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UCLA women’s basketball runs through South Carolina for 1st NCAA title

April 5, 2026

UCLA players celebrate after defeating South Carolina in the women’s National Championship Final Four NCAA college basketball tournament game, Sunday, April 5, 2026, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

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PHOENIX — UCLA started strong and never looked back to beat perennial power South Carolina 79-51 on Easter Sunday in front of a sellout crowd of 15,856 at Mortgage Matchup Center for its first-ever NCAA championship.

The win also extends UCLA’s program-best win streak to 31.

Gabriela Jaquez scored a game-high 21 points, pulled down 10 rebounds and dished out five assists. Gianna Kneepkens added 15 points, and Lauren Betts had a double-double of 14 points and 11 rebounds.

South Carolina’s Tessa Johnson scored 14 points and All-American forward Joyce Edwards had eight points and 11 rebounds.

UCLA (37-1, 16-0 Big Ten) won the battle on the boards and out-rebounded South Carolina (36-4, 15-1 Southeastern Conference), 49-37.

Armed with the mental toughness gained from their mind gym, the Bruins held South Carolina to its lowest first-quarter shooting percentage of the tournament. The Gamecocks only made 3 of their 18 shots from the floor.

Gabriela Jaquez’s crowning performance included hustle plays that earned plenty of scoring opportunities, like when she raced in for a tip-in on Angela Dugalić’s missed layup. Jaquez drew a foul and made the ensuing shot to give the Bruins a 9-4 lead.

UCLA then rattled off seven unanswered points until Tessa Johnson made a layup to bring the score to 13-7. The Bruins shook off the moment and resumed their scoring, even when Lauren Betts left the court in a brief scare.

It appeared as though something was stuck in Betts’ throat and she went into a coughing fit on the bench, where she remained for the last 2:14 of the opening quarter. She remained with sports medicine staff members on the bench for the first 2: 20 of the second quarter.

The offense stayed smooth when she returned, and Betts resumed her matchup in the paint with Okot. Dugalić fed Jaquez the ball for a layup with 8:22 remaining until halftime, and Kneepkens banked a jump shot on the Bruins’ next possession to bring the score to 30-15 in her team’s favor.

South Carolina switched to a full-court press for the final three minutes, but still trailed 36-23 at the midway point of the game. UCLA was also out-rebounding the opposition, 29-19.

The Gamecocks have thrived in the second half throughout the NCAA Tournament and have outscored opponents by nearly 14 points after halftime. Overall, this season, the Gamecocks have been winning by 29.2 points.

UCLA rewrote that script on Sunday.

The Bruins opened the third quarter on a 25-5 scoring run and only allowed the Gamecocks to score nine points in the frame. Leger-Walker was beaming as she walked to a timeout near the five-minute mark.

Their paint presence forced South Carolina to take poor shots, and players came up with rebounds and blocks in key moments. Leger-Walker jumped up to block Makeer’s breakaway layup attempt to preserve another UCLA scoring run, which extended to 11 unanswered points.

Kneepkens’ corner three gave the Bruins a 32-point lead with 5:50 left in the game, and also marked her third made 3-pointer of the game. Jaquez swished the deepest three of the game with 2:42 left to give UCLA a 79-46 advantage.

They were easily able to hold South Carolina off for the remainder of the evening and outscored the Gamecocks 43-28 in the second half.

UCLA was playing in its first-ever NCAA championship game, although the Bruins had previously won a national title when women’s basketball was housed under the AIAW.

The Bruins had beaten Cal Baptist, Oklahoma State, Minnesota, Duke and top-seeded Texas to advance to the finals.

South Carolina had been on this stage four times in the last five years and was going for its fourth national title under head coach Dawn Staley.

UCLA women’s basketball runs through South Carolina for 1st NCAA title Orange County Register

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UCLA women’s basketball runs through South Carolina for 1st NCAA title

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