Andrea Adelson Apr 5, 2026, 05:43 PM ET Close ACC reporter. Joined ESPN.com in 2010. Graduate of the University of Florida. PHOENIX -- This one was for coach Cori Close and Lauren Betts and all the current players wearing UCLA on their jerseys. But it was also for Ann Meyers Drysdale and Denise Curry and John Wooden, and every Bruin who poured effort into what would become the first NCAA championship in UCLA women's basketball history. The Bruins beat South Carolina 79-51 on Sunday in the national title game, and they did it the same way they have won all season -- with a dominating inside presence, an unselfish offensive approach and a suffocating defense that handed the Gamecocks their second-worst loss in NCAA tournament history. The 28-point margin of victory was the third largest in a Division I women's championship final. "It's immeasurably more than I could ask or imagine," Close said.…