While it’s not news by any means that UCLA’s junior center Lauren Betts is one of the most dominant players in college basketball, Saturday’s win over Indiana proved to be another example of Betts’ greatness on both sides of the court.
Betts scored 25 points on 12-16 shooting with 12 rebounds while facing double-teams consistently throughout the game. Her impact on UCLA’s offense is always apparent, but her defensive impact can go a bit under the radar for the 15-0 Bruins.
UCLA’s defensive prowess was on full display in the first half on Saturday, keeping the Hoosiers at 16 points from the 1:09 mark in the first quarter to the 2:56 mark in the second quarter. Indiana scored five points in the entire second period.
“Lauren just is really difficult. She’s able to switch out and be mobile laterally when we need her to,” Close said of her center, who had two blocks and a steal on Saturday. “The two things that they (Indiana) really make a living on are their shuffle picks and back picks and the three-point shot. We were able to go over the top and funnel everything and Lauren was able to help on all of those picks.”
The 6’7” Betts certainly makes things difficult for opposing offenses, but opposing defenses try to return the favor by throwing multiple defenders Betts’ way to force the ball out of her hands.
“In the first half I had a few possessions where I struggled figuring out the double-team and I had some turnovers but I think going back to the locker room and just figuring out how I can be patient in that and just finding my teammates,” Betts said of the double-teams. “We work on it every single day in practice, so it’s nothing new honestly to me. I’ve been dealing with it for a lot of my basketball career.”
Betts and the Bruins will look to improve to 16-0 on Tuesday in an away game against Purdue.