PHOENIX — It’s been three years since UCLA and South Carolina first met in the NCAA tournament. Defending champion South Carolina was expected to easily win that Sweet 16 matchup in 2023, and it did, 59–43. The Bruins were still looking for their first NCAA women’s Final Four. And that game against the Gamecocks, who already had two championships under coach Dawn Staley and has since added a third, felt like a glimpse of a potential blueprint for UCLA.
“If you want to be a championship-level program, you have to have that kind of championship-level commitment and loyalty, and commitment to the long haul and not just the short-term,” UCLA coach Cori Close said before that Sweet 16 game in 2023. “Credit to them for having that be an embedded part of their culture.”
