Blue and Gold Forever: UCLA Women's Basketball Are National Champions

By Joseph Trujillo

PHOENIX, Ariz. — April 5, 2026

The banner is coming to Westwood.

In the most dominant performance in the history of the NCAA Women's Basketball Championship game in recent memory, the UCLA Bruins dismantled the South Carolina Gamecocks 79-51 on Sunday afternoon at the Mortgage Matchup Center in Phoenix, claiming the first women's national championship in program history and delivering Los Angeles a moment it will never forget.

The final horn sounded and the Bruins spilled onto the floor — tears, confetti, and 50 years of waiting released all at once

A Masterpiece From Start to Finish

From the opening tip, this was never really a contest. It was a coronation. UCLA stormed out to a 21-10 first quarter, then outscored South Carolina 25-9 in a devastating third period that pushed the lead to 35. The Gamecocks — one of the most decorated programs in modern women's basketball — shot just 29% from the field. They made 2 of 15 three-point attempts. They never led for a single second.

UCLA, meanwhile, was a machine. They outrebounded South Carolina 49-37. They posted 23 assists. They scored 40 points in the paint. They scored 25 second-chance points. Their biggest lead reached 35 points. On the grandest stage in the sport, the Bruins played their best basketball of the season.

Jaquez and Betts: A Championship Duo

Gabriela Jaquez was the best player on the floor from start to finish. She finished with 21 points, 10 rebounds, and 5 assists — a full double-double in the national championship game, shooting 57% from the field. She scored 12 of her points in the paint, and she was impossible to rattle in the biggest moments.

Lauren Betts was the anchor. The center finished with 14 points and 12 rebounds, her own double-double, shooting 60% from the floor and going a perfect 2-for-2 from the free throw line. She recorded 2 blocks and spent entire possessions wherever she wanted in the paint. South Carolina had no answer.

Gianna Kneepkens added 15 points, connecting on three three-pointers. Kiki Rice had 10 points, 5 assists, and 3 steals. Charlisse Leger-Walker contributed 10 points off the perimeter. Four Bruins in double figures. A collective, selfless, total-team performance on the biggest night of their lives.

South Carolina's Tessa Johnson was brilliant in a losing effort, finishing with a game-high 14 points on 50% shooting. She simply had far too little help.

Close: "The Highest Ceiling" — And God's Grace

When Cori Close stepped to the podium at the postgame press conference, she was still wiping tears from her eyes. The 15-year head coach of the Bruins, who had preached patience, faith, and character through every twist and setback of this program's journey, finally had a trophy to show for it.

Close had entered this season believing she had the most talented roster in the country with the highest ceiling. On Sunday night in Phoenix, that ceiling was shattered entirely.

But for Close — a coach well known for her deep Christian faith and her belief that basketball is a vehicle for something far greater than wins — the championship was framed in those terms from the very first sentence.

"I have to start by thanking God," Close said, her voice breaking. "This isn't about a trophy. This is about what He's done in and through these young women. Every day I walk into that gym, I am aware that I am not enough on my own. I lean on a strength that is not mine. And tonight, I just feel overwhelmed by His grace."

She paused, collecting herself, before continuing.

"I've said all year that this group has the highest ceiling I've ever coached. But I want to be really clear: that ceiling has nothing to do with basketball. It has to do with who they are. Their character. Their love for each other. The winning is a byproduct of the internal things happening first. Always."

Close has long spoken about serving her players' growth process, describing it as her greatest joy. Sunday was the fullest expression of that philosophy — a championship built not on recruiting rankings alone, but on what she has called transformational, character-first coaching, a standard she traces directly to her mentor.

"When I was being mentored by Coach John Wooden," she said, "one of the things he gave me was a sense that you could compete at the highest levels, you could master your craft, and you could do it in a transformational, character-building way." She smiled through her tears. "Tonight, Coach Wooden, we did it."

What This Means for Los Angeles

Los Angeles is a city of championships. Rings and trophies have flowed through it across generations and sports. But this one is different — because this one is a first.

For all of UCLA's athletic greatness, with eleven men's basketball titles hanging in the Pauley Pavilion rafters, the women's program had never reached the summit. The Bruins produced Olympians, WNBA stars, and Final Four runs. They inspired generations of girls across Southern California. But the ultimate prize had always remained one step away.

Not anymore.

This championship arrives at a moment when women's basketball has never been more visible or more celebrated. The game has exploded in popularity across the country, and a UCLA title — representing one of the most storied athletic departments in American history, in the nation's second-largest media market — announces to the world exactly where this sport stands.

For every girl in Los Angeles who has ever picked up a basketball, this banner is for them.

A Program Transformed

"I just love them," Close had said after the Elite Eight win over Duke, describing her seniors. "I'm just watching them be dream chasers; I'm watching them conquer hard things. It's who they're becoming; it's who they've impacted. That is what makes me most proud, and the winning is a byproduct of the internal things happening first."

Those seniors — Betts, Jaquez, Rice, Kneepkens, Leger-Walker, and Angela Dugalic — delivered everything they promised and more. They came back from a gut-wrenching Final Four loss last year, rebuilt their culture, and refused to let this opportunity slip away.

Back home, Pauley Pavilion will light up blue and gold tonight. Bruin Walk will fill before dawn. And somewhere in Los Angeles, a new generation of girls will grow up knowing that the ceiling — the one Cori Close always believed in — had no limit at all. "God is good," Close said, as she left the podium. "God is so, so good."

UCLA 79, South Carolina 51. National Champions.