Westwood’s Redemption: UCLA’s Championship Master Plan

PHOENIX — AS UCLA reflects on the momentous weekend it created, a particular scene will be prominent: Lauren Betts sprinting across the floor, pivoting to confront a charging Madison Booker, and leaping, her arm outstretched upward.

The pivotal block by Betts during the national semifinals against Texas on Friday — which ESPN commentator Ryan Ruocco characterized as “an ageless rejection” — secured the Bruins’ spot in their inaugural NCAA championship contest. On Sunday afternoon, they claimed the championship with a 79-51 win over South Carolina.

The Sunday match was decidedly one-sided, a complete mastery by the Bruins throughout. All 130 points in UCLA’s Final Four campaign were amassed by their senior players, and the initial lineup started departing the championship match with over three minutes remaining, starting with Betts and guard Kiki Rice. Gabriela Jaquez, a Southern California native who had yearned since her youth to compete for UCLA, sank a 3-point shot with 2:55 on the clock before moving to the sidelines to commence the festivities and clear away some joyful tears.

Over many years, UCLA consistently proved to be a competent squad that repeatedly failed to reach the grandest platform. Between 2016 and 2024, the Bruins were halted six separate occasions in either the Sweet 16 or Elite Eight rounds. UCLA continued to experience commendable seasons that just couldn’t elevate to outstanding.

This season, at last, every element aligned, thanks to seven veteran players, four of whom commenced their university tenures elsewhere but have propelled the squad to the athletic summit. As evidenced by her crucial defensive play on Friday, Betts — the 6-foot-7 pivot who relocated to UCLA from Stanford prior to the 2023-24 academic year — proved to be the vital component that seamlessly integrated.

“This institution has transformed my existence in the most positive manner,” Betts declared before Sunday’s championship matchup. “I am eternally thankful for UCLA. It stands as the finest choice I have ever undertaken.”

However, Betts is not the sole freshly honored victor who followed an indirect route to Westwood.

Frontcourt player Angela Dugalic commenced her career at Oregon. Charlisse Leger-Walker initiated hers at Washington State, and her peer, guard Gianna Kneepkens, at Utah. A different senior from this year’s roster, Megan Grant, had no need to relocate as she was already enrolled at UCLA — participating in softball. She became part of the basketball initiative this term, with the softball coaches’ approval, to inject a contagious sense of elation into the team.

“My obligation involves positioning each brick we possess precisely,” UCLA coach Cori Close stated, referring to her oversight of the Bruins’ incremental development throughout the last 15 campaigns. “Our aim isn’t merely to erect a barrier.”

Conversely, Close assembled a title-winning ensemble. During the fifth women’s Final Four where all four top-seeded teams progressed, the Bruins distinguished themselves as the premier No. 1, concluding with a 37-1 record and besting the three-time victorious Gamecocks for the crown. Jaquez (21 points, 10 boards) and Betts (14 and 11) spearheaded the effort in a contest where UCLA held the lead from start to finish.

“We’ve supported one another through our most arduous periods, reconstructing each other’s resolve,” Betts articulated. “To me, the core isn’t truly about the triumphs and defeats, but rather the comprehensive voyage we’ve undertaken collectively.”

Rice arrived at UCLA in 2022, ranked as the second-best prospective player nationwide, concurrently with the top recruit, Betts, committing to Stanford. They had anticipated becoming adversaries within the Pac-12. Ultimately, they concluded their university athletic paths as colleagues, securing both league and national titles.

“It’s truly, truly remarkable to have the opportunity to compete in Pauley Pavilion,” Rice remarked, “and to gaze around each occasion we set foot on that floor, observing all the honored jerseys and the national championship pennants. Contributing to that heritage signifies a great deal.”

AFTER BETTS DEPARTED Stanford in 2023 following a single year, her self-assurance had been fragmented. She continued to contend with difficulties throughout her initial season with the Bruins yet opted for a mental wellness hiatus that enabled her to re-establish both her personal life and her athletic profession in basketball.

“The most significant lesson I’ve acquired over these preceding three campaigns at UCLA is simply to consistently trust in my capabilities and to encompass myself with positive individuals,” Betts conveyed.

“Irrespective of my performance on the court, that does not diminish my worth as an individual. I am surrounded by people who cherish me, irrespective of the number of points I accumulate.”

Such mental tranquility has aided Betts in realizing her full capabilities on the basketball floor. Having been a first-team All-American and the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year for the last two campaigns, Betts additionally earned the Big Ten Player of the Year honor this season. She is anticipated to be an early first-round selection in the WNBA draft on April 13, and Rice, Jaquez, Leger-Walker, Kneepkens, and Dugalic might also hear their names called.

Betts’ rejection against Booker during Friday’s semifinals showcased the kind of memorable, influential maneuver she executes with near regularity. If Betts’ synchronization had faltered, the Longhorns might have achieved a three-point conversion and an equalization. Instead, Betts secured the block, retrieved the sphere, and delivered it to Rice, who was keen to draw a foul and advance to the charity stripe to ensure the win with penalty shots.

“She ranks among the finest defensive players I’ve witnessed,” Leger-Walker commented regarding Betts. “When she performs an action of that nature, it generates a substantial shift in impetus. We depend on her immensely for such contributions, and her execution is steadfast.”

Moreover, it felt like a significant, emblematic instant: formally banishing the specters of the previous year’s semifinal, where UCLA succumbed 85-51 to UConn, a somber conclusion to what had been among the season’s most compelling narratives. Betts was the solitary Bruin to achieve double-digit scoring, accumulating 26 points.

However, the athletes assert they derived impetus when the eagerly anticipated Final Four excursion of the prior season did not unfold as desired. Leger-Walker was part of the Bruins at that time, though she was sidelined for the season, recuperating from a knee ailment sustained in January 2024 while playing for Washington State. Kneepkens observed the 2025 Final Four remotely, aware of her readiness to relocate from Utah.

“My aspiration then was to be in this very circumstance,” Kneepkens stated.

Rice and Jaquez, the pair of Bruins still present from a highly sought-after five-member freshman cohort in autumn 2022, also remained, fueled by the conviction that they could ascend to this zenith.

“This objective was consistently our intention upon arriving at UCLA as first-year students, for both Kiki and myself: to advance to the Final Four and claim the national title,” remarked Jaquez, whose sibling, Jaime Jr., competed for the Bruins’ male squad and is currently with the NBA’s Miami Heat.

“I never contemplated transferring. A few individuals questioned me, ‘For what reason did you remain?’ My response was, ‘Why would I depart?’ I adore UCLA.'”

“It demonstrates the robust bond they share with Cori,” South Carolina coach Dawn Staley observed concerning Jaquez and Rice. “This signifies they represent the foundational elements of their ascent to this echelon. No connection is more powerful than possessing that confidence and allegiance to persist with the organization you joined.”

CLOSE, A CALIFORNIA resident who competed at UC Santa Barbara, served as a UCLA assistant during the early 1990s and became acquainted with the renowned UCLA men’s coach John Wooden, who secured 10 NCAA championships. He passed away the year prior to her comeback to assume leadership of the UCLA women’s team in 2011, following her tenure as an assistant at Florida State.

His principles consistently found resonance with her. It is effortless to envision Wooden admiring Close’s Bruins, who has now bestowed a second national championship upon the UCLA women’s athletic initiative.

The initial triumph occurred in 1978, prior to women’s basketball being overseen by the NCAA. Guided by Hall of Famer Ann Meyers Drysdale, the Bruins achieved a 27-3 record and secured the AIAW championship by defeating Maryland 90-74. The NCAA period did not commence until 1982.

These present-day Bruins are exceedingly deliberate in recognizing their basketball forebears.

“It presents a chance for us to illuminate their contributions and declare, ‘We acknowledge you, we value you. You constitute a portion of our existence here,'” Close conveyed. “Numerous women from that historical team are present within this venue; they are our season-pass holders.”

Meyers Drysdale, who has maintained a lengthy association with the Phoenix Suns and Mercury, attended the Bruins’ matches at the venue this weekend.

“Simply immensely gratified to observe this squad perform optimally precisely when their peak performance was requisite,” Meyers Drysdale informed ESPN on Sunday. “Cori stands as an extraordinary mentor and an exemplary figure for our sport — her meticulous planning and her ability to inspire these young women to have faith, to make concessions, and to demonstrate selflessness toward one another. Cori has established a magnificent groundwork. Utterly proud of each of them.”

The UCLA women’s basketball program will perpetually hold the trailblazers of 1978 in high esteem. At present, the initiative’s excellence is formally current.

Betts elicited mirth while attempting to explicate one of her cherished maxims from Close.

“Championship rings will gather dust and — how is it phrased? – pennants. Pennants will — et cetera. The recollections you forge … um, something akin to that. She utters it constantly,” Betts recounted, with a grin. “It’s a lovely sentiment, yet I hear it frequently.”

Close subsequently furnished the precise utterance: “Pennants adorn gymnasiums and championship rings accumulate dust, but the person you evolve into and the lives you influence are treasures you retain perpetually.”

Indeed, yet UCLA currently possesses an NCAA championship pennant and accompanying rings to preserve indefinitely, as well.