After more than a year of being perfect and completely dominating the sport, Dawn Staley and South Carolina have finally fallen.

No. 5 UCLA posted a dominant and stunning 77-62 victory over the top-ranked Gamecocks on Sunday afternoon at Pauley Pavilion. It marked the Bruins’ first-ever win over a No. 1 team in program history and solidified their place as a legitimate title contender this season.

The loss snapped a 43-game win streak for South Carolina and was the Gamecocks’ first since falling to Caitlin Clark and Iowa in the 2023 Final Four. They were a perfect 5-0 this season after winning the national championship last spring, and had won 85 of their last 86 games before Sunday.

The Bruins led from the jump on Sunday and never looked back. They opened the game trailing 15-2 and then sent the Gamecocks into the locker room more times than they had in years. UCLA took a 21-point halftime lead after knocking down six 3-pointers — half of which came from Londynn Jones off the bench — in the first 20 minutes.

South Carolina’s offense was also virtually non-existent in the first two quarters. The Gamecocks as a team went into halftime with just 22 points and shooting 26.5% from the field. Three South Carolina starters were held scoreless in the first half, and they were shut out by seven.

It was the first time since 2021 that South Carolina trailed by double digits at halftime in a game. According to ESPN, the last time they trailed by 20 points or more at halftime was against Baylor in 2019 — more than 2,000 days ago.

Although the Gamecocks came out of halftime on a quick 7-2 outburst, the Bruins did not give up. UCLA held a 20-point lead in the fourth quarter before cruising to a 15-point victory.

Jones led UCLA with 15 points off the bench, all of which came from behind the arc. Elina Aarnisalo added 13 points and four assists, and Lauren Betts finished with 11 points and 14 rebounds.

Te-Hina Paopao led the Gamecocks with 18 points in the loss while shooting 7-of-13 from the field. Tessa Johnson was the only other player to reach double figures for South Carolina. She finished with 14 points off the bench. As a team, the Gamecocks shot better than 36% from the field and shot just eight total free throws.

The next few weeks won’t get any easier for South Carolina. The Gamecocks will face No. 8 Iowa State next Thursday in the Fort Myers Tip-Off before games against Purdue, No. 14 Duke and No. 19 TCU. The Gamecocks also fall from number 1 in the rankings on Monday.

However, UCLA has now scored its big non-conference win. If Sunday is any indication, the Bruins should be in a great spot to not only hang with JuJu Watkins and USC, but potentially lead the Big Ten in their first season in the league.