LOS ANGELES – A week of dominance against tough Big Ten opponents turns into UCLA senior center Lauren Betts’ fifth-career Big Ten Player of the Week selection. It’s the second time this season that Betts was given the honor, the first being the week of Dec. 8.
Betts averaged 20.3 points and 11.7 rebounds across three major victories against No. 19 Ohio State, Penn State and No. 21 USC, leading the Bruins in points each game, to earn the conference honor.
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Betts set a season-high in points against Penn State with 25 while also grabbing seven rebounds and two assists. That season-high performance was sandwiched in between two double-double performances against the Buckeyes, where she recorded 18 points and a season-high 16 rebounds, and the Trojans, where she dropped another 18 points along with 12 rebounds, four assists, three blocks and two steals to lead the Bruins to a 34 point blowout of their crosstown rivals.
Betts’ award-winning week also came with a major milestone. While she took over the game against Penn State Betts eclipsed the 1,500 point mark in her college career, joining her teammate senior guard Kiki Rice in the 1,500 point club. Rice achieved the feat the game before Betts on Dec. 28 against Ohio State.
UCLA center Lauren Betts (51) finishing in the paint during an NCAA women’s basketball game against Southern University, Friday March 21, 2025 in Los Angeles, Calif
Nico Alba – The Sporting Tribune
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UCLA center Lauren Betts (51) finishing in the paint during an NCAA women’s basketball game against Southern University, Friday March 21, 2025 in Los Angeles, Calif
Putting the team over numbers
While reaching the milestone is a major achievement for both seniors, they aren’t all that concerned with personal accolades, but rather putting the team and all of their goals as a unit first.
“It’s just another number, to be honest,” Betts said after UCLA defeated USC. “I think for the both of us [Betts and Rice], it’s obviously really cool to do it together, but what Kiki and I talk about all the time is that we just want to elevate this team in any way that we can. If it’s scoring, if it’s everybody else, it doesn’t really matter. We just want to win games at the end of the day.”
Center Lauren Betts #51 high fives guard Kiki Rice #1 of the UCLA Bruins during an NCAA basketball game against the Oregon Ducks, Sunday December 7, 2025 in Los Angeles, Calif.
Jordan Teller – The Sporting Tribune
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Center Lauren Betts #51 high fives guard Kiki Rice #1 of the UCLA Bruins during an NCAA basketball game against the Oregon Ducks, Sunday December 7, 2025 in Los Angeles, Calif.
Wooden Award players to watch
Player of the Week wasn’t the only honor Betts has received recently. Both Betts and Rice were named to the Wooden Award Women’s Midseason Top 25 Watch List, putting even more attention on the two players’ outstanding seasons.
After Betts’ outstanding 2024-25 season put her in the national spotlight while UCLA surged all the way to the Final Four, there’s been even more pressure on her from opposing defenses this season.
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At 6’7, Betts wasn’t exactly hiding before, but now she faces an endless stream of double and triple teams every team she even comes close to touching the ball.
For the early part of the season, that new defensive effort slowed Betts down as a scorer and she instead became a major playmaking asset, something made even easier by the Bruins’ evolution as a shooting team this season.
That rust faded quickly, though, as Betts’ past week showcased. Her standard prowess in the paint and against the glass has been on full display and she’s had the chance to debut an enhanced midrange shot that gives her even more scoring versatility and has made her a nearly unstoppable threat.
