The defending champions, South Carolina Gamecocks, had been on the winning side of dominant performances against ranked teams countless times over the past few years.
But on Sunday at Pauley Pavillion, the tables turned.
Trailing by as many as 23 points, the No 1 Gamecocks suffered their first loss since the 2023 Final Four. This was the ending of a program-record 43 game winning streak with a 77-62 defeat to No. 5 UCLA in front of a crowd of 13,659 people.
This was the largest loss by a No 1. team since January 2020, the Gamecocks largest loss since the 2019 Sweet Sixteen, and their first road loss since December 2021.
“It doesn’t feel good when you’re on the receiving end of it. But you also know you got beat by a great team, executing on both sides,” South Carolina coach Dawn Staley told ESPN. “That was beautiful basketball by UCLA, beautiful on both sides. I thought our kids fought. But we ran into a buzz saw today.”
South Carolina, which finished undefeated last season after winning the program’s third championship in seven years, had previously been tested this season by unranked Michigan in its opener, winning by six, and later by then-No. 9 NC State, prevailing by 14.
Sunday, however, UCLA dominated on both ends. Its “relentless” defense, as Staley put it, held the Gamecocks to just 62 points on 36.4% shooting from the field. The Bruins quickly turned a nine-point second-quarter lead into a 21-point halftime advantage, with South Carolina managing only 22 points on a 26.5% shooting clip at the break. It was the Gamecocks’ first double-digit halftime deficit since December 2021, and first 20-point halftime deficit since March 2019.
Staley said she thought her squad did a solid job limiting Bruins center Lauren Betts (11 points), but that “we got killed by everyone else.” Four other UCLA players reached double figures, led by Londynn Jones’ 15 (5-for-5 on 3-pointers) off the bench.
Te-Hina Paopao and Tessa Johnson did all they could with a combined 32 points and six 3s, but it wasn’t enough to overcome the rest of the team’s offensive shortcomings. The Bruins held the Gamecocks to only 18 points in the paint and one fast-break point. South Carolina also committed the same number of turnovers as assists (13) and was outrebounded 41-34.
“We’re in transition from having a dominant big [2024 WNBA lottery pick Kamilla Cardoso] to not having a dominant big and figuring out how we can incorporate our bigs scoring the basketball a little bit,” Staley said. “So, we’ll figure it out. We’ve got to get comfortable with it, our bigs have to get comfortable with doing it a little bit differently.”
“This is our second loss in two years. So no, it doesn’t feel good, but yes, we have to figure things out a little bit.”
UCLA was no slouch as the preseason No. 5 team in the country. But dominating the 2024 champs wire-to-wire and leading much of the game by 20-plus points made for one of the most impressive performances this young season.
“There just was never a doubt, and we prepared like we expected to win,” UCLA coach Cori Close said.
The Bruins also proved themselves as one of the deepest teams in the country, producing 34 bench points and with Close remarking they essentially have eight starters.
Though Betts had a quiet scoring game, she made her presence felt in every other facet with a game-high 14 rebounds, 4 assists, and 4 blocked shots. Freshman Elina Aarnisalo also had a big afternoon with 13 points and four assists.
With program legends from Ann Meyers Drysdale to Natalie Williams to Jordin Canada in the house, the win marked UCLA’s first victory over an AP No. 1 team in program history after going 0-20 in such matchups.
“Work ethic and selflessness,” Close said about what makes her team special. “Everyone had a moment. We are really versatile and have a lot of weapons. But they wouldn’t do much, we wouldn’t have this, if we didn’t have selflessness and elite work ethic. … I’ve never had a team that works extra more than this team.”
The performance gives UCLA an argument for earning the No. 1 ranking in the Associated Press poll when it’s revealed Monday afternoon.
“I don’t mean to be boring, but I really don’t care who’s ranked what at what point,” Close said. “I just want us to learn the lessons that this game taught us and I want us to fall more in love with the process of what it takes to become great.”
The Bruins, who are coming off a Sweet 16 loss in the 2024 NCAA tournament, are hoping this is the breakthrough season that delivers their first NCAA Final Four appearance. The program previously played in the Elite Eight twice and won an AIAW championship in 1978.
“It’s Nov. 24,” Close said. “Am I proud of our team? Yes. But this is just the beginning and we just can’t get tired of doing things right.”
Lauren Betts, UCLA basketball player, commented on the team’s mentality moving forward saying “Just keep getting better every single day. Head down, take each day, stay present. … We know what we want to do at the end of the season. We want to win a national championship. Taking each practice as preparation and keeping those same habits every day so that we can get to that.”
This is a historic victory for the UCLA Bruins, as they have grabbed the No. 1 spot in the AP polls for the first time in the program’s history.
