History made: UCLA women's basketball team wins NCAA championship

For decades, UCLA Bruins women's basketball had built toward this moment, through ups and downs, rising expectations, and the long shadow of a several near misses in their quest for a first NCAA crown. On Sunday afternoon, the wait ended.

With a dominant 79-51 performance against the powerhouse South Carolina Gamecocks (36-4) at the Mortgage Matchup Center in Phoenix, the Bruins finally delivered their breakthrough, etching their names into university history with the program's first title in the NCAA era and UCLA's 126th overall NCAA team title.

Their 28-point victory capped off a storied run in which the Bruins went 37-1, winning the regular season Big Ten title and the Big Ten tournament before eliminating five opponents to reach the tournament finals, including a 51-44 win over the Texas Longhorns in the Final Four, avenging their only loss of the season.

Heading into the championship tip-off as underdogs, the Bruin women came out strong and never wavered, steadily building an advantage that grew from 13 points at half-time to 35 points in the fourth quarter.

The performance was a full-team effort, capped by 21 points from Gabriela Jaquez, 15 from Gianna Kneepkens, 10 points each from Kiki Rice and Charlisse Leger-Walker, and 14 points and 11 rebounds from Lauren Betts, who was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player, to go along with her Big Ten Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year honors and her Naismith Lisa Leslie Award as the NCAA's best center.

► Read more about the game on the UCLA Athletics website.

Head coach Cori Close, the Big Ten Coach of the Year, praised the team, led by seniors, explaining how their overall mindset helped bring them to this moment.

"All year we've been saying the talent is our floor, but our character will determine our ceiling," she told ESPN's Holly Rowe. "I'm just so confident in their character, and that's what determined how they played today.

" It's immeasurably more than I could ask or imagine, " said Close, in her 15th season at the helm. "It's beyond my wildest dreams. But it's meaningful because of the people I've gotten to share with. It's all about the heart, and it would be shallow without an amazing village and incredible people that have poured into me my whole life. "

In addition to the talented squad on the court, that village showed up on Sunday - students, parents, fans and alumni. In Phoenix, the team was cheered on by a hyped-up crowd that included UCLA basketball legend and four-time All-American Ann Meyers Drysdale and former UCLA standout and current Miami Heat star Jaime Jaquez, who flew in to support his sister Gabriela. Some 400 miles away, Pauley Pavilion was rocking with fans who packed the arena for the free championship watch party.

The final seconds ticked away to a blue-and-gold roar - a release decades in the making. Players embraced at midcourt, some in tears, others in disbelief. For a program founded in 1974 and long known for the men's dynasty under legendary coach John Wooden, the victory marked a defining milestone for women's basketball - a title of their own.

"I'm just so happy. I'm just so proud of this group, " Jaquez told ESPN. " I mean, this is what we wanted to do. This was the plan, and we accomplished it. Like, the mind is so powerful. We've been prepping for this since Sept. 25 - that was when our first practice was, and for a long time, we set out for this. And I'm just so, so proud. Wow. What a great way to end it."

A long climb to the top

It had been nearly 50 years since the UCLA women's basketball program captured its first national championship in the 1978-79 season, topping the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women before the NCAA existed for women's sports. That historic team included groundbreaking players like Drysdale, Denise Curry and Anita Ortega and was led by head coach Billie Moore.

In the NCAA era, which began in 1981-82, the Bruin women had come close, reaching the Elite Eight in 1999 and 2018 and advancing to the Final Four in 2025, but had never broken through to the championship game, let alone cut down the nets.

This year's team - built on discipline, depth, toughness and a unique spirit of unity - changed that narrative.

" We always said we were going to do it in [an] uncommon, transformational way," Close said. "Coach [John] Wooden always said you got to do it the way you're wired to do it, not the way anyone else did. And I just tried ... to stay true to that. "

A new chapter for UCLA athletics

Sunday afternoon's victory resonates far beyond the court.

It adds a historic first to UCLA's already unparalleled NCAA legacy: The university now boasts 126 team championships across all sports - second-most in the nation - and signals the continued rise of women's athletics on campus and nationally.

It also reflects a broader shift. In an era of surging interest in women's basketball, record television audiences and growing investment in the game, UCLA's title places the Bruins squarely at the center of the sport's future.

From waiting to winning

As the confetti fell and the nets came down, one truth stood out: This was not just a championship - it was a culmination of a dream, a plan and a purpose. A program that had waited nearly half a century for this moment finally has its banner. And for the Bruins, the history is no longer about what hasn't been done - it's about what comes next.

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