One weekend in Los Angeles. Four of the best women’s college basketball teams in the country. Two upsets. And the longest winning streak in Division I snapped.
No. 6 Notre Dame beat third-ranked USC 74-61 on Saturday at the Galen Center.
Across town Sunday at Pauley Pavilion, No. 5 UCLA beat No. 1 South Carolina, ending the defending national champions’ run of 43 consecutive victories. The Gamecocks hadn’t lost since March 31, 2023, to Iowa in the national semifinals.
UCLA (5-0) — which entered Sunday’s game 0-20 against teams ranked No. 1 in the Associated Press poll — dominated the first half and led the Gamecocks (5-1) by 21 points at the break. The teams were more even in the second half, but South Carolina couldn’t erase the Bruins’ comfortable lead.
It marked the Gamecocks’ biggest loss since falling by 25 to eventual national champion Baylor in the 2019 Sweet 16. It also snapped South Carolina’s 33-game road winning streak, which dated to December 2021.
What did the Bruins do best to get their big win? What…
