UCLA Captures First NCAA Women's Basketball Championship with Historic Victory

The Moment of Triumph

After 48 years of waiting, UCLA women's basketball has finally reached the summit. The Bruins dominated South Carolina 79-51 on Sunday to win their first NCAA title , completing a remarkable journey that began with heartbreak and ended in euphoria. The 28-point margin of victory was the third largest in a Division I women's championship final , a statement win that left no doubt about who deserved to be crowned champions.

The Bruins, led by six seniors, never trailed Sunday and opened a double-digit lead at the end of the first quarter , setting the tone for what would become a wire-to-wire demolition. All-American senior center Lauren Betts had 14 points and 11 rebounds, and Gabriela Jaquez had 10 rebounds to go with a team-high 21 points . For Jaquez, whose brother Jaime played for UCLA's men's basketball team and now stars for the Miami Heat, the championship represented the fulfillment of a lifelong dream.

After getting blown out in last year's Final Four, the Bruins went 37-1 in 2025-26 and closed the season on a 31-game winning streak . The transformation from devastation to domination speaks to the resilience of this senior-heavy group that refused to let their story end in disappointment.

A Coach's Journey to Excellence

As a 22-year-old assistant at UCLA, Close began what would become a deep relationship with Wooden. She became the head coach at UCLA the year after Wooden died, and she credits him to this day for helping her become the coach she is now . While Close spent time at UCLA as an assistant, she would typically look to Wooden for advice, and for more than a decade, met him twice a week at his home to talk basketball and life .

Close became the longest-tenured head coach at a single school to win a long-awaited first NCAA championship , a testament to her patience and persistence in building something special. "I remember thinking to myself, 'Oh my gosh, I don't want to let him down,'" Close said, tearing up as she spoke. "The biggest way I can pay it forward is to live in a way and coach in a way and teach in a way that pays it forward what he did for me."

"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." That philosophy proved prophetic as UCLA dismantled a South Carolina team that had won three of the last five championships.

Dominance in Every Facet

The Bruins shot 8-for-19 from deep, held the Gamecocks to 29% shooting, bested them 49-37 on the glass and 40-28 in the paint -- all uncharacteristic to see from a South Carolina squad . The game was over in the third quarter as UCLA used a 25-9 run to put away the Gamecocks for good, nearly doubling them up by the end of the period, when the score was 61-32 .

All five starters finished in double figures for the Bruins, though no one might have been as special as Gabriela Jaquez, who became just the fifth player to finish with 20 points, 10 rebounds and five assists in a national title game . The performance was a fitting capstone to a career that began with championship aspirations and ended with championship reality.

Jaquez, who has played her entire college career at UCLA, had 21 points, 10 rebounds and five assists in a performance that will not soon be forgotten. For the player who grew up dreaming of playing at UCLA, with a big brother, Jaime Jr., who competed in the Final Four with the men's team in 2021, the championship was especially meaningful .

A Legacy Transformed

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 . This championship does more than add hardware to UCLA's trophy case; it validates a program that has long lived in the shadow of the men's dynasty.

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 . The program that once struggled to make the NCAA Tournament has now established itself as a championship-caliber destination for elite recruits.

Like her mentor John Wooden, it took her a decade and a half (plus) to achieve the sport's pinnacle. And like with Wooden, it's probably safe to assume that this maiden title won't be Close's last . For UCLA women's basketball, this isn't just an ending—it's a beginning.