What went wrong for South Carolina? The main thing: UCLA’s dominating defense

‘Twas a nightmare day on the court for the Gamecocks … and perhaps a bit of deja vu, too. UCLA never took its foot off the gas en route to a 79-51 win that delivered the Bruins their first national ch

PHOENIX — By early in the fourth quarter of Sunday’s national championship, Dawn Staley was officially out of answers. When she didn’t look exasperated, she appeared stoic. When UCLA’s offense wasn’t rolling right past her South Carolina team, the Bruins’ defense was clamping down on the other end.

‘Twas a nightmare day on the court for the Gamecocks … and perhaps a bit of deja vu, too. UCLA never took its foot off the gas en route to a 79-51 win that delivered the Bruins their first national championship of the NCAA era and the first for coach Cori Close in her first title game appearance. The Bruins had led 61-32 going into the fourth quarter, clearly in control of the game.

The Gamecocks, on the other hand, lost in blowout fashion in the national championship game for the second consecutive season. Last year, it was an 82-59 defeat against UConn in Tampa, Fla. This year, a near-30 point letdown — the third-largest margin of defeat — prompting all sorts of questions for Staley about what the heck happened Sunday.