UCLA Women and Michigan Men Win NCAA Basketball Championships

INDIANAPOLIS — College basketball crowned two champions over two nights, as UCLA won its first NCAA women’s title with a rout of South Carolina and Michigan captured the men’s championship for the first time in 37 years.

UCLA Dominates in Phoenix

UCLA beat South Carolina 79-51 on Sunday at the Mortgage Matchup Center in Phoenix, delivering the first women’s basketball championship in program history.

The Bruins held the Gamecocks to 26% shooting in the first half and led by 13 at the break, then outscored South Carolina by 16 points in the third quarter, the largest quarter margin in women’s title-game history, according to the ESPN broadcast cited by CNN.

Gabriela Jaquez led UCLA with 21 points, and center Lauren Betts added 14 points and 11 rebounds and was named the Final Four’s most outstanding player. Every UCLA starter scored in double figures. The Bruins finished the season 37-1 with a program-record 31-game winning streak.

Coach Cori Close, in her 15th season, said the moment was “immeasurably more” than she could have imagined. South Carolina, coached by Dawn Staley, fell short in the title game for the second straight year.

Michigan Ends Long Wait

On Monday night at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Michigan defeated Connecticut 69-63 to win its second men’s national championship and first since 1989.

Junior guard Elliot Cadeau led the Wolverines with 19 points and was named the Final Four’s most outstanding player. Senior forward Yaxel Lendeborg scored 13, and sophomore Morez Johnson Jr. added 12.

Michigan’s physical play proved decisive. The Wolverines attempted 28 free throws to UConn’s 16 and outscored the Huskies 36-22 in the paint, leading for about three-quarters of the game. UConn cut the deficit to four in the final minute but could not complete a comeback.

Michigan entered the tournament after a 31-3 regular season and won its first five tournament games by double digits, with an average margin of 21.6 points, according to NBC News. Coach Dusty May, in his second season at Michigan, said after the game that the victory still did not feel real and credited his players for their work all year.

A Season to Remember

The two championships underscored the growing depth of college basketball, with UCLA breaking through against a South Carolina program that had won three national titles since 2017 and Michigan restoring one of the sport’s storied programs to the top of the men’s game.