The UCLA women’s basketball team won the school’s first women’s NCAA championship title, defeating the South Carolina Gamecocks 79-51 in a hard-fought game on Easter Sunday that capped a multi-year run for the Bruin team, which featured superstar player Lauren Betts.
Led by the team’s 6-foot-7 center center, Betts, and guard Kiki Rice, the Bruins dominated the Siamcocks throughout the game. Entering the fourth quarter, UCLA held a 29-point lead (61-32) against the Gamecocks. The Gamecocks are a formidable team that has won three championship titles in the past decade (2017, 2022, 2024) under the leadership of respected coach Dawn Staley.
The UCLA women’s basketball team has yet to win a national championship in more than 45 tournaments since the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament was established in 1982. On the contrary, UCLA is the reigning champion with 11 wins in the NCAA men’s basketball tournament dating back to 1939. Last year, the UCLA women’s team reached the Final Four stage for the first time, but lost to Union University.
In the 2025-26 season, UCLA seniors Betts, Rice and others played with an intensity that showed the team’s desire to make UCLA history. Sunday’s game ended without any suspense with UCLA in the lead, but the team’s seniors took a final emotional bow on the court.
Cori Close is in her 15th season as the UCLA women’s basketball coach, and her profile is growing along with the program’s fortunes. Crows is known for his candor and passion, which endears him to fans and players alike.
On April 3, after UCLA defeated the University of Texas in the Final Four, Close apologized to fans in an interview with ESPN for how both teams scuffled over each point.
“It wasn’t the sport I thought I was coaching,” Close said. “I think it was more rugby than basketball. We had 23 turnovers and wanted to apologize to the fans for not being able to provide a cleaner game.”
But Close also gushed about how special UCLA’s teams have been in recent years, led by talented players like Betts, Rice, Gabriella Jaques and Charliss Leger-Walker. Years of hard work paid off as they had a miraculous season, losing only one game in the regular season. It was against Texas, and UCLA lost in the Final Four, securing the championship against South Carolina.
“The preparation that they put into this. I’ve been doing this job for 33 years. This is the most intentionally hard-working group of people, not only in terms of preparing for the professional level, but preparing for the team that I’ve ever worked with,” Close said in a press conference earlier this month.
Betts, Rice, Jaquez and Reger Walker will begin their professional basketball careers at the WNBA Draft, scheduled for April 13th.
