After the South Carolina Gamecocks pulled off a shocking upset over the undefeated UConn Huskies in the Final Four on Friday night, they entered Sunday’s national championship with plenty of confidence.
However, they ran into a buzzsaw in the one-loss UCLA Bruins, led by Lauren Betts and Gabriela Jaquez, as UCLA dominated from start to finish in a 79-51 victory.
Betts was named Most Outstanding Player, and the win marked UCLA’s first women’s national title— a remarkable achievement and a testament to the job head coach Cori Close has done with the program. She also received high praise after the game from WNBA superstar Caitlin Clark.
“Not many care about the game as much as Coach Close… couldn’t be happier for her!!” Clark posted on X. “Congrats [UCLA].”
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Clark is arguably the greatest college basketball player of all time, considering what she accomplished at Iowa, where she became the Division I all-time leading scorer. That said, she was never able to get over the hump and win a national championship — something UCLA can now claim after a dominant season.
The Bruins’ only loss came all the way back on Nov. 26 against Texas, a team they later defeated in the Final Four to earn a spot in the national title game.
Betts finished with 14 points and 11 rebounds, while Jaquez led all scorers with a game-high 21 points. UCLA also had four other players score in double figures, while the Gamecocks were led by Tessa Johnson, who had 14 points in the loss.
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