{"id":79480,"date":"2026-04-05T22:40:50","date_gmt":"2026-04-05T22:40:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/isport.com.ng\/?p=79480"},"modified":"2026-04-05T22:40:50","modified_gmt":"2026-04-05T22:40:50","slug":"ucla-wins-first-womens-basketball-national-title-in-program-history-with-dominant-win-over-south-carolina","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/isport.com.ng\/?p=79480","title":{"rendered":"UCLA wins first women’s basketball national title in program history with dominant win over South Carolina"},"content":{"rendered":"

UCLA wins first women’s basketball national title in program history with dominant win over South Carolina<\/h1>\n

For the first time in program history, the\u00a0UCLA Bruins\u00a0are the women\u2019s basketball national champions.<\/p>\n

The Bruins took down the\u00a0South Carolina Gamecocks, the team led by Dawn Staley that had reached the national title game three consecutive seasons and won it in 2024, in dominant fashion, 79-51.<\/p>\n

Staley\u2019s squad did not look like it did against UConn in the Final Four, as they couldn\u2019t figure things out offensively. A lot of that had to do with suffocating UCLA defense, but the Bruins weren\u2019t having the same trouble when they had the ball in their hands.<\/p>\n

By the end of the third quarter, the Bruins had a whopping 29-point lead over the Gamecocks, 61-32, as UCLA held South Carolina to just 24% shooting from the floor compared to their 43%.<\/p>\n

In the end, UCLA made 43% of its shots compared to South Carolina’s 29%, which is always the goal for a team looking to win a title.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s been a long time coming for Close, who has been leading the Bruins since the 2011-12 season. Last season marked the first time UCLA has been to the Final Four in the women\u2019s NCAA Tournament as a program, though they fell to the UConn Huskies, 85-51.<\/p>\n

\n
<\/div>\n
\n

This time, it was the Bruins getting the job done\u00a0against Texas, 51-44, to secure a spot for the national title. Of course, it wasn\u2019t expected to be an easy feat against the Gamecocks, who handled UConn, 62-48, which resulted in a now-viral exchange between Staley and Geno Auriemma at midcourt.<\/p>\n

However, Close has the right formula, and the Bruins executed it to a tee on Sunday afternoon to be crowned champions.<\/p>\n

All five starters for Close finished the game with double-digit points, with Gabriela Jaquez, the sister of ex-Bruins men\u2019s basketball star and current Miami Heat guard Jaime Jaquez, leading the charge with 21 on 8-of-14 shooting. She also finished with a double-double after hauling in 10 rebounds.<\/p>\n

\n
Lauren Betts had herself a double-double, too, finishing the game with 14 points and 11 rebounds. Gianna Kneepkens (15 points, four assists), Charlisse Leger-Walker (10 points, four rebounds) and Kiki Rice (10 points, six rebounds, five assists) helped the Bruins keep the pace against the Gamecocks, who couldn\u2019t get the game closer.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

UCLA wins first women’s basketball national title in program history with dominant win over South Carolina For the first time in program history, the\u00a0UCLA Bruins\u00a0are the women\u2019s basketball national champions. … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":79481,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[42],"class_list":["post-79480","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-football","tag-south-carolina"],"yoast_head":"\nUCLA wins first women's basketball national title in program history with dominant win over South Carolina - iSport<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Bruins took down the\u00a0South Carolina Gamecocks, the team led by Dawn Staley that had reached the national title game three\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/isport.com.ng\/?p=79480\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"UCLA wins first women's basketball national title in program history with dominant win over South Carolina - 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