UCLA ends South Carolina’s 43-game win streak with dominant game over defending champions

LOS ANGELES — The longest winning streak in college basketball has come to an end with No. 6 UCLA taking down defending champion and No. 1 South Carolina in convincing fashion, 77-62.

For the past two seasons, Dawn Staley’s team has taken care of any team that crossed its path with a program-record 43 consecutive wins, with only four games being single-digit victories. But on Sunday afternoon inside Pauley Pavilion, the Gamecocks didn’t look anything like the most dominant team in the game.

"This game is about our program and where we're going," said UCLA head coach Cori Close. "This means a lot, because Dawn Staley has set the tone of what women's basketball excellence should be over the last several years. And I just have so much respect for her, for her staff, for the way they have a global view of the game. So this obviously means a lot because of the respect we have. That being said, we expected to win."

The Bruins were in control from start to finish, grabbing the first points of the game and holding onto a lead it never relinquished. UCLA started the contest on a 15-2 run and the lead was in double digits for nearly the entire game. The Bruins led by 21 points at halftime and had a 23-point lead at one point while the closest South Carolina was able to get to in the second half was 15 points in the final minute.

The win for Bruins represents the program's first against a No. 1-ranked team, and it is the first time South Carolina had lost a November game since 2019. The 15-point loss is also the largest defeat the Gamecocks have suffered since the 2019 NCAA Tournament, and it only ended up that close after South Carolina cut the deficit in the final minutes when the game was already well-determined.

"This is what we usually do teams," Staley said. "It doesn't feel good when you're on the receiving end of it. But you also know you got beat by great team. Like executing on both sides, that was beautiful basketball.

"They wanted it. I thought our kid's fought, but we ran into a buzzsaw today."

Prior to Sunday’s contest, Staley said she knew UCLA center Lauren Betts presented a big challenge. A likely first-round pick in the 2025 WNBA draft should she declare, Betts didn't have a monster game with only 11 points, but she controlled the paint with a game-high 14 rebounds and four blocked shots and made the Gamecocks earn anything they could get near the bucket.

Staley said she liked how her team was able to limit the offensive game of Betts, but "we got killed by everybody else." UCLA's Londynn Jones, who came off the bench, scored a team-high 15 points after she went a perfect 5-for-5 from the 3-point line.

South Carolina had no alternative but to shoot from the perimeter, and it was very successful with a 8-for-11 mark from 3-point line. The only problem was the Bruins were able to match it with 10 made 3-pointers on 21 attempts. Anytime South Carolina appeared to be establishing any sort of rhythm, the Bruins would come right down the court and halt it to send the crowd into a frenzy. The Gamecocks shot a low 36.4% percentage (24-for-66) from the field while the Bruins made 47.5% (28-for-59) of their buckets.

The result will be the latest to shake up the top 10 in women’s basketball, with the Bruins victory coming one day after No. 5 Notre Dame went into Los Angeles and took down No. 3 Southern California. There will be a new No. 1 team in the country when the next set of rankings come out, and while UCLA certainly made a case to grab the top spot, Close isn't concerned with what number will be next to her team's name.

"I think teams that fall in love with what other people define them as they lose opportunities to get better," she said. "I want them to enjoy this. This is tremendous accomplishment, I'm not downplaying it, but I'm also putting it in proper context. That is this what you came here to do? Just this one? And have fun with it, but let it just inform your next choice."

It’s still the first month of the regular season, but Close’s team now has a signature victory, something the Bruins have been looking for quite some time and will be a big boost for a team that is hunting to get to its first Final Four since the NCAA sponsored the game.

"It's November 24. Am I proud of our team? Yes, but this is just the beginning," Close said.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: UCLA dominates South Carolina to end Gamecock’s 43-game win streak