UCLA dominates South Carolina, 79-51, to assert first girls’s basketball title

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For the primary time in program historical past, the UCLA Bruins are the ladies’s basketball nationwide champions.

The Bruins took down the South Carolina Gamecocks , the group led by Daybreak Staley that had reached the nationwide title recreation three consecutive seasons and gained it in 2024, in dominant style, 79-51.

Staley’s squad didn't appear like it did towards UConn within the Ultimate 4, as they couldn’t determine issues out offensively. A variety of that needed to do with suffocating UCLA protection, however the Bruins weren’t having the identical bother after they had the ball of their palms.

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<source media="(min-width: 1024px) and (max-width: 1279px)" srcset="https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2026/04/931/523/ucla-bruins-ncaa-womens-championship-fox-news-001.jpeg?ve=1&tl=1, https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2026/04/1862/1046/ucla-bruins-ncaa-womens-championship-fox-news-001.jpeg?ve=1&tl=1 2x" height="523" width="931"> The UCLA Bruins girls's basketball group huddles earlier than the NCAA Ladies's Championship recreation towards the South Carolina Gamecocks at Mortgage Matchup Middle in Phoenix, Ariz., on April 4, 2026. (Ronaldo Bolaños/Los Angeles Occasions)

By the top of the third quarter, the Bruins had a whopping 29-point lead over the Gamecocks, 61-32, as UCLA held South Carolina to only 24% capturing from the ground in comparison with their 43%.

In the long run, UCLA made 43% of its pictures in comparison with South Carolina's 29%, which is at all times the objective for a group seeking to win a title.

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It’s been a very long time coming for Shut, who has been main the Bruins for the reason that 2011-12 season. Final season marked the primary time UCLA has been to the Ultimate 4 within the girls’s NCAA Match as a program, although they fell to the UConn Huskies, 85-51.

Kiki Rice of the UCLA Bruins reacts after making a three-point basket towards the South Carolina Gamecocks on the finish of the primary quarter within the NCAA Ladies's Basketball Match Nationwide Championship at Mortgage Matchup Middle in Phoenix, Ariz., on April 5, 2026. (Christian Petersen/Getty Photographs)

This time, it was the Bruins getting the job finished against Texas , 51-44, to safe a spot for the nationwide title. After all, it wasn’t anticipated to be a simple feat towards the Gamecocks, who dealt with UConn, 62-48, which resulted in a now-viral alternate between Staley and Geno Auriemma at midcourt.

Nonetheless, Shut has the suitable system, and the Bruins executed it to a tee on Sunday afternoon to be topped champions.

All 5 starters for Shut completed the sport with double-digit factors, with Gabriela Jaquez, the sister of ex-Bruins males’s basketball star and present Miami Warmth guard Jaime Jaquez, main the cost with 21 on 8-of-14 capturing. She additionally completed with a double-double after hauling in 10 rebounds.

<source media="(min-width: 1024px) and (max-width: 1279px)" srcset="https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2026/04/931/523/lauren-betts-maryam-dauda-basketball-fox-news-001.jpeg?ve=1&tl=1, https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2026/04/1862/1046/lauren-betts-maryam-dauda-basketball-fox-news-001.jpeg?ve=1&tl=1 2x" height="523" width="931"> Lauren Betts of the UCLA Bruins and Maryam Dauda of the South Carolina Gamecocks compete for place through the first quarter of the NCAA girls's basketball nationwide championship at Mortgage Matchup Middle in Phoenix, Ariz., on April 5, 2026. (Christian Petersen/Getty Photographs)

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Lauren Betts had herself a double-double, too, ending the sport with 14 factors and 11 rebounds. Gianna Kneepkens (15 factors, 4 assists), Charlisse Leger-Walker (10 factors, 4 rebounds) and Kiki Rice (10 factors, six rebounds, 5 assists) helped the Bruins preserve the tempo towards the Gamecocks, who couldn’t get the sport nearer.