PHOENIX — One image from the weekend will linger for UCLA: Lauren Betts sprinting downcourt, pivoting to meet Madison Booker, and rejecting her shot with an outstretched arm. Betts’ block in the national semifinal against Texas — called “a block for the ages” by broadcaster Ryan Ruocco — helped send the Bruins to their first NCAA title game. On Sunday, UCLA closed the story with a 79-51 victory over South Carolina.
The championship game was a rout from the start. UCLA never trailed. The Bruins finished 37-1 and beat the three-time defending champion Gamecocks to claim the program’s first NCAA-era title. Gabriela Jaquez led the way with 21 points and 10 rebounds; Betts finished with 14 and 11. Seniors scored all 130 points for UCLA across the Final Four weekend, and starters began exiting the title game with more than three minutes remaining, including Betts and guard Kiki Rice. Jaquez, a Southern California native who dreamed of wearing UCLA blue, hit a 3-pointer with 2:55 left before leaving the court to celebrate and wipe away tears.
For years UCLA was a strong program that kept inching up but falling short on college basketball’s biggest stage. Between 2016 and 2024 the Bruins repeatedly stalled in the Sweet 16 or Elite Eight. This season, everything came together: seven seniors anchored the roster, and four key contributors reached Westwood after starting elsewhere. Betts, a 6-foot-7 center who transferred from Stanford before the 2023-24 season, proved to be the missing piece.
“This program has changed my life in the best way possible,” Betts said before the title game. “I’m forever grateful for UCLA. It’s the best decision I ever made.”
Betts wasn’t the only Bruin who took a roundabout route. Forward Angela Dugalic began at Oregon. Charlisse Leger-Walker started at Washington State. Guard Gianna Kneepkens came from Utah. And Megan Grant, one of the team’s seniors, didn’t transfer in from another basketball program — she was a UCLA softball player who joined the basketball team this season with the softball staff’s blessing and brought a contagious joy to the group.
“We’re not just trying to build a wall,” coach Cori Close said, describing the program’s construction over 15 seasons. “My responsibility [is] placing the brick that we have in the perfect position.”
Close’s method produced a national champion. In a Final Four that featured all four No. 1 seeds, the Bruins proved to be the best. Jaquez and Betts paced a team that controlled the title game from tip to horn. Close, a California native who played at UC Santa Barbara and served as a UCLA assistant in the early 1990s, has long spoken of fundamentals and character — principles she admired in John Wooden. She returned to lead UCLA women in 2011 and has now brought the program to the summit of the sport.
Betts’ path to this point included setbacks. After one season at Stanford, she transferred in 2023 and struggled before taking a mental health break that she says reset her life and her basketball. The clarity she found helped her reach her potential: she was a first-team All-American, a two-time Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year, and this season the Big Ten Player of the Year. Betts is expected to be a high first-round pick in the WNBA draft on April 13. Rice, Jaquez, Leger-Walker, Kneepkens and Dugalic also could hear their names called.
Her block on Booker in the semifinal illustrated the kind of game-changing defense she provides. Instead of allowing a three-point play that might have tied the game, Betts denied Booker, grabbed the ball and found Rice. Rice then drew a foul and went to the line to seal the win. “She’s one of the best defenders I’ve seen,” Leger-Walker said. “When she does something like that, it’s such a momentum shift.”
The moment also felt like exorcising last year’s semifinal disappointment, when UCLA was routed 85-51 by UConn. Betts had been the lone Bruin in double figures in that loss, and the experience provided fuel for this season. Several players who contributed this year were part of the program’s recent rise: Leger-Walker was with UCLA but rehabbing a knee; Kneepkens watched the 2025 Final Four while deciding to transfer; Rice and Jaquez, both from a highly regarded 2022 recruiting class, stayed committed to the program’s long-term vision.
“This was always the plan coming to UCLA for me and Kiki as freshmen: get to the Final Four, win the national championship,” Jaquez said. “I never thought to transfer. Some people asked me, ‘Why did you stay?’ I said, ‘Why would I leave?’ I love UCLA.”
Rival coach Dawn Staley praised the core’s loyalty and the relationship they have with Close, calling Rice and Jaquez “cornerstones” of UCLA’s ascent. That loyalty and belief, Staley suggested, is a powerful foundation.
UCLA’s program also honors its past. The Bruins recognized the pioneers who preceded them, including the AIAW champions of 1978 led by Ann Meyers Drysdale. Close emphasized the opportunity to acknowledge those who built the program’s legacy: several members of that earlier team were in the building and are season-ticket holders. Meyers Drysdale attended the Final Four and praised Close’s preparation, the players’ sacrifice, and their unselfishness.
Betts laughed recounting one of Close’s favorite lines about perspective: “‘Rings will collect dust and — what’s it called? — banners. Banners will — whatever. The memories you create …’” Close supplied the full quote more clearly afterward: “Banners hang in gyms and rings collect dust, but who you become and who you impact you get to keep forever.” For now, UCLA gets to keep both the banner and the rings as well.
The championship is the latest milestone in a long-building project: a mix of recruiting, transfers, player development, and culture-setting that finally culminated in an NCAA title. The image of Betts denying Booker will be one emblem of that achievement, but so too will the collective story of seniors and role players who stayed, returned, or arrived and helped construct a champion.
