Gabriela Jacks talks about UCLA’s first national championship
UCLA’s Gabriela Jaquez shares her excitement for the team’s first national championship in the NCAA era.
sports pulse
PHOENIX — The women’s college basketball season ended with UCLA defeating South Carolina in the national title game.
Bruins center Lauren Betts recorded a double-double against Texas and the Gamecocks and was named Most Valuable Player of the Final Four.
South Carolina, coached by Dawn Staley, fell just short of winning its fourth national title. UW’s Geno Auriemma is coming off an undefeated season, Texas’ Vic Schaefer is still chasing his elusive first title, and UCLA’s Cori Close won her first championship.
Now that the season is over, it’s time to reflect on what happened in the Final Four. Here are the winners and losers from the final weekend of the season.
winner
UCLA seniors
Lauren Betts and UCLA’s senior class ended up being a storybook. All five UCLA starters achieved double-digit wins in the championship win. Gabriella Jacks recorded a game-high 21 points and 10 rebounds, achieving her second double-double of the season. Gianna Neepkens had 15 points, Betts had a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds, and Charliss Ledger Walker and Kiki Rice each had 10 points. Angela Dugaric added nine points off the bench.
“There’s no better way to end a career,” Rice said.
UCLA coach Cori Close
Fifteen years later, Cori Close became a national champion for the first time. Close, who joined UCLA in 2011, had never made it to the Final Four until last year. After losing to UConn in the semifinals, she returned to college basketball’s biggest stage with six seniors and won the program’s first title in the NCAA era.
“It’s really a byproduct and it only makes sense to have people to share it with. I wondered what that would feel like. I really expected us to win today,” Close said. “I thought a lot. I thought, ‘We’re going to win.’ I felt very calm all day.
“It didn’t matter if we got the ‘W’ or not. We just wanted to make sure we played our best when we needed our best. We accomplished that. To me, it’s not about the national championship, it’s validation that you can win another way.”
South Carolina guard Agot Maker
The South Carolina freshman was the Gamecocks’ second leading scorer in both games, establishing himself as a player to watch in this weekend’s Final Four for years to come. Maker had 14 points in the win over UW and 11 points in the loss to UCLA. In six NCAA Tournament games with the University of South Carolina, Maker averaged 14 points, 2.8 rebounds, 2.3 assists, and 2.1 steals per game. If she stays with the Shamcocks, she will get a bigger role. If she enters the transfer portal, she will be one of the most popular players.
female coach
The two teams that participated in the women’s basketball national championship were coached by women.
UCLA’s Cori Close, who won her first title, faced off against South Carolina’s Dawn Staley. This is a recent trend, with women serving as head coaches for both teams in five of the past seven championship games in the women’s NCAA Tournament, excluding 2020 when the tournament was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Close said he was happy to be part of this shift.
“Dawn and I are both proud to continue to represent women who can coach at the highest level to promote our game,” Close said. “(We) really see this as something bigger than ourselves. It’s an honor.”
loser
University coach Geno Auriemma
UW’s head coach didn’t take well the loss to South Carolina in the national semifinals. Auriemma went on a fiery rant during a sideline interview with ESPN’s Holly Rowe, collided with Staley at midcourt and then doubled down over his misunderstanding that sophomore forward Sarah Strong’s jersey was torn. It took until the next day for Auriemma to apologize for his antics. On the game’s biggest stage, Auriemma looked reluctant to lose.
texas longhorns
The University of Texas cruised to the program’s second consecutive Final Four appearance with a 36-point victory over the University of Michigan in the Elite Eight. However, the Longhorns did not advance to the national championship game after a night of heavy shooting. Texas forward Madison Booker was held to six points on 3-of-23 shooting from the field and 0-of-4 from the 3-point line.
UW offensive duo Azi Fad and Sarah Strong
College stars Azee Fudd and Sarah Strong missed out on an impressive Final Four appearance in Phoenix. Against South Carolina, he totaled 20 points on 7-of-31 field goals. It was one of his worst performances all season. “Yeah, they were very aggressive on defense. I think some of our shots were a little rushed and some of our offense was a little rushed and off the pace,” Fudd said after the 62-48 loss to the Gamecocks. “But we looked good, we took a lot of shots on offense, we hit the shots that we’re used to hitting. We just didn’t hit as many today, or we didn’t hit enough.” To make matters worse, Strong tore his jersey in frustration after missing a shot during the game. In the postgame press conference, she revealed little about why she tore her jersey. “It was an accident,” Mr. Strong said weakly. “I accidentally broke it.”
