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UCLA’s NCAA title puts West Coast women’s basketball back on top

April 6, 2026

PHOENIX — Lauren Betts had her NCAA championship hat pulled down low, but it couldn’t hide the confidence — garnished with some smugness — as she addressed reporters during one of the many postgame media obligations on Sunday evening.

The attitude was justified. The UCLA women’s basketball team had won its first-ever NCAA title, bringing down powerhouse South Carolina 79-51 to put West Coast college basketball on the biggest stage once again.

If anyone doubted the region’s prominence in the sport, Betts says the naysayers have been silenced.

“L.A. basketball, man,” Betts, the Bruins’ All-American center, said. “Everyone needs to be on the lookout because, I mean — now, you really can’t say anything. Like, we just won the national championship, so I guess we’re doing something right. That’s all I have to say.”

The Bruins are just the third team from the West Coast to win an NCAA championship after Stanford and USC. The Cardinal won it all in 2021 and 1992, and USC did so in 1983 and 1984.

It’s not an easy feat for a California team to pull off, considering the state has only hosted the NCAA women’s finals just three times since their inception in 1982. Having all rounds of this year’s tournament in the Pacific time zone is a rare luxury for westerly teams.

UCLA trekked across the country throughout its Big Ten season, but the postseason was more local. The opening two tournament rounds were at UCLA, the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight were in Sacramento, then the Final Four and finals were in Phoenix.

“We understand that that is a really good thing for us,” senior guard Charlisse Leger-Walker said prior to leaving for Arizona. “We’re just really trying to take advantage of the situation that we have. Because we have that, we can prep really well and there is no excuse for us going in.”

Two valuable parts of UCLA’s engine are homegrown, too — head coach Cori Close and senior forward Gabriela Jaquez.

Milpitas, which is outside of San Jose, is Close’s hometown. She was UC Santa Barbara’s starting point guard for four years straight, and she became the first player in program history to record more than 1,000 points and 500 assists in a career.

UCLA head coach Cori Close celebrates with the net after UCLA defeated South Carolina in the women's National Championship Final Four NCAA college basketball tournament game, Sunday, April 5, 2026, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri) — UCLA head coach Cori Close celebrates with the net after UCLA defeated South Carolina in the women’s National Championship Final Four NCAA college basketball tournament game, Sunday, April 5, 2026, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)

“Before she was a national champion, she was a Gaucho,” the UC Santa Barbara women’s basketball team said in an Instagram post. “A full-circle moment and a championship legacy.”

Jaquez is the only recruit from California on the team, playing her whole high school career at Camarillo High School. She won Ventura County Sports Hall of Fame female athlete of the year honors after averaging 34.2 points, 15.7 rebounds, 4.7 steals and 2.6 steals per game in her senior year.

“People from the 805, they always come to the games at Pauley and tell me that I’m representing them well,” Jaquez said.

“It really does mean everything. It was really important for me to stay close to home because I love my family so much. But I think it also meant a lot to the local people that could watch me in person and support me. I want to say thank you to them.”

Jaquez’s brother, Jaime, who was in attendance for the championship game, also had a storied career at UCLA and went on to be drafted 18th overall in the first round of the 2023 NBA Draft by the Miami Heat.

As part of a family so entrenched in UCLA tradition, Jaquez has always thought Los Angeles college basketball was on top of the world. And as of Sunday evening, her opinion is valid.

“I don’t really realize the East Coast bias because I’m from Southern California,” Jaquez said. “I think California is the best. I go to UCLA. I have so much pride. So, yeah, I don’t really realize it, but I’m just super thankful that we got this national championship for the whole entire school and for LA.”

UCLA’s NCAA title puts West Coast women’s basketball back on top Orange County Register

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UCLA’s NCAA title puts West Coast women’s basketball back on top

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