UCLA Blows Out South Carolina In National Championship Game

It would have been a great story if Dawn Staley and the South Carolina Gamecocks were able to claim the national championship after Staley’s viral confrontation with UConn coach Geno Auriemma.

Unfortunately, it was not meant to be, as a surging UCLA squad led by 6’7 center Lauren Betts blew out the Gamecocks 79 to 51, leading to ‘Damn SC’ trending on X.

Though the game was played on Easter Sunday, there would be no resurrection for the Gamecocks, who struggled from the first quarter. The Bruins went on a 13-4 run while the Gamecocks found it difficult to score, ending the first quarter with only 10 points.

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Betts was not even the dominant player, as guards Gabriela Jaquez and Gianna Kneepkens led a dual effort with seven first-half points each as the squad pounded the boards, outrebounding the Gamecocks in the first half, 29 to 17.

The outcome was pretty much set by the third quarter, where South Carolina only managed to score nine points. Jaquez ended the game with 21 points, 10 rebounds, and five assists.

“I’m so proud of this group, we’re national champions,” Jaquez said. “I knew we were going to do it. Coming to UCLA, we all set out for a goal, and I imagined this moment. I imagined it so many times, and I am just so, so proud. … Crying a lot, the confetti, all of the fans being here to support us, my family being here, it just means everything. Celebrating with this group, like … I’m so happy.”

South Carolina’s Tessa Johnson was the team’s leading scorer with 14 points.

Senior Lauren Betts had a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds. She may have helped her draft position, though she has been projected to go to the Mystics with the fourth pick. She was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player. Kneepkens is likely to go to the Golden State Valkyries with the eighth pick, per pre-tournament predictions.

This was the first NCAA championship for the women’s basketball team in the school’s history. (A previous title in 1978 was in the AIAW, the women’s league that preceded the NCAA.) UCLA’s coach, Cori Close, sets a record for the longest-tenured coach to finally win a title. She’s in her 15th season with the Bruins.

“It’s immeasurably more than I could ask or imagine,” Close said. “It’s beyond my wildest dreams.”

The Gamecocks’ 28-point defeat is the third-worst loss in NCAA women’s tournament history, and Staley’s second natty defeat in a row after being defeated by UConn last year. While senior Raven Johnson is headed to the W, the Gamecocks look good for a Final Four repeat with returning players Chloe Kitts, Joyce Edwards, Johnson and Ashlyn Watkins.

“UCLA is a quality team with very experienced players who got a taste of being in the Final Four last year, and you make adjustments,” Staley said. “From last year to this year — they played determined last year, but they played more determined this year because they were so close.”

She added, “We just didn’t have it today. We tried, but we just didn’t have it today,” Staley said. “They were the better team.”

Watch the Gamecocks’ full press conference below:

See social media’s reaction to the win below.