Bruins' Star Center Earns Weekly Award

The UCLA Bruins earned a monumental win earlier this week, knocking off No. 1 South Carolina's 43-game winning streak. The biggest reason for the win was junior transfer center Lauren Betts who earned a weekly award for her stellar performance.

Nov 24, 2024; Los Angeles, California, USA; South Carolina Gamecocks forward Ashlyn Watkins (2) and forward Joyce Edwards (8) trap UCLA Bruins center Lauren Betts (51) during the third quarter at Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom. Mandatory Credit: Robert Hanashiro-Imagn Images / Robert Hanashiro-Imagn Images

The No. 1 UCLA Bruins earned their top national ranking for taking down the dynasty of South Carolina earlier this week with a 77-62 win to snap the Gamecocks' 43-game winning streak spanning back to March of 2023. Junior center Lauren Betts earned immense praise for her performance.

Betts posted her fourth double-double in the first five games of the season with 11 points and 14 rebounds en route to the upset win. UCLA Athletics gave Betts the Student-Athlete of the Week Award for the massive role she played.

Lauren Betts is your Student-Athlete of the Week!

Betts recorded her third-consecutive double-double in Sunday’s win. The center had an 11-point, 14-rebound performance as @UCLAWBB handed No. 1 South Carolina their first loss in 602 days.

🔗: https://t.co/EGOuRrWkkU#GoBruins pic.twitter.com/MdmV8PAwtb

— UCLA Athletics (@UCLAAthletics) November 27, 2024

It marked Betts' lowest point total of the young season, but her season-high in rebounds. She may not have played her best game overall, but her consistency and ability to positively impact the game in multiple ways was a game changer, along with being mentally tough in a high-pressure contest.

Bruins coach Cori Close spoke to the media after the upset and offered a statement regarding Betts' performance and how she felt she was able to maintain being the best player on the floor when she did not have her top performance.

"Before we were on TV, I said, 'Lauren, look at what we did,'" Close said, "This was not her best night, but it was her best neutral thinking night and she had what we call 'next play speed.' -- Every scouting report starts and ends with her and if she didn't have that stability mentally, we wouldn't be sitting at this table feeling the way that we do."

After spending her freshman season at Stanford University, Betts made the transfer over to Westwood before the 2023 season and has taken a large leap from a year ago. She averaged just under a double-double, but this year, she is comfortably doing that and making a huge impact.

Through five games this season, Betts is averaging 19.4 points, 12 rebounds, 3.4 assists, and 2.6 blocks. All those totals are higher than what she posted last season. Not to mention that she also has a season-high 31 points back in the Bruins' second game of the season against Colgate.

Betts is slowly becoming one of the more dominant players in women's college basketball this season with the numbers and headlines she is making around the sport. The Bruins finished 27-7 last season with an exit in the Swee 16 of the national tournament.

With the players they have around Betts and her continuing to improve this year, there may be no stopping this Bruins team from making a run for the national championship when all is said and done in early April.

Ensure you follow on X (Twitter) @UCLAInsideronSI and @tcav30 and never miss another breaking news story again.

Please let us know your thoughts when you like our Facebook page WHEN YOU CLICK RIGHT HERE.