, and a defense that South Carolina could never solve.

Betts, a Grandview, Colorado native making her final collegiate run, was named the Tournament's Most Outstanding Player. For UCLA, the championship is the program's first NCAA women's basketball title and the university's 126th overall, across all sports. The Bruins previously claimed the AIAW championship in 1978, but this marks the program's first NCAA crown.

The road to Phoenix required eliminating five opponents, including a 51-44 Final Four win over Texas. Close leaned on a short rotation throughout the tournament, trusting seven players, six of whom are seniors or graduate students. That accumulated experience showed on the floor Sunday.

"It's immeasurably more than I could ask or imagine," Close said after the final buzzer. "It's beyond my wildest dreams."

The postgame scene at the Mortgage Matchup Center carried its own spontaneous joy. During Close's on-court interview with ESPN reporter Holly Rowe, Close's mother broke through and crashed the broadcast, a moment that quickly circulated across social media. Meanwhile, in Los Angeles, fans packed Pauley Pavilion to watch the game on the big screen.

South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley, a three-time national champion herself, offered a warm tribute despite the lopsided loss. "I'm always happy for people who have worked hard in this game who are really quality people," Staley said of Close. Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark also publicly congratulated Close and the Bruins.

The family dimension of the night extended to the stands, where Miami Heat forward Jaime Jaquez Jr. flew in to watch his sister Gabriela and her teammates make history.

Close finishes her 15th season at UCLA with a 358-144 career record and, finally, a national championship. The Bruins went 18-0 in Big Ten play, claimed both the regular-season and tournament Big Ten titles, and lost just once all year. There will not be much debate about whether this was one of the most complete seasons in the sport's history; the trophy and the scoreboard answered that already.