PHOENIX – On Saturday, the South Carolina Gamecocks and UCLA Bruins hosted practices in front of the fans in downtown Phoenix. The two teams are eager and ready to face off in the National Championship Game on Sunday.
The Gamecocks look to win their third national title in the last five years. Meanwhile the Bruins seek to make history as they vie for their first NCAA Title.
Dawn Staley, Gamecocks Praises the Bruins’ success over the past two years
Gamecocks head coach Dawn Staley acknowledges the winning culture Cori Close has built for the Bruins women’s basketball program since she was hired in 2011.
Before 2018, UCLA had made only one appearance in the Elite Eight, which was in 1999. Since then, the team has reached the Elite Eight three times — in 2018, 2025, and now 2026 — and has made back-to-back Final Four appearances.
“UCLA is coached by a great coach, Cori Close, who has done a tremendous job with keeping that group together and formulating something truly special in getting to back-to-back Final Fours, [and] now to the national championship game,” Staley said Saturday. “She’s done it with players who believe in her and her system. Her system works.”
After getting their revenge victory over the UConn Huskies on Friday, the Gamecocks look to get back on top.
Senior guard Raven Johnson has appeared in the Final Four every year of her five year career in South Carolina.
She knows what it takes to win it all.
“I tell you, one thing we keep saying is believe,” Johnson said. “Believe that we can make the next stop. Believe you can put the ball in the basket. Believe in each other. That’s the biggest thing. Believe in the circle that we have. Don’t let anybody break that circle that we have. Nobody knows what we went through in the summer.”
UCLA Looks to Win Its First National Title
As the six seniors for the Bruins play their final collegiate games, one of them, forward Lauren Betts, mentioned the importance of building long-term relationships with teammates.
She, alongside guards Kiki Rice, Charlisse Leger-Walker and Gabriela Jaquez and forwards Gianna Kneepens and Angela Dugalic, look to end on a high note and win a National Championship together.
“The biggest thing that I’ve learned in these past three seasons at UCLA, for me, just to always believe in what I’m capable of doing and to surround myself with good people,” Betts said.
“Regardless of what I do on the court, that doesn’t take away from my value as a person. I have people who love me regardless of how many points I score. That’s the biggest lesson I’ve learned.”
It starts with aggressive defense. Close observed the emphasis Betts placed on this after their experience in last year’s semifinal loss to the Huskies.
During UCLA’s win over the Texas Longhorns on Friday, it was a low scoring game between the two teams.
However, the Bruins look to improve on their scoring and give the Gamecocks’ defense different types of switches to make things difficult.
“Lauren would be the first to say that that’s the biggest difference from last year to this year, is that everybody’s understanding how they can contribute,” Close said. “We’re not all just standing around staring at Lauren.”
“I think we didn’t do that as well offensively in our semifinal game against Texas. But over the course of the season that’s been a real intentional area of focus, is that everybody understands sort of what their value-add is. We want them to feel confident to hunt for that, at the same time understanding that really it’s about playing through the paint. Not just playing through Lauren, [but] having that attack mindset.”
The game will air nationally on ABC at 3:30 p.m. EST.