00:00UCLA women's basketball team has been crowned the champs.
00:04So let's recap UCLA's generational run and, of course,
00:08all the storylines that dominated the Final Four
00:11with our women's basketball reporter, Madeline Kinney.
00:14Madeline, appreciate you hopping on with us
00:16before you hop on that flight to come on back,
00:18come on back to New York civilization.
00:21Let's talk about the national championship game, though,
00:24because Don Staley said that she didn't want any distractions
00:28and South Carolina got completely molly whopped.
00:32You can't have an off night in the national championship.
00:35So I ask you, was UCLA just that darn good?
00:40Yeah, I mean, I think they definitely,
00:42South Carolina definitely came out flat
00:44and they dug themselves into like an inescapable hole, essentially.
00:48They were down by double digits at halftime.
00:50They were waving the white flag by the third quarter.
00:53Don Staley was sitting on the bench.
00:55It was kind of reminiscent to a year ago
00:57when UConn, you know, totally dismantled South Carolina
01:01on the national championship stage.
01:04I will admit it.
01:05I really thought that South Carolina
01:07was going to run away with this championship.
01:08I had them winning by 10 points, I think.
01:11And obviously that did not happen
01:12because UCLA just at the end of the day,
01:14it was just their night.
01:16I mean, everything was, the shots were falling for them.
01:19They were able to make adjustments
01:21to what South Carolina was trying to do.
01:24And Gabriela Jaquez, you know,
01:26she had like the game of her career in a lot of ways.
01:30Like you could just tell she was playing
01:31with so much heart and so much passion.
01:33And that's why you love basketball.
01:36And that's why she came to UCLA in the first place.
01:38She wanted to win a championship.
01:40Was it better for women's college basketball
01:43that UCLA won it this year?
01:46It wasn't a South Carolina or UConn?
01:50I think so.
01:51I mean, it's always nice to have a new champion, obviously.
01:54And Corey Close, she's been building up UCLA
01:57for the past 15 years.
01:59And so it was nice to finally see her,
02:00you know, get over that hump, win a championship.
02:03She's only the ninth head coach since 2000
02:06that has won, has led a program
02:09to a national championship,
02:10which is kind of crazy when you think about it.
02:12But that just tells you of kind of the lack of parity
02:15in women's basketball.
02:16It's always the UConn, South Carolina, Notre Dame, Tennessee,
02:22the list goes on and on.
02:24And it's, again, it's just like nice to see another team
02:27and another program have success.
02:30A couple of years ago, when we talked storylines,
02:33you know, what kind of dominated the coverage
02:36of women's basketball tournament,
02:38it was the whole Angel Reefs,
02:40Angel Reefs versus Caitlin Clark beef.
02:42This year we had the whole Staley versus Gino
02:45pay-per-view right there in front of our eyes.
02:48I thought it was the pettiness
02:50and the competitiveness of just overall competition
02:54between two, you know, future Hall of Fame coaches.
02:56But I really didn't like the coverage of the situation.
02:59That kind of got to me.
03:00So how do you feel like the media
03:02kind of covered that beef?
03:05I mean, I mean, I didn't think the coverage was bad.
03:08Personally, Don clearly got under Gino's skin
03:10from the very beginning.
03:12There were moments throughout the game
03:13that I was sitting because I was sitting,
03:15you know, closer to South Carolina's bench,
03:17but on the sidelines, like a few rows up.
03:20And I noticed Gino looking over at Don Staley
03:24and looking over at South Carolina's bench
03:25and was wondering like, huh, like,
03:27what is that about, you know?
03:29And clearly, clearly she just got under his skin.
03:32And it unfortunately detracted from his ability
03:34to make adjustments and to coach his team.
03:37I think he let his team down
03:38by the way that he reacted
03:40and let Don Staley take so much,
03:42get under his skin like that
03:44and take up all that real estate in his head
03:46when he should have been focusing
03:47on coaching his players and his team.
03:50And so I didn't have any issues
03:52with the coverage of it.
03:54Gino knew what he was doing
03:55when, you know, you blow up like that.
03:58You know, he let his emotions get the best of him
04:00and the fact that he continued to double down
04:01even when he was pressed
04:03about there being evidence of a handshake
04:05and, you know, Sarah ripping her own jersey
04:08and all of that.
04:10Obviously, he apologized less than 12 hours later.
04:13Don, I think, took the high road.
04:15Yes, she yelled at him when he came in her face,
04:17but like, who wouldn't do that?
04:18I think that Don would have had every right
04:20in that post-game press conference
04:22to share her side of the story
04:23and say how she really felt about the whole thing.
04:27But she did a really good job
04:28at keeping the focus on South Carolina winning the game
04:31and preparing for the national championship game
04:33and not letting it overshadow.
04:35And even in the post-game after South Carolina lost,
04:39she was asked about something
04:42I think Rebecca Lobo said on the broadcast
04:44that Gino had reached out.
04:45And she said that she has like 800 texts
04:49and she hasn't heard from him personally,
04:52but like, that's not to say he didn't text her, I guess.
04:55But she immediately then turned it back to,
04:58let's focus on UCLA's win.
05:00Let's focus on this game and like their accomplishment.
05:02That should be celebrated.
05:04That should be the storyline,
05:05not the pettiness between two legendary coaches.
05:07I really just think that Gino's emotions
05:10got the best of him that day.
05:12All right, final thoughts to put the 2025-2026
05:16women's college basketball season to bed.
05:20Yeah, you know, I think the final four
05:22was a little bit of a rock fight,
05:25but I think that there was a lot of talent
05:26and there was plenty of players
05:29that were going to be WNBA prospects
05:32that were on the final four stage.
05:35And that's really exciting,
05:37knowing that the WNBA season will be here
05:39before we know it.
05:41All right, Maddie, don't miss out on missing that flight
05:45as unaccording to me.
05:46So appreciate you having been on with this.
05:48Okay, thank you.
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