Lauren Betts first UCLA player with 30-10 in NCAA tournament game

March 24, 2025 Shehroz Malik No Comment 3 Views

LOS ANGELES — UCLA women’s basketball coach Cori Close wanted to give Lauren Betts her moment.

This would be the last time the Bruins would play at Pauley Pavilion this season, so with No. 1 UCLA up 17 points on Richmond and its ticket to the Sweet 16 punched after another layup from Betts, Close called for one last substitution.

With her final field goal, Betts reached 30 points for the night and — along with her 14 rebounds — became the first UCLA player to score 30 points and grab at least 10 boards in an NCAA tournament game. It also marked the first 30-10 game for her career.

As she exited with 26 seconds left, the crowd stood up in unison and gave Betts a standing ovation. She also added 4 assists, 1 steal and 2 blocks, while shooting 14-of-17 from the field.

“She’s an absolute generational player … an elite player” Close said. “She’s incredibly competitive. She affects the game in so many ways on both offense and defense. I mean the list goes on and on.”

On a night the Spiders had pushed the Bruins hard, sending them into halftime with the score tied, Betts was the difference-maker. When she received the ball in the post, she was swarmed by Richmond defenders and still managed to score at will.

At 6-foot-8, the mismatch she creates has been the fulcrum of the Bruins’ success this season.

“The scouting report starts with Lauren every time. And so it’s really almost an impossible task [to guard her],” Close said. “And our other players are the beneficiary of the attention that she draws every single night.”

That was evident against Richmond, who was able to stay close even while Betts got off to a strong start, scoring 14 points in the first half. Close said that at halftime, she called on Betts to take over the game with her defense.

“I just told her, you’re not the national defensive player of the year candidate for just in the post,” Close said. “You are really good on the perimeter.”

The Spiders scored only seven points in the third quarter and were never able to get back into the game. Betts added 16 points in the second half and finished with 9 offensive rebounds, but it was her gravity that opened up shooting lanes for her teammates which helped the Bruins run away with the game. UCLA sank 8 3s in the second half.

“Lauren just makes the game easy for everyone on this team,” point guard Kiki Rice said of playing alongside Betts. “And I think her ability to shoulder so much weight and just do that on a consistent basis and show up for us every single day is something we really admire.”

As if the praise from Pauley Pavilion was not enough, during Betts’ performance Sunday night, former Los Angeles Laker and current broadcaster Mychal Thompson posted on X: “UCLA Center ranking…1)Kareem…2)Walton…3)Lauren Betts…”