UCLA wins first women’s basketball NCAA national title
PHOENIX – As the confetti fell and UCLA was crowned national champion, Lauren Betts, Gabriela Jaquez and Charlisse Leger-Walker took the stage for an encore of the Bruins’ last dance.
As the trio has done countless times this season, they delivered a performance similar to that of the UCLA dance team, but this final one felt special after defeating South Carolina 79-51 at Mortgage Matchup Center for the Bruins’ first NCAA championship.
Mission complete.
UCLA dominated the Gamecocks Sunday afternoon, never trailing while outrebounding South Carolina 49 to 37 and scoring 12 more points in the paint on 13 more second-chance opportunities.
UCLA’s championship was spearheaded by its starting five of Betts, Jaquez, Leger-Walker, Gianna Kneepkens and Kiki Rice, who combined for 70 of the Bruins 79 points.
This core of players have lead the way for the Bruins this season as their chemistry and bond drove their team’s success.
“What an amazing way to finish off the season with a national championship,” Betts said. “Knowing that we did everything to get there basketball-wise, we also just enjoyed each other. We’re such a close group of girls, I’m going to miss them so much.”
The Bruins in 1978 won the AIAW Large College championship. However, for the first time in program history, the UCLA women have won an NCAA national championship.
The desire to bring hardware back to Los Angeles for the Bruins community played a huge part in driving this Bruins squad to success.
“I’m just so proud of the way we represented this school, this program, this community,” Betts said. “These girls mean everything to me. This program has changed my life in the best way possible. I’m forever grateful for UCLA.”
For Bruins coach Cori Close, she felt extra gratification in winning this title because it proved her hope that recruiting “uncommon, courageous women could yield an uncommon result.”
She added that “it just is so much for me not about a national championship. It’s the validation that it can be done differently.”
Close was mentored early and extensively in her career by UCLA legend John Wooden, who won 10 national championships as the coach of the men’s basketball team from 1948-75.
It took Wooden 16 years to win his first title for the Bruins. Close just secured her first title in her 15th year as head coach.
However, Close, in the spirit of Wooden, did not want attention directed at her. Instead, she wants people to focus on how the Bruins won: playing as a team.
“It wasn’t about whether or not we got the ‘W’ or not,” Close said. “I wanted us to be able to play our best when our best was needed. We delivered on that.”
South Carolina fell in the national title game for the second straight season as the offense struggled to find rhythm consistently against a suffocating Bruins defense.
“We had a lot of people taking shots that aren’t normal for us,” South Carolina coach Dawn Staley said. “We didn’t do a good job of getting the people that was supposed to get some better looks at the ball. I think UCLA had a lot to do with it. … I didn’t think we had to play perfect basketball, but we had to play better basketball.”
Staley, despite the tough loss, wants people to give UCLA credit and support its win. Specifically, Staley praised Close and spoke of their positive relationship over the years.
“I’m always happy for people that worked hard in this game, who are really quality people,” Staley said. “I want good things to happen for them. Cori is one of those people who really works at making our game better. Not just UCLA, but our entire game.”
A big part of the UCLA win in the title game was Gabriela Jaquez, who tallied a double-double with 21 points and 10 rebounds.
Jaquez did not want to point to her own successes. She credited her performance on fulfilling her role and have the support of teammates.
“I had open shots and I made ’em – I think that was just kind of what it was,” Jaquez said. “Just super proud of this group and how we played as a team to get this victory.”
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