South Carolina put a stop to a 54-game UConn winning streak that dated back to last season, and now Dawn Staley’s Gamecocks are playing in their third straight national title game.
UCLA, on the other hand, has never been here before. After shutting down Texas, the Bruins have finally reached the sport’s biggest stage in the 15th season of Cori Close’s head-coaching tenure. (UCLA won the 1978 AIAW title before the NCAA governed women’s sports.)
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So while both South Carolina and UCLA are No. 1 seeds, their backstories couldn’t be more different. Two of the best defensive teams in the country are going head-to-head for all the marbles Sunday in Phoenix. A fourth national championship banner — and a third in the past five years — is on the line for South Carolina, whereas UCLA can raise its first with one more victory.
Here’s what you need to know going into Sunday’s matchup.
No. 1 South Carolina (36-3) vs. No. 1 UCLA (36-1)
How to watch: 3:30 p.m. ET on ABC/ESPN
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South Carolina’s last NCAA title: 2024
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UCLA’s last NCAA title: Never
South Carolina smothered UConn with unrelenting defense in the Final Four. The Huskies entered the game undefeated and averaging 87.9 points per game. UConn had scored fewer than 70 points once all season and hadn’t dipped below 63 points in any outing. The Gamecocks held a Huskies team destined for greatness — a group led by 2026 Naismith Player of the Year Sarah Strong and 2025 Final Four Most Outstanding Player Azzi Fudd — to a mere 48 points. The last time UConn failed to reach the 50-point barrier? Well, that was when it fell to South Carolina in the 2022 national championship.
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Sophomore forward Joyce Edwards spearheaded the suffocating defensive effort. In fact, according to ESPN, on the 53 plays where Edwards was the final defender on Strong, UConn made just 11 of its 44 field-goal attempts and turned the ball over eight times. Strong hadn’t shot under 45% in a game this season and finished with only 12 points on 4-of-16 shooting. South Carolina closed passing windows, turned up the heat with persistent ball pressure and played with physicality that clearly frustrated Geno Auriemma.
UCLA followed that defensive clinic with one of its own. The Bruins kept Madison Booker and Texas in check. Like UCLA, Texas was in the Final Four for the second year in row, and Vic Schaefer’s squad had been blowing out its competition in the NCAA tournament. On their way to the national semifinals, they beat Missouri State by 42, Oregon by 42, Kentucky by 22 and Michigan by 36. Then they scored only 44 points against the Bruins.
A Texas team that won the SEC tournament and handed South Carolina two of its three losses this season floundered offensively. Booker’s play this season thrust her into the National Player of the Year conversation, but she had her worst game at the worst time. She scored six points on 3-of-23 shooting.
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Close jokingly apologized for the “ugly basketball” that was on display, as UCLA wasn’t much better offensively with only 51 points and a ghastly 23 turnovers. Regardless, the Bruins advanced thanks to their poise down the stretch.
South Carolina guard Tessa Johnson passes the ball past UCLA center Lauren Betts on Nov. 24, 2024. The Bruins won that game 77-62. (Photo by Joe Scarnici/Getty Images)
(Joe Scarnici via Getty Images)
UCLA’s lone loss this season came against Texas on Nov. 26 in the Players Era Championship. The Bruins just avenged that defeat. Now they’ll try to win it all by taking down South Carolina. They topped the Gamecocks early last season, except the team Staley’s coaching this time around looks different. Notably, South Carolina added guard Ta’Niya Latson, who led the nation in points per game in 2024-25 at Florida State, and center Madina Okot, who transferred from Mississippi State and is currently tied for third in the country in double-doubles with 22 on the season.
Meanwhile, UCLA’s continuity is clear as a Southern California day. Close’s crew is veteran-heavy. All five players who started in Friday’s Final Four game are either seniors or graduate students. They’ll be leaning on their overall experience. South Carolina, on the other hand, has plenty of national championship experience to pull from. Of the five years redshirt senior guard Raven Johnson has been on the team, the Gamecocks have made four national title games.
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Players to watch
UCLA C Lauren Betts
Betts is a threat on both ends of the floor. Her rim-protecting skills have been in the spotlight during the NCAA tournament. She’s averaged 4.3 blocks over her last three games. The 6-foot-7 senior rejected three shots in the Final Four against Texas, including a Booker layup with less than 30 seconds to go and UCLA up by only three points. She’s also the Bruins’ leading scorer and a projected top-five pick in the WNBA Draft.
South Carolina F Joyce Edwards
Edwards diminished Strong’s offensive impact on the Final Four, and that made quite a difference. Not only can she bring it defensively, but she’s also the Gamecocks’ top scoring option. She’s averaging 19.5 points per game, and she’s reached or eclipsed the 20-point mark on 22 occasions this season.
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UCLA G Gianna Kneepkens
Kneepkens is UCLA’s best outside shooter. The graduate guard has converted 84 long-range attempts this season. For reference, no one else on the team has made more than 47 3s. Kneepkens is shooting 42.9% from 3-point land. South Carolina, on average, is limiting its opponents to a 28.6% clip out there. But Kneepkens can get hot. She’s stacked at least four triples in seven games this season.
South Carolina G Agot Makeer
Another player to keep an eye on is Gamecocks freshman Agot Makeer. The rangy, 6-foot-1 guard has broken out in the NCAA tournament. Before March Madness began, she had just three double-digit scoring performances. But she’s scored 10 or more points in each of South Carolina’s five games during its run to the national title game. She’s averaged 14.6 points, 3 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 2.4 steals per game in that span while sinking 5-of-11 shots from deep.
Stats to remember
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South Carolina forces 17.7 turnovers per game, and UCLA has turned the ball over at least 18 times in each of its past two outings.
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The Bruins’ foul rate (17.6%) is the 34th lowest in the country, according to Her Hoop Stats.
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Bottom line
UCLA showed it can win a rock fight on Friday when it beat Texas, the only team that’s defeated the Bruins all season. Close’s team might have another one on its hands if the Final Four was any indication of how this final weekend is going to play out. Either way, timely offense will be paramount. UCLA’s looking to send off a unified bunch with a program-defining win. South Carolina’s got a chance to add another notch to its belt and give its newcomers a taste of NCAA championship glory.
