Spokane regional: ‘Generational’ Lauren Betts leads top-seeded UCLA over Ole Miss 76-62

The best player on the nation’s top team, Lauren Betts was in a class of her own during Friday’s Sweet 16 game.

UCLA’s All-American center had no peers on the court at the Arena. The 6-foot-7 Betts was a singular force for the No. 1 overall seed, shouldering the work as the Bruins powered past fifth-seeded Ole Miss 76-62.

Betts was dominant underneath the basket, amassing 31 points on 15-of-16 shooting from the field, to lead UCLA (33-2) to its third Elite Eight appearance in program history, and first since 2018. The Bruins will take on No. 3 seed LSU on Sunday at the Arena.

“It’s just one of those things where you have a generational player on your team,” longtime UCLA coach Cori Close said of Betts. “You just want to put the ball in her hands as many times as possible. … That’s why she’s one of the top players in the country. That’s why she makes us better and that’s why we’re in the Elite Eight.”

Betts has been at her best during the postseason for UCLA. She scored 30 points and shot 14 of 17 from the field to go with 14 rebounds in the Bruins’ second-round win over Richmond on Sunday, then followed that up with an even better showing versus a tougher Ole Miss team. Betts had 10 rebounds against the Rebels to become the first player to post at least 30 points and 10 boards while shooting 80% from the field in any game in the past 20 seasons, according to ESPN.

“Just being aggressive no matter what and doing what I need to do to help the team,” Betts said. “That (stat) is insane. I’m honestly very, very grateful. The only reason it’s happening is because of the program I’m in and the people I’m surrounded by.”

If Betts continues at this pace, the Bruins have a good shot at competing for their second national title and completing perhaps their greatest season .

The junior out of Colorado was a matchup nightmare throughout the evening for the Rebels (22-11), who didn’t have any post players with the strength, length or athleticism to contend with Betts.

At halftime, Betts had 16 points on 8-of-9 shooting while the rest of the Bruins had 14 points on 5 of 16. Still, Betts’ back-down turnaround layups and strong defense inside were enough for UCLA to open an early nine-point lead before Ole Miss cut the deficit to 30-29 at halftime.

But back-to-back 3s from UCLA guards Kiki Rice and Londynn Jones re-extended the lead, and Betts followed with two straight difficult layups to put the Bruins up by double digits for the first time, at about the midway point of the third quarter.

From there, UCLA leaned on Betts and cruised to the finish, preserving a comfortable lead for the entire fourth quarter.

Rice, UCLA’s point guard, added 13 points and seven assists. Guard Tameiya Sadler scored 14 points to lead the Rebels, who shot 32.4% from the field against 60% for UCLA.

The Bruins await a matchup with an LSU team that knocked UCLA out of the NCAA Tournament in the Sweet 16 last year.

“We expected to be in this position, and it’ll be a good opportunity for those of us who were on this team last year,” Rice said.