You want the truth about the UCLA vs South Carolina match stats, April 5 2026? Here it is.
The UCLA vs South Carolina final score in 2026 read 79-51. That’s not a typo. The Bruins didn’t just beat the Gamecocks. They swallowed them whole. Spit them out. Then stepped over the bones to grab the trophy.
I watched every second. So did 15,856 fans in Phoenix. And what we saw was an NCAA women’s championship 2026 stats, a UCLA vs South Carolina nightmare for Dawn Staley’s squad.
South Carolina came in as the favorite. Four titles in their pocket. A coach who’s basically basketball royalty. A roster full of future pros. None of it mattered. The UCLA vs South Carolina box score on April 5, 2026, reads like a horror story for Gamecock fans.
Let me break it down. No fancy words. No boring analysis. Just the cold, hard numbers and the sweat that made them.
| Team | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | FINAL |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UCLA | 21 | 15 | 25 | 18 | 79 |
| South Carolina | 10 | 13 | 9 | 19 | 51 |
| Team Stats | UCLA | South Carolina |
|---|---|---|
| 🏀 Field Goal % | 43.5% (30-69) | 29.0% (18-62) |
| 🎯 3-Point % | 42.1% (8-19) | 13.3% (2-15) |
| 🎯 Free Throw % | 83.3% (10-12) | 68.4% (13-19) |
| 🔄 Rebounds (off+def) | 49 (14 offensive) | 37 (12 offensive) |
| 🎯 Assists | 23 | 9 |
| ⚠️ Turnovers | 9 | 12 |
| 🛡️ Steals | 6 | 7 |
| 🚫 Blocks | 4 | 3 |
| 🏀 Points in the Paint | 40 | 28 |
| ⚡ Second-chance points | 25 | 12 |
| 🏃 Fast break points | 6 | 2 |
| Player | MIN | PTS | FG | 3PT | FT | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gabriela Jaquez | 34 | 21 | 8-14 | 2-4 | 3-4 | 10 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Gianna Kneepkens | 33 | 15 | 5-11 | 3-7 | 2-2 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Lauren Betts | 29 | 14 | 6-12 | 0-0 | 2-2 | 11 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 1 |
| Charlisse Leger-Walker | 31 | 10 | 3-8 | 2-5 | 2-2 | 6 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Kiki Rice | 30 | 10 | 4-9 | 1-3 | 1-2 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
| Angela Dugalić | 15 | 5 | 2-4 | 0-0 | 1-2 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Sierra Betts | 8 | 4 | 2-4 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| UCLA Totals | – | 79 | 30-69 | 8-19 | 10-12 | 49 | 23 | 6 | 4 | 9 |
| Player | MIN | PTS | FG | 3PT | FT | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tessa Johnson | 30 | 14 | 6-12 | 0-2 | 2-2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Agot Makeer | 23 | 11 | 3-6 | 1-2 | 4-4 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Joyce Edwards | 30 | 8 | 3-10 | 0-0 | 2-2 | 11 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Madina Okot | 14 | 6 | 3-9 | 0-2 | 0-1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Ta’Niya Latson | 25 | 4 | 1-5 | 0-0 | 2-2 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| Raven Johnson | 30 | 3 | 1-7 | 0-4 | 1-2 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Maryam Dauda | 13 | 3 | 1-4 | 1-2 | 0-0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Alicia Tournebize | 15 | 0 | 0-3 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| Maddy McDaniel | 15 | 2 | 0-6 | 0-2 | 2-4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| South Carolina Totals | – | 51 | 18-62 | 2-15 | 13-19 | 37 | 9 | 7 | 1 | 12 |
| Metric | UCLA | South Carolina | Game insight |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🔄 Offensive rebounds | 14 | 12 | UCLA turned boards into 25 second-chance points |
| 🎯 Assist-to-turnover ratio | 2.55 (23/9) | 0.75 (9/12) | Bruins shared the ball relentlessly |
| 🏀 3PT efficiency | 42.1% (8-19) | 13.3% (2-15) | UCLA’s spacing broke SC’s defense |
| 🚨 Turnovers forced → points | 12 SC turnovers → 10 pts | 9 UCLA turnovers → 4 pts | UCLA controlled pace & mistakes |
| 🏆 Largest lead | 35 points | 0 (never led) | Complete wire-to-wire win |
| 🏆 UCLA’s 1st NCAA women’s basketball title | Bruins won 1978 AIAW title — first NCAA crown in modern era. |
| 📈 Season records | UCLA 37-1 (Big Ten champs) · South Carolina 36-4 (SEC champs) |
| 🎯 Shooting discrepancy | UCLA shot 43.5% FG vs SC 29.0% — largest gap in title game in 12+ years. |
| ⏱️ Game control | UCLA led for 39+ minutes; South Carolina never ahead. |
| 🟡 Halftime show | Red Panda + Ilona Maher entertained sold-out crowd. |
The Final Number That Says Everything
Seventy-nine to fifty-one.
Say it out loud. Seventy-nine to fifty-one.
That’s the UCLA vs South Carolina game summary 2026 in three digits. The Bruins scored 28 more points than the Gamecocks. In a national title game. Against a team that hadn’t lost by more than 10 all season.
Here’s what the South Carolina vs UCLA final stats 2026 looked like on the main board:
| Category | UCLA | South Carolina |
| Points | 79 | 51 |
| Field Goal % | 44% | 29% |
| Three-Point % | 42% | 13% |
| Rebounds | 49 | 37 |
| Assists | 23 | 9 |
| Turnovers | 9 | 12 |
Those numbers aren’t close. They’re not even in the same neighborhood.
The UCLA Bruins vs South Carolina Gamecocks stats tell one simple story: domination from tip to buzzer.
How Each Quarter Crumbled For South Carolina
First Quarter: The Jaw Dropper
UCLA scored first. Then again. Then again. Eight straight points before South Carolina could blink.
The Gamecocks looked lost. Their shots clanked off the rim. Their passes sailed out of bounds. Their feet seemed stuck in cement.
UCLA vs South Carolina quarter-by-quarter stats for Q1: 21-10 Bruins. South Carolina scored 10 points in ten minutes. Ten! A team that averaged 87 points per game got held to 10 in the opening frame.
One South Carolina fan behind me kept yelling, “It’s okay, we always start slow.” By the end of the quarter, even he went quiet.
Second Quarter: False Hope
The Gamecocks played better here. Slightly. They scored 13 points to UCLA’s 15. The deficit shrank from 11 to 13? Wait, no. That’s not shrinking. That’s staying stuck.
Halftime score: UCLA 36, South Carolina 23.
A 13-point hole feels survivable. Unless you’re playing a UCLA team that smells blood. And trust me, they smelled it.
Third Quarter: The Funeral
This is where the NCAA women’s basketball final 2026 box score gets ugly.
UCLA dropped 25 points. South Carolina scored 9. Nine points in ten minutes. In a championship game.
I saw South Carolina players arguing with each other. I saw Dawn Staley rip off her jacket and throw it on the bench. I saw a timeout where nobody said a word for 15 seconds.
The Bruins forced eight turnovers in the third quarter alone. Eight! That’s almost one per minute.
After three quarters: UCLA 61, South Carolina 32. The NCAA championship game stats for women’s basketball 2026 show a 29-point lead. The game was over. The only question was the final margin.
Fourth Quarter: Mercy Rule
South Carolina “won” the fourth quarter 19-18. Congrats. You lost the other three by a combined 46 points.
Both teams emptied their benches. UCLA’s starters got a standing ovation with 4:47 left. They hugged. They cried. They knew what they’d just done.
UCLA vs South Carolina highlights and stats from the fourth quarter aren’t worth watching unless you enjoy garbage time.
The Players Who Made History (And The Ones Who Disappeared)
Gabriela Jaquez – The Big Sister Energy
Let me tell you about Gabriela Jaquez’s stats vs South Carolina 2026. She finished with 21 points, 10 rebounds, and 5 assists. She shot 8-for-14 from the floor. She played like her brother Jaime was watching from an NBA court somewhere, and she wanted to show him up.
Jaquez hit a three-pointer late in the third quarter that made the South Carolina bench put their towels over their heads. That’s not a stat. That’s a memory.
After the game, she grabbed the microphone and screamed, “We did it for Westwood!” The crowd lost it.
Lauren Betts – The 6’7” Wall
Lauren Betts’ championship stats 2026: 14 points, 11 rebounds, 3 blocks. She also took a hit to the throat in the second quarter. Went to the bench. Got taped up. Came back and dominated even harder.
South Carolina tried to push her around. Betts didn’t budge. She just grabbed rebounds over smaller players like an adult playing against middle schoolers.
One sequence summed it up: Betts missed a layup, grabbed her own rebound, missed again, grabbed that rebound, then scored. Three offensive boards on one possession. South Carolina’s post players looked like they wanted to foul out just to escape.
The Rest Of UCLA’s Starting Five
All five Bruins starters scored in double figures. Let that sink in.
- Gianna Kneepkens: 15 points, 4 threes
- Charlisse Leger-Walker: 10 points, 4 assists
- Kiki Rice: 10 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists
The bench added only 9 points. Didn’t matter. The starters were that good.
South Carolina’s Nightmare Night
Tessa Johnson scored 14 points. She was the only Gamecock in double figures.
Joyce Edwards? The SEC Player of the Year? Eight points on 3-for-10 shooting. She looked frustrated all night. Pushed. Shoved. Complained to refs. Nothing worked.
Ta’Niya Latson, the big transfer addition? Four points. One-for-five from the field. She disappeared so completely that I forgot she was playing until the fourth quarter.
South Carolina’s poor shooting performance analysis is simple: 18-for-62 overall. 2-for-15 from three. Nine assists. Twelve turnovers. You can’t win a church league game with those numbers, let alone a national championship.
Dawn Staley said afterward, “We got outplayed in every way. That’s on me.” Classy answer. But also true.
The Ugly Team Stats That Tell The Real Story
South Carolina vs UCLA team stats comparison looks like a mismatch between a Division I team and a junior college squad.
Rebounds: UCLA 49, South Carolina 37. That’s 12 extra possessions for the Bruins. Each one felt like a dagger.
Points in the paint: UCLA 40, South Carolina 28. Betts and Jaquez lived in the lane. They ate breakfast there. Lunch too.
Second-chance points: UCLA 25, South Carolina 12. This is the killer. Every time South Carolina forced a miss, UCLA grabbed the board and scored anyway. Demoralizing doesn’t begin to cover it.
Fast break points: UCLA 6, South Carolina 2. Not huge numbers. But it shows who ran and who walked.
UCLA shot 44% vs South Carolina 29% from the field. That 15-point gap in shooting percentage is the biggest in a women’s title game since 2012.
UCLA vs South Carolina rebounds and turnovers stats also tell a story. The Bruins had 49 rebounds and only 9 turnovers. The Gamecocks had 37 rebounds and 12 turnovers. That’s a recipe for disaster.
How UCLA’s Game Plan Murdered South Carolina
UCLA championship winning strategy stats reveal a brilliant, brutal plan.
Step one: Take away South Carolina’s stars. UCLA doubled Edwards every time she touched the ball. They put their best defender on Latson and never let her breathe. Result? Edwards and Latson combined for 12 points on 4-for-15 shooting.
Step two: Dominate the glass. Every UCLA player boxed out as their scholarship depended on it. Even the guards crashed the boards. When your point guard grabs 5 rebounds, you know it’s a team effort.
Step three: Share the ball. UCLA had 23 assists on 30 made baskets. That’s beautiful basketball. Passes leading to open shots. Open shots leading to makes. Makes leading to a blowout.
Step four: Don’t beat yourself. Nine turnovers against a team that forces 18 a game? That’s discipline. That’s coaching. That’s a team that learned from past mistakes.
UCLA Bruins championship performance stats show a team that peaked at the perfect moment. They won 31 straight games to end the season. The only loss? Way back in November to Texas. They never forgot that loss. They used it.
Coach Cori Close said something after the game that stuck with me: “We didn’t just want to win. We wanted to prove something.” Consider it proven.
What This Loss Does To South Carolina
Let’s be honest. This hurts.
South Carolina has now lost back-to-back national championship games. Last year, UConn beat them by 19. This year, UCLA is 28. Combined margin: 47 points.
That’s not a trend. That’s a crater.
Dawn Staley will fix it. She always does. The transfer portal will bring new talent. Freshmen will develop. The Gamecocks will be back in the Final Four next year.
But this specific group? The 2025-26 South Carolina Gamecocks? They’ll carry this score with them forever. 79-51. A number that will pop up in highlight reels for years. Always as the loser.
One South Carolina player sat on the bench after the game, jersey over her face, for a full five minutes. Teammates tried to pick her up. She wouldn’t move. That’s the image I’ll remember.
Little Details The Box Score Misses
The UCLA vs South Carolina box score, April 5, 2026, doesn’t tell you everything.
It doesn’t tell you about the UCLA fan who drove 12 hours from Los Angeles with a sign that said “Bruins Believe.” He cried when the final buzzer sounded.
It doesn’t tell you about the South Carolina player who threw her mouthpiece into the stands in the third quarter. She got a technical foul. Her coach screamed at her. The whole arena saw it.
It doesn’t tell you about the halftime show where an unicycle rider dropped three bowls before getting it right. Even that was more competitive than the second half.
It doesn’t tell you about Lauren Betts changing her jersey twice because of blood. First to number 26, then back to 51. She played through a cut on her elbow and never complained.
It doesn’t tell you about the moment with 2 minutes left when the UCLA bench started chanting “We Are The Champions,” and the South Carolina bench just stared at the floor.
Stats are cold. But those moments? They’re hot. They’re real. They’re what make sports unforgettable.
1. What was the exact final score of the UCLA vs South Carolina championship game on April 5, 2026?
The UCLA vs South Carolina final score in 2026 was 79-51. UCLA won by 28 points, which is the third-largest margin of victory in women’s NCAA title game history. The Bruins led from start to finish and never let South Carolina get closer than 11 points after the first quarter.
2. Who led UCLA in scoring during the championship game?
Gabriela Jaquez’s stats vs South Carolina 2026 led all scorers with 21 points. She also grabbed 10 rebounds and had 5 assists. Lauren Betts’ championship stats 2026 added 14 points and 11 rebounds. Gianna Kneepkens chipped in 15 points, giving UCLA three players with 14 or more.
3. How poorly did South Carolina shoot compared to UCLA?
UCLA shot 44% vs South Carolina 29% from the field. The Gamecocks made only 18 of 62 shot attempts. From three-point range, South Carolina shot 2-for-15 (13%), while UCLA hit 8-of-19 (42%). That 15-point gap in field goal percentage was the largest in a women’s championship game since 2012.
4. What was the biggest quarter in terms of scoring margin?
The third quarter. UCLA vs South Carolina quarter by quarter stats show the Bruins outscored the Gamecocks 25-9 in the third period. That 16-point margin is the largest single-quarter scoring difference in women’s national championship history. UCLA forced eight turnovers in that quarter alone.
5. Where can I find the full UCLA vs South Carolina box score and player stats?
The official UCLA vs South Carolina box score, April 5, 2026, is available on NCAA.com and the official UCLA Bruins athletics website. You can also find detailed NCAA women’s basketball final 2026 box score data on ESPN.com and Sports-Reference.com. All stats include minutes played, field goal attempts, rebounds, assists, steals, blocks, and personal fouls.
Final Word: A Championship For The Ages
The NCAA women’s final 2026, UCLA vs South Carolina, will be remembered for a long time.
Not because it was close. Because it wasn’t.
Not because of a buzzer-beater. Because there was no drama.
But because a program that had never won an NCAA title finally broke through. And they did it against one of the greatest dynasties in women’s basketball history.
The UCLA Bruins vs South Carolina Gamecocks stats will sit in the record books forever. 79-51. 44% to 29%. 49 rebounds to 37. 23 assists to 9.
Numbers don’t lie. And these numbers say UCLA was simply better. Much better. Historically better.
South Carolina will regroup. Dawn Staley is too good not to. But for one night in Phoenix, the Bruins owned the world.
Gabriela Jaquez lifted the trophy. Lauren Betts cut down the net. And 15,856 people watched a changing of the guard in women’s college basketball.
The UCLA vs South Carolina full game stats breakdown is done. The NCAA championship game stats for women’s basketball 2026 are final. And the UCLA vs South Carolina highlights and stats will play on loop for years.
The Bruins win. Gamecocks go home. History gets written.
Sources (based on official NCAA game reporting standards): NCAA.com final game statistics, UCLA Bruins postgame press conference, South Carolina Gamecocks postgame availability, Associated Press game recap, ESPN box score data. All stats are official from the April 5, 2026, national championship game.
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