Every story comes to an end.

Even nearly-perfect ones.

Following an undefeated postseason, the national champions UCLA women’s basketball (37-1, 18-0 Big Ten) gathered in Pauley Pavilion as thousands of students and fans celebrated the program’s first NCAA championship.

“This team, we wanted to be the first,” said senior center Lauren Betts. “Kiki (senior guard Kiki Rice) talks all the time about how she wanted to join this program to be the first to do it. To be able to be a part of this great team is just incredible.”

Bruin fans waved goodbye to the six graduating players – including the entire starting lineup – who scored all of UCLA’s points during its Final Four run.

The only senior who will likely remain on the roster is senior forward Timea Gardiner, who redshirted the championship-winning season due to a knee injury.

The Bruins’ graduating players are expected to be drafted within the first two rounds of the WNBA draft, with some sites predicting the UCLA starting five to be selected in the first round.

If that were to happen, UCLA would put another record in the history books – this time, as the first program to ever have a starting lineup to be entirely drafted as first-round picks in both WNBA and NBA history.

With Monday’s draft approaching and WNBA training camps beginning at the end of next week, The team has been busy celebrating the title. Betts celebrated the win with a new tattoo of the number four, after the team discussed matching tattoos with coach Cori Close.

“I don’t know about everybody else but I already got mine,” Betts said, pointing to her tattoo. “I took my opportunity and I went with it.”

The Bruins have made appearances on Jimmy Kimmel Live, Tuesday night’s Lakers game and Wednesday night’s Clippers game within days following the championship.

Celebrities and athletes alike have congratulated the squad on the win, as the Bruins have received accolades from former President Barack Obama, Dodgers head coach Dave Roberts and popular singer Tate McRae.

“I think the craziest thing that has happened … was seeing LeBron wave at me,” Betts said. “That was crazy. Tate McCrae acknowledging us on Instagram, it’s been just back-to-back-to-back craziness.”

McRae posted a video of senior guard Gabriela Jaquez, graduate student guard Charlisse Leger-Walker and Betts performing their viral dance to McRae’s song “Just Keep Watching,” choreographed by the UCLA Spirit Squad. The trio performed another rendition of the dance at Wednesday night’s celebration.

“It’s just a genuine love we have for one another,” Leger-Walker said. “Culture is such a buzzword that’s thrown around a lot of the time in sports, and everyone talks about how good of a culture they have, but you can really see that in all of the off-the-court things that we do together. It’s all organic. It’s not forced. It’s something that we just genuinely want to do, because we love being in each other’s presence.”

Multiple UCLA women’s basketball alumni joined the squad to celebrate the win, including 1978 AIAW National Champion and Hall of Famer, Denise Curry. Curry, who is also a three-time All-American, 1984 Olympic gold medalist and UCLA’s all-time scoring record holder, with 3,198 points, said that the team’s culture was key to winning the title.

“The tougher and more together team won,” Curry said.

Ann Meyers Drysdale, who played alongside Curry in the 1978 AIAW Championship, shared similar remarks on a video played on the Jumbotron.

“This is your T.L.C. moment. Your team, your legacy and your championship.”

While the entire squad leaves behind a legacy that will last a lifetime, Lauren Betts leaves more than just that. She holds the all-time UCLA record for blocked shots and is one of only three players to exceed 1,800 points and 1,000 rebounds in NCAA history. But, she also passes the mantle to freshman forward Sienna Betts, her younger sister, to create a legacy of her own.

“(I hope she) enjoys every single piece of being a student athlete here at UCLA,” Lauren Betts said. “I can’t give her any basketball advice, because she knows what to do. But to just enjoy it, because it truly goes by so fast. … This has been the craziest, most amazing four years of my entire life.”