PHOENIX -- Whenever anyone remembers the UCLA Bruins this season, they'll wonder how these underdogs managed to dominate.
On Sunday, the Bruins defeated the South Carolina Gamecocks 79-51 in the final of the 2026 NCAA Women’s Basketball National Championship, securing UCLA's first national title at PHX Arena. Guard Gianna Kneepkens scored 15 points, while center Lauren Betts added 14 points (with 11 rebounds), carrying the team on their shoulders.
The UCLA Bruins are now national champions. This season will be remembered in basketball history for how they played with such confidence - despite never having reached a national championship game before. Where did that confidence come from? Betts explained it stems from practice and sticking to their principles:
“It's the confidence that we have because of all the work that we do in practice,” Betts told the ESPN panel in a post-game interview. “We came out and told each other that as long as we stayed true to our principles and we do what we do every single day, we're going to be just fine. And that's what we did.”
In the final, head coach Cori Close's players proved they're anything but ordinary - they beat the South Carolina Gamecocks, who had been finalists in the previous three seasons and went undefeated as 2024 champions.
In an interview with ESPN reporter Holly Rowe, Gabriela Jaquez delivered the mic-drop moment of the day for the Bruins. When Rowe asked:
“You talked about last year didn't go as planned, and you told this team they needed to look in the mirror and decide who they want to be as a team. Who did this group decide to be this season?”
Jaquez smiled and replied in four words: “We decided to be national champions.”
The fans' roar in the arena peaked, and Rowe said, “I think that's the mic drop moment of the day.”
Guard Kiki Rice played 31 minutes and scored 10 points, while Jaquez logged 34 minutes for 21 points (10 rebounds, 5 assists, 1 steal).
Close gave a shout-out to both stars, saying something important:
“A lot of people in our program came because Kiki was here. And the way that Gabs is so passionate about the four letters and representing UCLA and dreaming about it literally since she wrote it down when she was 8 years old.”
Rice also had been writing every day since last year that she would reach the Final Four.
“I mean, this is literally so incredible,” Rice said. “This is everything that we came here to do. And I'm so proud of every single person on this team, every single person on the staff, every single person who's helped us get to this point because this is truly amazing. There's no better feeling in the world.”
On the other side, this was Close's 15th season as head coach, and while she hadn't yet led the UCLA Bruins to their first National Championship in program history, her message after becoming champions is now a historic quote:
“It's (what) we said our talent was going to be our floor, but our character was going to be our ceiling,” Close said.