UCLA women’s basketball is having its best season in program history, and it’s all thanks to a center dominating the paint.
Lauren Betts was a top-ranked recruit out of Aurora, Colorado, who committed to join a highly-stacked Stanford team under Hall of Fame coach Tara VanDerveer, adding a potential star to one of the best frontcourts in the country.
However, Betts didn’t spend much time on the court. Her confidence was affected and it didn’t feel like a good fit. She entered the transfer portal after one season at Stanford. UCLA pushed hard to make her a Bruin, feeling like she could help the team take that next step toward a championship.
Now, in her second season at UCLA, Betts is elevating the Bruins and the team is eyeing its first Final Four berth. If Betts keeps up her standout play, there won’t be anything stopping UCLA from reaching Tampa.
Because there isn’t anything like her.
“Lauren Betts is maybe the most unique player in college basketball,” said Southern California coach Lindsay Gottlieb.
What makes Lauren Betts so good?
At 6-foot-7, Betts is among the tallest players in Division I; only 14 other players are listed at that height.
Betts makes sure to use her towering size to her advantage. If she isn’t setting up a screen near the top of the key, she’s positioning herself near the basket, waiting for the ball to find her hands. Once the rock gets to her inside, she has incredible footwork; she can either use some finesse or easily reach over defenders to put the ball in the hoop.
It often looks too easy for Betts with only one defender on her. As teams try to limit her, another defender will be brought in for a double-team. Sometimes, yet another is brought over to put three players around her. Still, she’s able to find the bucket, or she finds wide-open teammates who knock down jumpers.
“That presents a certain amount of challenges and decisions that you have to make and how you want to guard (Betts),” said Ohio State coach Kevin McGuff, who saw her total 19 points and 14 rebounds in a Bruins win over his Buckeyes. “She’s a really hard match-up, especially us, with her size and managing. She’s got nice hands and great touch around the basket.”
Betts leads the Bruins in several statistical categories, and is 24th in the country in points (19.6), 29th in rebounds (9.7) and fifth in blocks (2.9) per game. She’s also one of 35 players nationally with at least 10 double-doubles this season. It’s no surprise she is on the Naismith Trophy Women’s Player of the Year midseason team.
So far, Betts is living up to the hype she generated as a senior at Grandview High School, becoming another big-time star in Los Angeles. Across town, USC guard JuJu Watkins has emerged as the next big star of the sport — but you can’t forget about Betts in that conversation.
It’s been a joy to watch Betts blossom for USC forward Kiki Iriafen, who was a teammate with Betts at Stanford before she became a rival with the Trojans. Iriafen remembers playing alongside Betts and thinking she was a great player with a high ceiling.
“You can double her but she can still pass. I think she’s a great passer, she’s very unselfish, she scores very efficiently,” Iriafen said. “She’s a player that you can’t stop her, but you have to try to slow her down.”
Iriafen said she is proud of what Betts has become and always will be a major supporter. Unless they’re playing against each other in the crosstown showdown – which strangely makes her a rival.
The key to taking down the Bruins is to get Betts out of the game – or at least limit her. But not much has worked yet. There are plenty of options to go about it, but as Gottlieb says, the evolution of Betts’ game is what makes the task even more challenging than before.
“It is really impressive to be really good and then improve,” Gottlieb said. “She was already good, but she’s improved, which has obviously helped UCLA take a step and probably be the best that they’ve ever been.”
As UCLA enters the home stretch of the season and prepares for the NCAA Tournament, it knows if Betts is in rhythm, the Bruins have a good chance of hoisting the team’s first national championship trophy.
Even better news? (Or, worse if you’re not a fan of the blue and gold?)
Betts has already committed to play her senior season. So, good luck trying to stop her next year, too.