Lauren Betts 'grateful' for her UCLA amidst her breakout season
During UCLA's center Lauren Betts' media availability on Wednesday, the junior was asked about her season thus far. 20 games in, Betts has led the Bruins to an undefeated record and has placed herself firmly in the mix for National Player of the Year consideration.
'I'm just really grateful,' Betts said, as she's averaging 21.0 points per game and 9.9 rebounds. 'It has a lot to do with the program that I'm at, my teammates and my coaches. I think that the way that I've grown has a lot to do with how much they push me every single day.'
While Betts' Bruin teammates have been pushing her, Betts has been pushing opposing teams' shots back, with 3.0 blocks per game which ranks fourth in all of women's basketball. Betts currently owns the third-best odds to win the Wooden Award, behind USC's JuJu Watkins and Norte Dame's Hannah Hidalgo.
'I'm just playing a lot lighter,' Betts said, speaking of the mental aspect of the game rather than anything to do with her playing weight. 'I feel a lot more free when I'm playing. I'm not really about outside noise as much. I just go on the court and my biggest priority is to do what I have to do to make the team win.'
She's done a pretty good job of that and Betts is coming off of her best offensive performance as a collegiate player, with 33 points off of 14-15 shooting in UCLA's win over Maryland on Sunday.
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