PHOENIX — With beneath 4 minutes left to go within the 2026 NCAA girls’s nationwide championship sport, UCLA’s Lauren Betts and Kiki Rice had been subbed out of the sport, headed to their bench and hugged their head coach Cori Shut. Seconds later, senior Gabriela Jaquez hits a 3-point shot to present the Bruins a 79-45 lead. Jaquez then heads to the bench to be subbed out, waves her fingers within the air to pump up the UCLA crowd and braces for a hug with Shut. The UCLA pupil part was yelling “MVP, MVP.” In a matchup the place heading into the sport, they had been thought of the underdogs, dealing with a South Carolina group making its fifth nationwide championship look since 2017, the Bruins appeared like every part however that on Sunday afternoon in Phoenix, Arizona.
UCLA made historical past on Sunday afternoon at Mortgage Matchup Heart, profitable its first nationwide championship in program historical past for the NCAA Event period. The Bruins gained an AIAW nationwide championship again in 1978, lead by notable girls’s basketball legend Ann Meyers Drysdale.
From the primary whistle, UCLA appeared like a centered group on a mission. The Bruins had been fast with tempo, aggressive on protection and making pictures. The Gamecocks however had a horrible evening capturing. At halftime, South Carolina shot 26 p.c from the sector and 1-for-8 from the 3-point line. The Gamecocks completed the sport going 18-for-62 from the sector and 2-for-15 from the arc.
“UCLA had rather a lot to do with it,” South Carolina head coach Daybreak Staley mentioned about her group’s capturing woes. “I didn’t suppose we needed to play excellent basketball, however we needed to play higher basketball. We needed to make pictures, create offense for our protection. We needed to be higher defensively, really pushing them off their spots. I believe they acquired to the place they wanted to go. We didn’t apply sufficient strain for us to make an affect on the offensive facet of the ball. As a result of you possibly can have a great defensive possession, however hand over an offensive rebound, that’s simply actually deflating.”
Regardless of glimpses of full-court press and switching to zone protection, South Carolina by no means discovered a spark and the pictures by no means fell. The Gamecocks had been additionally out-rebounded 49-37 and had 12 much less factors within the paint in comparison with UCLA’s 40. With 5 minutes left within the third quarter, UCLA was up by 20 factors, and heading into the fourth quarter the Bruins led 61-32.
“UCLA is a high quality group with very skilled gamers who acquired a style of being within the Ultimate 4 final yr. You make changes. You employ that have as a studying lesson and also you come again sharper and also you improve your possibilities of profitable. From final yr to this yr, they performed decided final yr, however they performed extra decided this yr. They had been so shut. They’ve had the expertise to do this. They took benefit of it,” Staley mentioned.
The Bruins completed the season with a 37-1 general file, which marks probably the most wins in a single season for this system. In addition they completed the season on a 31-game win streak, marking the longest in program historical past.
“The arrogance we got here out with, we knew we had been going to win. Once we play collectively, nobody can cease us,” Betts mentioned. “Nobody cares about stats when you could have a hoop round your finger.”
Final season, Shut’s squad misplaced within the Ultimate 4 to eventual nationwide champions UConn, 85-51. Heading into the Ultimate 4 video games, head coach Shut mentioned on Thursday that she didn’t rejoice sufficient final season and all their accomplishments, however she will be able to at present. Shut mentioned she believed all six of UCLA’s seniors may have been first-team All-Individuals on different groups and praised their selflessness to deal with the objective of profitable over themselves.
All 5 of the Bruins starters scored in double digits figures, and had been lead by Jaquez who completed the sport with 21 factors, 10 rebounds and 5 assists. Angela Dugalic got here off the bench contributing with 9 factors, 5 rebounds and 4 assists.. Betts gained Most Excellent Participant of the 2026 girls’s NCAA Event.
“We mentioned all yr our selflessness and work ethic would gasoline us all season,” Shut mentioned to ESPN’s Holly Rowe after the sport.
UCLA will lose some key items from this championship group, with no less than 4 gamers predicted to be WNBA draft picks. However for now they rejoice, no less than till the switch portal opens tomorrow. Shut did joke within the postgame press convention that the win makes the portal simpler.
“We had a sense this was our time, and that is our yr,” mentioned Rice within the postgame press convention.
For South Carolina, Staley mentioned postgame that this loss can drive her group for subsequent yr.
“Shedding within the nationwide championship sport the best way we misplaced, I suppose that would be the factor that basically drives us,” Staley mentioned. “You want one thing to drive you all through the actually laborious occasions and the difficult occasions, and likewise the nice occasions.”
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