LOS ANGELES (AP) — Lauren Betts and her UCLA teammates celebrated the Bruins' first NCAA women's basketball championship with their fans at Pauley Pavilion on Wednesday night.
Betts, Gabriela Jaquez and Charlisse Leger-Walker capped the party by hitting the court to perform their TikTok dance with the championship trophy in the background. Angela Dugalic made a snow angel in the blue-and-gold confetti littering the court.
“This group is so special,”
Jaquez told the crowd that filled half the arena. “We're all best friends.”
Jaquez led a spirited eight-clap, the band blared the school fight song, and mascots Joe Bruin and Josie Bruin danced.
It's been a whirlwind for the Bruins since their 79-51 rout of South Carolina in the title game in Phoenix on Sunday. The game averaged 9.9 million viewers, the third most-viewed women's championship game since 1996.
Coach Cori Close recalled arriving in Westwood as head coach in 2011 and someone saying they didn't know if she could ever make Los Angeles care about women's basketball.
The crowd booed.
“Let me tell you,” she said. “L.A. cares about women's basketball now and you guys helped do that.”
Close received a standing ovation from her team and the crowd that chanted “Cori! Cori!”
“I want to say thank you to you," she said. ”It truly does take a village to go win a championship."
Eventually, a banner signifying the first NCAA women's basketball title will be raised to the ceiling in Pauley Pavilion, where currently the only women's basketball title banner is from the school's 1978 AIAW championship, the precursor to the NCAA.
“It’s getting some company. I can’t wait,” said Denise Curry, who starred for the Bruins on that team, along with Ann Meyers Drysdale.
Via video, Meyers Drysdale told the team, “This is your TLC moment — your team, your legacy, your championship.”
John Wooden's single gold seat in a sea of blue ones sat empty behind the Bruins bench. He coached the men's teams to 10 national titles, including seven in a row, and was a mentor to Close before his death in 2010.
Now, Close's title run will be represented in the same rarified air as Wooden.
“It's such a symbol of something that’s really made a difference in my life,” she said.
Wooden's son Jim texted congratulations to Close. Wooden's great-granddaughter Cori Anderson sent a photo of her and her daughter dressed in UCLA gear.
“They've been incredibly gracious to me,” Close said.
The team's six seniors took the stage in front of a mix of adults and young kids.
“We could not have done it without you,” Jaquez said. “I want to shout out all the little kids who gave us friendship bracelets, cookies and notes.”
A group of young men from the Tamaki Basketball Academy in Auckland, New Zealand, performed a traditional Maori dance signifying respect and honor for Leger-Walker, who wrapped herself in her native country's flag. The group flew into Los Angeles just to perform at the celebration.
"I’m the first New Zealand women’s basketball player to ever win a national title, so that’s been kind of the talk of the town,” she said before the party. “It's huge for the kids back home to see that this is possible for them, too.”
The Bruins headed to the Clippers game against Oklahoma City afterward. They've already visited the Lakers and Jimmy Kimmel's late-night show. Next week, they'll be at a Dodgers game.
“I did wake up this morning after a couple more hours of sleep and I'm like, ‘Wow, this is real. I did wake up again and I’m still a national champion,'" Leger-Walker said, laughing.
Betts was wearing a backward championship cap with a piece of the net tucked in front.
“This is my net, man,” she said. "No one can take this from me. It's mine forever."
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AP women’s college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-womens-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/womens-college-basketball
