UCLA Dominates South Carolina for 1st NCAA Women's Hoops Title

Gabriela Jaquez scored 21 points, Lauren Betts posted her 15th double-double of the season, and UCLA won its first women's basketball national championship in the NCAA era with a suffocating 79-51 victory over South Carolina in the final Sunday afternoon.

Betts had 14 points and 11 rebounds, Jaquez added 10 rebounds and five assists, and the Bruins (37-1) never trailed while finishing the season on a 31-game winning streak.

Jaquez's fastback layup gave the balanced Bruins a 48-26 lead midway through the third quarter, and 3-pointers from Jaquez and Gianna Kneepkens keyed a 13-0 run to propel them to a 61-32 lead after three.

With the 6-foot-7 Betts anchoring the middle, the Bruins limited South Carolina to 29.0% shooting from the field and had a 49-37 rebounding edge.

Tessa Johnson scored 14 points and Agot Makeer put up 11 for the Gamecocks (31-4), who were never closer than 28 in the fourth quarter.

South Carolina leading scorer Joyce Edwards was held to eight points after averaging 19.5 points coming in. She had 11 rebounds.

The Bruins held Texas leading scorer Madison Booker to six points on 3-of-23 shooting in their 51-44 semifinal win, when the Longhorns shot 30.8%.

All five UCLA senior starters scored in double figures. Kneepkens had 15 points, Charlisse Leger-Walker had 10 points and Kiki Rice added 10 points, six rebounds and five assists.

The Bruins never trailed in either Final Four game in their second straight appearance, a program first. They won the 1978 national AIAW championship. The NCAA era began in 1982.

UCLA has won two in a row in the series after breaking the Gamecocks' 43-game winning streak in a 77-62 victory in their last meeting Nov. 24, 2024, in Pauley Pavilion.

The Bruins were on the other side of a blowout in the Final Four last season, failing 85-51 to eventual champion UConn in the semifinals.

Betts went to the bench with 2:14 remaining in the first period, when cameras caught her saying, "I have something stuck in my throat." She returned with 8:41 left in the first half.