The UCLA Bruins advances to their first National Championship Game after beating the Texas Longhorns 51-44
UCLA Bruins #1 Kiki Rice (G) and Texas Longhorns #3 Rori Harmon (G) are battling for the loose ball in front of them in the NCAA Final Four at the Mortgage Matchup Center. Courtesy photo by AI.com April 3, 2026.
PHOENIX, ARIZ - How sweet it is for the UCLA Bruins(36-1) heading to their first-ever National Championship Game, thanks to big plays by Lauren Betts with 16 points and 11 rebounds,Kiki Rice with 11 points, and Gabriela Jaquez and Charlisse Leger-Walker both with 10 points to help beat the Texas Longhorns (35-4) in the Final Four 51-44 at the Mortgage Matchup Center.
The Bruins' defense clamped down, allowing just 44 points to the Longhorns (season low), 30.8%, with Kyla Oldacre scoring 11 points, Rori Harmon with 8 points, Justice Carlton and Jordan Lee both scoring 7 points, Madison Booker with 6 points, and Aaliyah Crump with 5 points.
"I told them there's going to be a game in the NCAA tournament that you're going to have to just grind it out and do it with your defense," Close said. "This was the game we needed that. But the reality is it's really all about toughness at this point and finding a way to make a winning play, even if it's a winning play you wouldn't have predicted or chosen."
Madison Booker, with a jump shot, gave the Longhorns a 2-0 lead to start off the first quarter, but the lead didn’t last for long. The Bruins would go on a 12-2 run to lead 14-4, capped off with a layup by Gianna Kneepkens, a jump shot by Lauren Betts, a three-pointer by Kneepkens, and a layup by Gabriela Jaquez, and closing out the first quarter 14-6.
Texas, after the outburst on offense by UCLA in the first quarter, would respond and now trail in the second quarter 16-12 with a jumper shot by Rori Harmon.
The Bruins and the Longhorns were in a dogfight with the score at halftime 20-17, in favor of the Bruins.
The Longhorns trailed 26-21 in the third quarter, after Kyla Oldacre drove to the basket for a layup. UCLA committed several turnovers that allowed Texas to be down by one point with 49 seconds left in the quarter, 29-28, with a layup by Justice Carlton. The Bruins would end the third quarter leading 31-28 with two free throws by Jaquez.
UCLA led early in the fourth quarter, 36-28, with a huge three-pointer by Kiki Rice. The Bruins led by ten points, 47-37, with Lauren Betts pulling up for a jump shot with 3:08 left in the game.
The Longhorns would force the Bruins to make some mental mistakes and turn the ball over, cut into their lead, and now trail 47-44, thanks to a layup by Jordan Lee with 1:09 left in the game.
Madison would get the rebound and race down the court, heading to the basket for a layup, but Betts, the two-time All-American streaking down the court, would make the block of the game from behind, and the rebound, and be fouled by Madison.
“When that play happened, I really have so much confidence that every time she is in a matchup, she’s going to find a way to alter, block, scare somebody from doing that,” UCLA coach Cori Close said. “I just think she’s spectacular.”
Rice would make two pairs of free throws, and when the buzzer went off, UCLA punched their ticket to the National Championship Game on Sunday at 3:30 pm to take on the South Carolina Gamecocks.
The Bruins will have to do a better job of taking care of the basket by not committing 23 turnovers if they want a chance of being first-time NCAA Women’s Basketball Champions.