The ball soared through the air, time seemed to slow—SWISH. Kiki Rice knocked down a 3-pointer at the buzzer to put UCLA up 21-10 at the end of the first quarter. 

And the momentum carried through to a victory. 

But this was no Cinderella story. It was the result of four years of consistent improvement.

The 2022-2023 season saw the Bruins enter the NCAA tournament as a 4-seed after not qualifying the previous year. The squad, which included then-freshmen Kiki Rice and Gabriela Jaquez, along with then-redshirt sophomore Angela Dugalić, reached the Sweet 16, where they were knocked out by South Carolina. 

With that trio returning, alongside the addition of Lauren Betts who transferred in from Stanford, the Bruins entered the following season ranked fourth in the country. Although the Bruins didn’t live up to the expectations that year, they returned to the Sweet 16, where they fell to LSU.

The tides started to turn for the Bruins in the 2024-2025 season. It began with upsetting then-No. 1 South Carolina, which led to the program’s first ever No. 1 ranking. Then the squad won the Big Ten Tournament their first season in the conference.

UCLA entered March Madness as the No. 1 overall seed and advanced to the Final Four for the first time in history, defeating LSU—the team that knocked it out a year prior—in the Elite Eight. The Bruins lost to the eventual champions, the UConn Huskies, in a crushing 85-51 defeat.

That offseason saw some turnover. Londyn Jones, who had been with UCLA since her freshman year, and Janiyah Barker, who played for just one season with UCLA, transferred out. 

But the Bruins also brought in top talent. Gianna Kneepkens transferred in from Utah and Charlisse Leger-Walker, who transferred in from Washington State a year prior, recovered from her ACL injury and was ready to step on the court for UCLA. 

This, alongside a solid freshmen class, pushed the Bruins to a pre-season ranking of third overall.

Coach Cori Close, who has been the head coach for the Bruins since the 2011-2012 season, made sure the team was challenged before entering conference play. The first true tests came against then-No. 6 Oklahoma and then-No. 11 North Carolina, who UCLA defeated 73-59 and 78-60, respectively.

On Nov. 26, the Bruins took their first—and only—loss of the season. Then-No. 4 Texas took down UCLA 76-65 during the Players Era Women’s Championship. The Bruins entered halftime down 20 points, but they didn’t give up.

In the fourth quarter, the team got within four points of Texas on three different occasions, but couldn’t finish closing the gap. Betts, who leads the Bruins in points and rebounds, averaging 17.1 points and 8.8 rebounds per game, was held to just eight points in this matchup.

Close’s squad took that loss and exploded after.

The Bruins cruised through an undefeated Big Ten season, winning the Big Ten Regular Season Title—the first time the program has ever won a regular season title all-out—and carried the momentum through to the Big Ten Tournament.

A dominating 96-45 victory over Iowa, the No. 2 seed in the tournament, helped the Bruins capture their second Big Ten Tournament title in as many years. This was the first time in program history UCLA captured back-to-back tournament titles.

With undefeated UConn taking the No. 1 overall seed in the tournament, UCLA was pushed to the No. 2 overall seed. The first three rounds of the tournament posed no threat to the Bruins, but the Elite Eight started off rocky.

UCLA saw itself down at halftime for only the second time all season. No. 4-seeded Duke held a seven-point advantage after the break, but UCLA was never a team to quit. A 20-8 third quarter in favor of the Bruins propelled the squad to a 70-58 win. 

The Final Four saw a rematch against the team that ruined their undefeated season—Texas. The Longhorns and the Bruins kept the game slow, with the Bruins holding a 20-17 lead entering the half.

A double-double and three blocks from Betts—including a crucial block on Madison Booker with less than a minute left—sent UCLA to its first ever championship game in the March Madness era.

“I'm super satisfied with this result, and the journey was even better. I think we [the core group] were all very determined to do something UCLA has not done before in the UCLA era and that was just really important for us.”

Gabriela Jaquez

Entering the NCAA Championship game against South Carolina, UCLA was favored to lose. But the six graduating players on the squad—Betts, Dugalić, Jaquez, Kneepkens, Leger-Walker, and Rice—made sure that didn’t happen.

Unlike the Texas game, UCLA came out firing on all cylinders. Close, who always says “defense wins championships,” made sure her squad was playing hard. South Carolina ended the game with 14 turnovers, and, more impressively for UCLA, shot just 29% from the field.

The 21-10 first quarter that was punctuated with Rice’s buzzer beater, combined with a 25-9 third quarter secured a 79-51 victory—the Bruins’ first in history. This dominating victory also places fourth in biggest blowouts in a Women’s March Madness Championship game.

Jaquez led the way with 21 points, 10 rebounds, and five assists, her second double-double of the season. She has played for the Bruins since her freshman year and has seen steady improvement before exploding for a career year this season that included her making the All-Tournament Team. 

Her whole family, including her brother, Jamie Jaquez Jr., who played at UCLA and now plays for the Miami Heat, was in Phoenix to support her, making it all the more meaningful.

“I mean [I’m] super satisfied with this result, and the journey was even better...” Jaquez said. "I think we [the core group] were all very determined to do something UCLA has not done before in the UCLA era and that was just really important for us.”

Rice, who joins Jaquez on the All-Tournament Team, recorded 10 points, six rebounds and four assists for the Bruins. She has also stayed with the program throughout her entire collegiate career, something that is becoming rarer with NIL and the transfer portal. 

Rice has been consistent throughout her four years for UCLA, helping Close build a successful program around her in these past few years.

“I remember coming in as freshmen and being in Cori’s office and having these conversations like, this is where we want to get to, we want to win a national championship,” Rice said. “And to know that we gave it our all and this is where we ended up, it's really rewarding because this is a special group of people and we’re so grateful for all the moments.”

The Most Outstanding Player, though, went to none other than Betts. Betts also recorded a double-double against the Gamecocks, scoring 14 points off 6-for-10 shooting while also grabbing a team-high 11 rebounds.

“I think the confidence that we came out with, [was because] we just knew we were going to win because of all the prep and the work that we put in,” Betts said. “I think when we find a way to play together and play selflessly and just do what we do, no one can stop us.”

“I think when we find a way to play together and play selflessly and just do what we do, no one can stop us.”

Lauren Betts

The final three scorers were also graduating players.

Adding in 14 points and four rebounds was Kneepkens, who shot 3-for-7 from behind the arc in the contest. Leger-Walker, who leads the squad in assists, recorded 10 points and four rebounds. Dugalić contributed an additional nine points, five rebounds, and four assists off the bench.  

Close’s squad has continued to make history, and with their top six players—and only scorers against the Gamecocks—graduating, this was the year to complete the quest for the title.

“It's so rare in life that you can start a journey with a group of people and really envision something and then try to reverse engineer a plan that will actually lead you to the point that we're experiencing right now,” Close said. “We are so fortunate to be experiencing that, and they [the players] earned every bit of it.”