Dawn Staley Praises UCLA HC Cori Close After South Carolina's NCAA Title Game Loss

South Carolina women's basketball coach Dawn Staley had high praise for UCLA's Cori Close shortly after conceding one of the largest blowout losses in NCAA women's championship game history to Close and the Bruins.

Close led the Bruins to a 79-51 victory over Staley's Gamecocks on Sunday to claim her program's first national title.

"I'm always happy for people who worked hard in this game, who are really quality people. I want good things to happen for them, and Cori is one of those people who really works at making our game better," Staley said around the 15:00 mark of her postgame press conference. "Not just UCLA, but our entire game. She's always speaking out, uplifting our game in so many areas.

"It's hard to continue to that while maintaining the job that you have to do every day, but she finds the time. So, although we didn't win, I can swallow it because we lost to a really good human being, and a good team that represents women's basketball well."

Staley could be seen embracing Close on the court shortly after UCLA closed out Sunday's win, which ESPN's Andrea Adelson reported marked the third-largest margin of victory in an NCAA women's national title game.

The two also embraced before the game, a notable change from Staley's clash with UConn coach Geno Auriemma during the Final Four.

UCLA pulled out to a 10-point lead in the first quarter and never trailed in the game, which marked the program's 31st straight victory.

This season marked the sixth straight season in which Staley and South Carolina have made it to the Final Four, a span over which the program has also won two national titles. Only Auriemma, who has made 14 straight Final Four appearances with UConn, can claim a longer streak than Staley's.