UCLA Bruins stalwart Lauren Betts is already racking up awards, despite the 2025-26 college basketball season yet to begin. On Thursday, Oct. 2, Betts was named by the Big Ten conference as the unanimous preseason ‘Player of the Year’ heading into her senior campaign, through which she was subsequently named as a member of the All-Big Ten Preseason Team.
Betts shared the Bruins’ recent social media post that highlights this accomplishment of hers on her own Instagram stories. In the 2024-25 season, she was hailed as one of the best players in women’s collegiate hoops nationally, all the more in her own conference. Betts included a one-word reaction to the preseason achievement.
“Grateful,” Betts captioned with a couple of emojis.
In the recently concluded campaign, which was Betts’ junior year, the 21-year-old averaged 20.2 points, 9.5 rebounds, 2.7 assists, and 2.9 blocks per contest. As a force down low, she helped coach Cori Close’s Bruins to the program’s most successful season so far. UCLA made it all the way to the NCAA Final Four for the first time in program history in the 2025 national tournament. They finished with an overall record of 34-3 (16-2 Big Ten).
Betts and her team’s deep postseason run was thwarted by the eventual 2025 national champions, the UConn Huskies, through a 34-point defeat, 85-51. However, it seems like UCLA will enter the next season with much-needed momentum. They are heading in as the No. 1-ranked team in the Big Ten.
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Lauren Betts Also Reposted Teammate Kiki Rice For Her Big Ten Conference Preseason Achievement
Apart from reposting her own celebratory post for her preseason awards and even the UCLA Bruins’ No. 1-ranked program nod on her Instagram stories, Lauren Betts has reposted her teammate, Kiki Rice, and her accomplishment. Rice was also selected unanimously to the All-Big Ten Preseason Team as the clear one-two punch for Betts in their team’s success last year.
For her third-year campaign, Rice was the primary playmaker for the Bruins to the tune of posting 12.8 points, 3.5 rebounds, 5.0 assists, and 1.4 steals a game. Heading into the 2025-26 collegiate basketball season, Betts, Rice, and the rest of coach Cori Close’s Bruins will aim to take their program to its first-ever NCAA finals berth and maybe even win their first national championship.
Also Read: UCLA Star Lauren Betts Serves Up BTS Magic in Striking Pink Crop Tee and Black Under Armour Fit
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