UCLA faces South Carolina for NCAA women's basketball championship
It's South Carolina vs. UCLA -- with a national championship on the line.
UCLA will seek its first NCAA women's basketball championship Sunday when it faces South Carolina in Phoenix in a matchup of two of the tournament's top four seeds. The second-seeded Bruins (36-1) advanced to their first NCAA women's basketball final with a 51-44 victory over third-seeded Texas Friday, avenging their only loss of the season and extending their winning streak to 30 games. The fourth-seeded Gamecocks (36-3) advanced to their third consecutive final with a 62-48 victory over top-seeded Connecticut Friday, avenging a loss in last year's final.
The game will mark the end of the college careers for all five of UCLA's starters -- center Lauren Betts, guards Charlisse Leger-Walker and Kiki Rice and forwards Gabriela Jaquez and Gianna Kneepkens. "All of the seniors, knowing that is our last game together, it means a lot,'' Betts said at a news conference Saturday. The journey that we've had together...
We've helped each other throughout our toughest times, built each other back up. "We've worked so hard to get here. For me, it's not really about thewins and the losses, it's about this entire journey that we've had together.
These girls are my best friends. '' Betts, Jaquez and Rice are seniors while Kneepkens and Leger-Walker are graduate students. The 6-foot-7-inch Betts said sacrifice is the key to the team.