A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
UCLA is now the NCAA women's basketball champion for the first time. The Bruins beat South Carolina Sunday 79-51, and the men's tournament ends tonight in Indianapolis. UConn trying to win its third national title in the last four years. They take on Michigan. For more, let's go to Greg Echlin who is in Indianapolis. He covers college basketball for Kansas Public Radio.
Greg, the Bruins had won 30 straight games heading into this one, but, my goodness, it's South Carolina they were facing. I didn't expect what I saw.
GREG ECHLIN, BYLINE: No, I didn't, either. But the Bruins did finish the season with only one loss in 38 games and won the Big Ten Conference Championship. Coach Cori Close said in an emotional moment after the game that she knew she had a team that could potentially win the national championship. But even with that sparkling record, she didn't know if UCLA would actually make that happen.
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CORI CLOSE: I said, I wanted to find uncommon, courageous women that were willing to make uncommon choices that maybe possibly could yield an uncommon result.
ECHLIN: The tournament's most outstanding player was UCLA Center Lauren Betts, and the leading score of the game was Gabriela Jaquez with 21 points.
MARTÍNEZ: Yeah. Last time Bruins lost - November 27 of last year. Now, on the men's side, we mentioned that UConn is on a roll recently. How have they got to this point?
ECHLIN: Well, by recruiting top talent and keeping some of that top talent around. In this age of the transfer portal and NIL, which means name, image and likeness, let's take forward Alex Karaban, who can be considered also because he stuck around. He was part of the UConn national championship teams in 2023 and '24. No one since the UCLA players in the late 1960s and early 1970s has done that. Even Karaban himself recognizes the meaning of what he has a chance to accomplish.
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ALEX KARABAN: You know, it's a motivating factor to add a national champonship to this program for the guys that haven't experienced one and for my legacy, as well.
ECHLIN: You know, it was Karaban who passed the ball to freshman Braylon Mullins who got the game winner against Duke, the overall No. 1 seed a week earlier.
MARTÍNEZ: Yeah. Karaban's 23. He might as well be a grandpa (laughter) on college basketball roster. Alright, what about Michigan? Now, they're the No. 1 seed in this game.
ECHLIN: And they haven't played a close game yet in the NCAA tournament. The Wolverines played another No. 1 seed when they wiped out Arizona by 18 points in the semifinal.
MARTÍNEZ: Alright, so what about conference pride? What kind of conference pride is at stake in this game?
ECHLIN: Oh, there is. A Big Ten team hasn't won the NCAA men's title since 2000. Michigan State right here in Indianapolis. Michigan's only NCAA championship was in 1989. Wolverines coach Dusty May says the team is ready, and the fan base is hungry for a title.
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DUSTY MAY: We have to do well for us and the Big Ten if we want to continue to be on the cutting edge and hopefully be the premier basketball league in the country.
ECHLIN: If Michigan wins, the men's and the women's champions will come from the same conference. That hasn't happened since 2016, when the Big East had both with Villanova winning the men's and UConn capturing the women's title. Michigan and UConn have never played each other in the NCAA tournament.
MARTÍNEZ: Greg, we got a few seconds left here. What will you be watching for in tonight's game?
ECHLIN: I'm going to be watching how physical the game is played and how the game is, frankly, refereed because there is potential for some early fouls.
MARTÍNEZ: Alright, that's Greg Echlin from Kansas Public Radio.
Greg, thanks a lot. Enjoy the game tonight.
ECHLIN: You're welcome.
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