UCLA Bruins’ Lauren Betts is “soaking up every moment” before she is set to face the No. 4-seeded Minnesota Golden Gophers in the Sweet 16 of the 2026 NCAA women’s basketball tournament on March 27.
On Wednesday, she shared a photodump on Instagram of her beach day out with her UCLA Bruins teammates, including Timea Gardiner, Amanda Muse, Gabriela Jaquez, Kiki Rice, Charlisse Leger-Walker, Gianna Kneepkens and Angela Dugalić.
The highlight in the carousel post was the ladies, wearing bikinis, running deeper into the surf. To the right, the hazy silhouette of a mountain range met the sea while the sun was setting.
Betts’ team, the Bruins’ 87-68 win over No. 8-seed Oklahoma State on Monday, was a historic night at Pauley Pavilion. The headline of the night was center Lauren Betts, who delivered a career-high 35 points on 15-of-19 shooting.
She scored 20 of her 35 points in the second half to shut down any hope of an Oklahoma State comeback.
Beyond scoring, she recorded nine rebounds and five assists.
This season is particularly special for Betts as she is sharing the court with her younger sister, Sienna Betts. She is a freshman forward for the Bruins.
Lauren Betts has played for the UCLA Bruins since the start of the 2023-24 season. She transferred to UCLA in April 2023 after playing her freshman year at Stanford.
Lauren Betts Details Why She Transferred to UCLA
In a write-up for The Players’ Tribune titled “I Want To Be Here,” published on March 19, Lauren Betts revealed that her time at Stanford coincided with depression and anxiety.
“It’s no secret that I had a miserable freshman year at Stanford,” she wrote. “I was not thriving, mentally or physically. My former teammates that I played with there are my sisters. I’m still connected to them to this day. But during that time, I was really suffering, and I felt like I had nowhere to turn. I had this mindset: If you’re not producing, you’re not worthy.”
Betts also felt immense pressure to live up to her No. 1 ranking while simultaneously feeling “numb” and “drowning” emotionally.
Thus, transferring to UCLA for her was about “wanting to do everything” she didn’t get the “chance to do at Stanford.”
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