How UCLA Won its First-Ever National Championship

Together in Phoenix after the national championship game, the whole No Offseason crew dives deep into UCLA’s decisive win over South Carolina. With a spotlight on UCLA’s six seniors — including Most Outstanding Player, Lauren Betts, and star guard, Gabriela Jaquez — Zena, Layshia, Sabreena and Chantel dissect UCLA head coach Cori Close’s incisive game plan to take down South Carolina, and her players’ elite execution of that plan. They also break down what went wrong for South Carolina, outside of not getting their shots to drop. Then, the crew speculates on what might come next for UCLA, with so many roster spots to fill next year and a newly open transfer portal. #ucla #finalfour #marchmadness #wbb #southcarolinawbb #nationalchamps No Offseason is a part of The Athletic Podcast Network: https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/ 00:00 Intro 00:14 UCLA women’s basketball wins its first national title 00:30 UCLA defeats South Carolina, 79–51 01:43 UCLA and South Carolina brought contrasting energy to the game 04:20 A look inside UCLA”s dominance 05:29 How UCLA took South Carolina out of their game 07:32 UCLA dominated the boards over South Carolina 11:19 Was UCLA more focused than South Carolina? 12:38 Did fatigue catch up with South Carolina? 16:48 Why did Cori Close play a freshman who rarely sees the floor? 20:05 Where did things go wrong for South Carolina? 22:12 South Carolina struggled with Lauren Betts’ size 24:29 Why didn’t South Carolina stick with their press defense? 30:04 Why South Carolina can be optimistic about next season 33:19 Cori Close weighs in on the transfer portal ahead of next year 35:38 Which schools would interest a guard in the transfer portal? Related links and articles: https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7174... by Cameron Teague Robinson https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7174... by Sabreena Merchant Thumbnail: Christian Petersen / Staff / Getty Images Sport via Getty Images Sarah Stier / Staff / Getty Images Sport via Getty Images Chris Graythen / Staff / Getty Images Sport via Getty Images https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7174... by Jerry Brewer https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7172... by Jerry Brewer https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7175...  by Chantel Jennings https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7174... by Grace Raynor Follow and listen to the audio podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast... Get in touch! Leave a comment wherever you’re listening, or email us at [email protected] Show Links: -YouTube: @No-Offseason -Instagram: @tanooffseason [  / tanooffseason  ] -TikTok: @no_offseason [  / no_offseason  ] Credits: -Zena on BlueSky: @zenakeita -Sabreena on BlueSky: @sabreenajm -Chantel on BlueSky: @chanteljennings -Produced by Taneka Burrell -Executive Produced by Andrea B. Scott Visit the Yahoo Women's Sports Hub: https://sports.yahoo.com/womens-sport... Full Episodes Playlist:    • Full Episodes | No Offseason: The Athletic...   Shorts Playlist:    • Shorts