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. 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 the closest South Carolina was able to get to in the second half was 15 points in the final minute. The win represents the program's first against a No.
1-ranked team. Staley said prior to Sunday’s contest she knew UCLA center Lauren Betts presented a big challenge. A likely first-round pick in the 2025 WNBA draft should she declare, Betts controlled the paint and made the Gamecocks earn anything they could get near the bucket.
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.
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 th.