UCLA’s Lauren Betts Finally Earns Her Stripes Among the NCAA Elites With Emphatic Statement

No one imagined UCLAS grabbing the top spot in the AP Rankings right in their first year in a new conference. Given, that Big Ten play has just begun, the Bruins have held the spot since Nov. 25 and are still relentless. It was brought on by a historic win against reigning champion South Carolina, the then No. 1 team. While UCLA finally broke their 0-20 record, the Bruins’ rise also put more attention on the player shining the brightest this year – Lauren Betts. Possible contender for Player of the Year?

The 6’7″ Stanford transfer has elevated her game to the next level, not just her biggest presence on most courts but her underrated passing ability. A huge presence against the Purdue Boilermakers on Tuesday, Betts impressed Meghan McKeown and Zora Stephenson to include her in their POY conversations.

“You’ve been able to see the numbers she’s put up so far. She’s averaging a double-double, 20 and 10…the efficiency, off the chain, obviously,” McKeown says. “But I feel like those assists are higher. I’m going by the eye test. She’s got more than 2.5 assists per game, I don’t believe that stat…I feel like she’s averaging eight assists a game sometimes.”

Betts is a menace in the post and a double threat with both offense and defense. In the Purdue game, she led the Bruins with 17 points, with 7 rebounds, and even said after the game that she would have loved to score more. To be noted, the junior center was present on the court for all of 22 minutes.

UCLA’s Lauren Betts (51) is tied up by Indiana’s Lillly Meister (52) and Henna Sandvik (21) during the Indiana versus UCLA women’s game at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall on Saturday, Jan. 4, 2025.

McKeown continues, “But look, she’s a player that is making a drastic impact, not just in scoring, [but] on the number one team in the nation. And that to me means you deserve to be in the conversation for Player of the Year.”

Stephenson agrees as she names Lauren Betts in the company of Paige Bueckers, Hannah Hidalgo, Ta’Niya Latson, and JuJu Watkins. And to imagine, at the beginning of the season, most of the talk was focused on Watkins and Bueckers.

As for Betts, who says she has gotten stronger and ‘more disciplined’ since her freshman year, the UCLA junior just makes things easier for her teammates all around. Defector Maitreyi Anantharaman noted how her presence has boosted teammates Kiki Rice, Gabriela Jaquez, and Angela Dugalić’s shooting percentage drastically.

Even Purdue’s coach agrees that UCLA’s star player deserves a POY discussion.

Katie Gearlds is a Lauren Betts fan

Despite the Boilermakers’ tough loss, coach Katie Gearlds was quick to recognize exactly who deserved the applause on the No. 1 UCLA team. After the game, when a reporter described Lauren Betts as “one of the best” post players in the country, Gearlds wasted no time interrupting and correcting them. Betts is not one of the best.

“The best post player in the country. Probably National Player of the Year, right? She’s that good,” the coach says. Then she compares him to a Boilermaker star, “It’s like Zach Edey. You game plan everything around her and the other kids come in and make shots. We play a lot of good post players in the Big Ten, but not anyone like that.”

Well, anyone who not only stands out on the court but is also a team player of the best kind by bringing out their teammates’ talent deserves a POY discussion. Even though all the other players on the list are giving Lauren Betts tough competition, she will certainly make a case for herself.

The post UCLA’s Lauren Betts Finally Earns Her Stripes Among the NCAA Elites With Emphatic Statement appeared first on EssentiallySports.