UCLA Secures National Championship Berth, Faces South Carolina

0:00It's April 4th. This is Durham News Today, AI-powered stories from your city. I'm Corey, with the story. UCLA just punched their ticket to the national championship for the first time ever, grinding out a 51-44 win over Texas in the month. Women's Final Four. Lauren Betts, the two-time All-American Center, sealed it with a monster block on Madison Booker with 20 seconds left, stopping a late Texas surge, and sparking two clinching free throws from Kiki Rice. This was revenge for UCLA's only lost this season, a 76-65 defeat to Texas back in late November in Las Vegas. The Bruins, now 36-1, flipped the script after getting dominated in last year's Final Four by Yukon, watching that blowout 10 times in. The off-season to fuel their fire. Players and coaches were hyped about Betts' defensive stand, calling her spectacular for always disrupting shots. Texas coach Big Shaffer felt his team let one slip away,

1:01especially after another tough Final Four exit while UCLA's Corey Closed praised her, confidence and big match-ups. Bet stepped up huge with 14 points on 7 of 10 shooting, 11 rebounds, and 3 blocks, way better than her season-low 8 points in. The first Texas match-up, Booker struggled bad, scoring just 6 points on 3 of 23 shooting, despite a hot start. Now the Bruins roll into Sunday's title clash against three-time champs South Carolina, who just stunned undefeated Yukon. With 29 straight wins, UCLA's chasing that first ring game on.