For UCLA, a championship lesson came from losing

Coach Cori Close guided the Bruins to their first NCAA championship, taking down South Carolina and establishing her prominence in women's basketball. Sarah Stier / Getty Images Share full articlePHOENIX – It was all over except for the handshake, which can no longer be taken for granted after this spicy weekend. With 6.9 seconds remaining, South Carolina coach Dawn Staley rose from her bench seat and started that long, humble walk. Along the way, she patted an official on the back. When she reached UCLA coach Cori Close, she extended congratulations, and soon the two wrapped each other in an embrace. The customary unfolded without incident, simple and warm and genuine. This wasn’t Geno Auriemma rebuffing Staley and abdicating sportsmanship. This was a healthy show of respect for winning and losing. You have to appreciate both to grasp the deeper meaning of a Final Four that, despite featuring four super programs, lacked aesthetics and competitiveness. UCLA romped South Carolina, 79-51, on Sunday to capture its first NCAA women’s basketball title. To be so dominant all season, the Bruins hid in plain sight because few truly believed they could win the whole thing, not after a 34-point loss to Connecticut in last year’s national semifinal. Not with the elite of the elite still standing in their way. One loss — and the extreme difficulty of breaking into the championship tier — had distorted the perception of them in a way that 37 wins in 38 games couldn’t rectify until the very end. But now that they’re on an elevated stage and drenched in confetti, look at what losing taught them. And look at what happens when you deal with it properly. That is the story of UCLA’s breakthrough, the charge for South Carolina, UConn and every team whose Easter didn’t end with applause, and the theme of a wild event that forced the reactions to be scrutinized more than the action. A year ago, the Bruins learned how far away they really were. They were only two games away, but after that 85-51 loss to the Huskies, it felt like the task to get two more victories would be almost as immense as what it took for Close to lift the program to true contender status. Nothing But Respect@CoachCoriClose and Coach @DawnStaley, two of our Werner Ladder Naismith Women’s College COY winners, share a moment ahead of tip-off. Tune in now to watch @UCLAWBB vs. @GamecockWBB!@Werner_Safety | Video: @MarchMadnessWBB pic.twitter.com/B6Fa1EwsfO — Naismith Awards (@NaismithTrophy) April 5, 2026 In order to advance, they needed to heal. In order to heal, they needed an honest audit. No platitudes about coming back stronger. An honest audit. UCLA came to the uncomfortable realization that being good enough to arrive isn’t the same as being great enough to win. The players, coaches and staff had to sit with that thought for an offseason. They had to live with that game video, that score, that gap. After adding a pair of high-scoring, high-profile transfers in Gianna Kneepkens and Charlisse Leger-Walker, they had to recalibrate to pursue a redemptive mission. During the trophy presentation, Close acknowledged the dedication and sacrifice it took. “I am just so humbled that they have chosen to commit to our mission,” she said. “Those commitments, not our feelings, led us to our destiny.” In destroying South Carolina, the Bruins controlled the game in a way that suggested they had rehearsed that afternoon in their minds, over and over, for 12 months. “We decided to be national champions,” forward Gabriela Jaquez said. This didn’t feel like a magical run. It was a persistent and determined one. That’s where this Final Four can resonate, even if the quality of play didn’t always deliver. There would be no next dynasty to crown, no augmenting of the existing ones. Neither Staley nor Auriemma left here with another trophy, and that’s not a knock on them. It’s another signal of a slow nudging toward parity. For women’s basketball to expand its center of gravity, assumptions must be disrupted. The notion of the usual powers always finding a way took a minor hit. UCLA has climbed to the top rung. The Big Ten — I’m finally accepting a dystopian collegiate landscape in which Los Angeles resides in Big Ten country — has a national champion for the first time since 1999. Close just became something the sport hadn’t seen since Staley won in 2017: a first-time championship coach. The recent storylines have been about legacy. Former Notre Dame coach Muffet McGraw earning her second title. Former Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer capturing an elusive third. Kim Mulkey claiming No. 3 and 4, and doing it with two different teams. Staley collecting her second and third. Auriemma winning No. 12. Once established, dominance can be self-sustaining in this sport. But now even the giants have to process being overwhelmed on this stage and reconcile their supremacy with their disappointment. It’s a different kind of adversity. Texas, which seems close to a breakthrough, ran into a wall (with a shove from UCLA). UConn saw its undefeated season and its coach unravel. And South Carolina has now suffered two straight blowout losses in the title game, the first Division I men’s or women’s program to drop consecutive NCAA finals by more than 20 points. These don’t just have to be heartbreaking losses. They can become clarifying moments. “Losing in the national championship game the way we lost, I guess that will be the thing that really drives us,” Staley said. “You need something to drive you throughout the really hard times and the challenging times, and also the good times. “Although things can go well your way, there’s always things that you can work on. There’s always this situation that’s lurking, like it’s always lurking, always in the back of my mind anytime we lose.” Which takes us back to UCLA. The Bruins are finally an NCAA champion, no longer only reminding people that the 1978 AIAW crown should count, too. And they’re a case study of what happens when a team absorbs the full lesson of losing, when it doesn’t deflect or diminish a setback, when it sharpens its standards to turn its expectations into the ultimate success. “It’s about their work and their habits yielding,” Close said. “We say this: We want to recruit courageous …” She needed time to wrangle her emotions. “There were a lot of times we wondered if it could be true,” Close said. “I said I wanted to find uncommon, courageous women that were willing to make uncommon choices that maybe, possibly, could yield an uncommon result. And today, it did.” Winning is the payoff. But in a sport that keeps shifting, it’s the response to losing that decides who gets to do it again. Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms Jerry Brewer is a senior columnist at The Athletic. He has been a prominent voice across the national sports landscape for more than two decades, including stops at The Philadelphia Inquirer, Orlando Sentinel, Louisville Courier-Journal, Seattle Times and Washington Post. He was a 2025 Pulitzer Prize finalist in commentary. Follow Jerry on Twitter @jerrybrewer