NCAA Women's Tournament Bracket 2026 Championship Preview after Final Four Scores

The South Carolina Gamecocks and UCLA Bruins are the surprising pair of teams in the 2026 NCAA women's tournament national championship.

South Carolina handed the UConn Huskies their first loss of the season on Friday night in Phoenix.

UCLA earned revenge from an early-season loss to the Texas Longhorns to book a spot in their first NCAA tournament title game.

Final Four Scores

No. 1 South Carolina 62, No. 1 UConn 48

No. 1 UCLA 51, No. 1 Texas 44

National Championship Info

Date: Sunday, April 5

Start Time: 3:30 p.m. ET

TV: ABC

Live Stream: ESPN app

Preview

South Carolina booked an unexpected spot in the title game with its win in Friday's opener.

Dawn Staley's Gamecocks held previously undefeated UConn to 48 points. A strong defensive showing may be the blueprint to beating UCLA as well.

South Carolina entered the NCAA tournament as the lowest-ranked No. 1 seed, but doesn't matter much now that it is playing for the national title.

The Gamecocks have been a fixture at this stage of the season under Staley. They won the national title in 2017, 2022 and 2024. They were also the runner-up in 2025.

Staley has the clear advantage in national-title coaching experience over UCLA's Cori Close, who will be coaching in first national championship.

The Bruins have all the talent to match up with South Carolina, starting with Lauren Betts, who made some incredible plays against Texas' star, Madison Booker, on Friday night.

Betts can neutralize whatever South Carolina brings to the paint on defense, as well as score down low.

You could also argue that South Carolina might be out of gas by the second half on Sunday because the SEC school put so much into beating the top team in the country.

UCLA faced a scare late in the fourth quarter from Texas, but it was ahead for the majority of its Final Four contest.

If anything, we should be treated to a fantastic final game of the women's college basketball season, and if the Final Four games are any indicator, Sunday's final will be a low-scoring affair as well.