PHOENIX – Their coach had been pushing them toward this moment all season, through every triumph, every heartache.
Get better, no matter the result, she told her players. Focus on the process. Play with freedom and joy, surrendering the outcome.
The belief was that it could lead to a day like Sunday.
After saying for months that she would not allow one 40-minute game to define the season, UCLA women’s basketball coach Cori Close would presumably relent on that stance given the display her team put on in the national championship game.
Taking it to the Gamecocks from the opening tip, the Bruins put together their most complete game of the tournament, rolling to a 79-51 victory inside the Mortgage Matchup Center.
With UCLA (37-1) holding a 29-point cushion entering the fourth quarter, the final 10 minutes amounted to a head start on the celebration.
It’s the first NCAA championship for a program that has long honored the 1978 title it won behind Ann Meyers and Denise Curry back when it played in the AIAW.
Their retired jerseys could soon be joined in the Pauley Pavilion rafters by those of Lauren Betts, Kiki Rice and Gabriela Jaquez, who had their fingerprints all over elevating this program to new heights.
The trio combined for 45 points against South Carolina (36-4), which could not overcome its wretched shooting. The Gamecocks made just 29 percent of their shots and missed 12 of 14 3-pointers.
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