PHOENIX (AP) \u2014 It\u2019s mission accomplished for UCLA.<\/p>\n
Gabriela Jaquez, Lauren Betts and the rest of the UCLA seniors secured the first NCAA women\u2019s basketball national championship in school history \u2014 a goal that was set after losing in the first Final Four last season.<\/p>\n
Jaquez scored 21 points, Betts added 16 and UCLA routed South Carolina 79-51 Sunday in the title game.<\/p>\n
\u201cI knew we were going to do it. Coming to UCLA we all set out for a goal, and I imagined this moment,\u201d Jaquez said. \u201cI imagined it so many times, and I am just so, so proud. … Crying a lot, the confetti, all of the fans being here to support us, my family being here, it just means everything. Celebrating with this group, like … I\u2019m so happy.\u201d<\/p>\n
The near-record lopsided victory completed the Bruins\u2019 journey through this year\u2019s March Madness<\/a>. The Bruins ran through their opponents this season with their only loss coming in November, to Texas in a Thanksgiving tournament.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s immeasurably more than I could ask or imagine,\u201d UCLA coach Cori Close said. \u201cIt\u2019s beyond my wildest dreams.\u201d<\/p>\n UCLA (37-1) was led by Betts and her fellow seniors and graduate students, like Jaquez \u2014 who played all four years with the Bruins. She also had 10 rebounds and five assists in front of her brother Jaime, who plays for the Miami Heat and flew in to attend<\/a> the game to watch his alma mater win.<\/p>\n The group that coach Close put together through a combination of high school commitments and transfer portal players capped off their stellar careers with a championship, scoring all the points in the title game.<\/p>\n \u201cConnectivity. Attention to detail. You know I looked them in the eyes before in the locker room, before the game, and I said, \u2018I\u2019m so proud to be able to say this,\u201d Close said. \u201cBecause all year we\u2019ve been saying the talent is our floor, but our character will determine our ceiling.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n The title is UCLA\u2019s first since winning the 1978 AIAW championship, which was the postseason tournament for women\u2019s basketball before the NCAA took over in 1982.<\/p>\n The championship game loss was the second straight for the Gamecocks, who won the title in 2024. Dawn Staley and her Gamecocks (36-4) will be favored to return to the game\u2019s biggest stage with a talented group of expected returnees, led by Joyce Edwards and Agot Makeer.<\/p>\n Like their 51-44<\/a> semifinal win over Texas, the Bruins were locked in defensively, anchored by Betts. She finished with 11 rebounds and exited the game with 3:45 left, giving Close a huge hug. The 6-foot-7 senior earned Most Outstanding Player honors of the Final Four.<\/p>\n \u201cUCLA is a quality team with very experienced players who got a taste of being in the Final Four last year, and you make adjustments,\u201d South Carolina\u2019s Staley said. \u201cFrom last year to this year — they played determined last year, but they played more determined this year because they were so close.\u201d<\/p>\n Offensively, the Bruins had a much easier time than in the semifinal game that saw the team score only 20 points in the first half. The Bruins surpassed that total in the opening 10 minutes against South Carolina. Kiki\u2019s Rice 3-pointer just before the first-quarter buzzer made it 21-10 as the Bruins got off to a strong start and South Carolina struggled with 17% shooting, it\u2019s poorest quarter of the season.<\/p>\n The Bruins extended the lead to 15 points in the second quarter by clogging up the paint on defense and working the ball inside on offense for a 36-23 lead at the half.<\/p>\n UCLA put the game away in the third quarter, opening the period with a 12-3 run. Jaquez had five points during the spurt. South Carolina never threatened again as the Bruins outscored them 25-9 in the period.<\/p>\n \u201cWe just didn\u2019t have it today. We tried, but we just didn\u2019t have it today,\u201d Staley said. \u201cThey were the better team.\u201d<\/p>\n South Carolina avoided the most lopsided loss in championship history of 33 points, set in 2013 when UConn defeated Louisville. The Gamecocks also surpassed the title game record low of 44 points by Louisiana Tech in 1987 against Tennessee.<\/p>\n The Gamecocks were trying to cement their name as the premiere program in the sport with a fourth championship and third in the past five seasons. It just wasn\u2019t meant to be Sunday as they had their worst shooting game of the season against a talented UCLA team.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is not the ending we wanted, but we got here. No one thought we would, and we did it,\u201d said Tessa Johnson, who led South Carolina with 14 points. <\/p>\n Makeer added 11 for the Gamecocks.<\/p>\n \u201cThe score speaks for itself.\u201d said Gamecocks senior Raven Johnson, who played in five Final Fours in her career. <\/p>\n Close has been at UCLA for 15 seasons, but her connections go deeper with the school as she was mentored by the legendary Bruins men\u2019s coach John Wooden, who won 10 national championships at the school.<\/p>\n Their bond began when she was 22 years old and he was 83. She shares the same first name with one of his great-granddaughters. Close visited Wooden bi-weekly, adopting his \u201cPyramid of Success\u201d and focus on character and its paid off with her team.<\/p>\n \u201cCoach Wooden always said, \u2018You got to do it the way you\u2019re wired to do it, not the way anyone else did.\u2019 And I just tried imperfectly to stay true to that,\u201d Close said.<\/p>\n ___<\/p>\n AP March Madness bracket: https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/ncaa-womens-bracket<\/a> and coverage: https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/march-madness<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PHOENIX (AP) \u2014 It\u2019s mission accomplished for UCLA. 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