SPORTS NEWS – UCLA wins NCAA women’s championship

By Renae Hefty

The UCLA Bruins crushed the South Carolina Gamecocks in the women’s national championship on Sunday at the Mortgage Matchup Center in Phoenix, Arizona. The final four women’s teams were UCONN, South Carolina, UCLA, and Texas and the last game was the highest scoring of the three. The Gamecocks beat UCONN 62-48 and UCLA beat Texas 51-44. The 79-51 win gave UCLA its first women’s NCAA championship title. The Bruins came out swinging, with a strong start and even stronger finish to the game. While star center Lauren Betts spent time on the bench, UCLA’s defense held their lead.

By halftime the Bruins were up 13 points, which went up to 22 in the third quarter, which is the most behind South Caroline has been all season. UCLA outscored South Carolina by 25 to 9 in the third quarter. That 16 point deficit was the largest scoring margin of a quarter in women’s title-game history, according to the ESPN broadcast. At that point, South Carolina had no hope of bouncing back. Betts and Gabriela Jaquez both finished with double-doubles and every starter finished with a double-digit score in some category. Betts was named the 2026 Most Outstanding Player this year.