PHOENIX — Lauren Betts on Friday covered her mouth in disbelief as UCLA lined up for the postgame handshake line.
This was why Betts passed up the 2025 WNBA draft in order to return to UCLA for her final season. She already took the Bruins where the program had never gone before — to a Final Four.
But she wanted one last crack at winning it all.
She led UCLA to a 35-1 campaign, including 29 consecutive wins. The Bruins captured Big Ten regular season and tournament titles. They danced their way to UCLA’s second consecutive Final Four.
And after avenging their lone loss this season by taking down Texas 51-44, the Bruins are now only a win away from the Bruins’ first national championship since the NCAA.
“We were talking about it in the locker room. This is something that we’ve all dreamt of being in the position [we’re] in and we’re all very very thankful,” Betts said. “And we expected to be here. So tonight, we’ll all celebrate with our families and soak this in and then tomorrow we gotta walk in and prep for another.”
Texas made UCLA sweat. The Longhorns cut it to a three-point game with 1:02 left in the fourth quarter. But Betts chased Madison Booker down on a fast-break and blocked her layup.
Kiki Rice drained four free throws in the final 13 seconds to seal the win.
A year ago, coach Cori Close vowed that the Bruins “be better the next time we’re here.”
“We’ve got to let the pain of this” — a Final Four loss to UConn — “teach us to go to new heights next year and learn from this and be better the next time,” Close said in Tampa.
That’s exactly what happened.
The Bruins welcomed back seniors Betts, Rice, Gabriela Jaquez and Angela Dugalic. They bolstered their rotation, welcoming Utah transfer Gianna Kneepkens and graduate student Charlisse Leger-Walker. Six players who could hear their name on WNBA draft night in 10 days.
They’ll play a tough South Carolina team who outmuscled UConn hours earlier on Friday.
The Gamecocks are making their fourth appearance in a national championship game in five years and are vying for their third title in that window.
But the Bruins are playing with house money and savoring the opportunity of playing one more game together.
“Job’s not finished,” Jaquez said.
