Lauren Betts Stats Tonight - How did the UCLA star fare vs the Southern Jaguars? (March 21) 

UCLA Bruins center Lauren Betts imposed her will onto her team's first-round matchup of this year's March Madness earlier on Friday. Just like she has on multiple occasions in the 2024-2025 season, Betts' contributions propelled the top-seeded Bruins to the 84-46 drubbing of the 16th-seeded Southern Jaguars in Spokane Regional 1.

In 26 minutes of action, Betts tallied a game-high 14 points, missing just three shots from the field for a 6-of-9 overall clip, with six rebounds, four assists, a steal and three blocks.

Betts' first line in the stat sheet came from an assist at the 7:29 mark of the first quarter, which she quickly followed up with a rebound and a layup for her first score. Providing both steady offense and defense right when she was subbed back in, Betts helped the Cori Close-coached team to a 12-point lead at the end of one, 23-11.

The junior provided timely offensive and defensive production to start the second frame. Betts had a lengthy break at the midpoint of the period given that the UCLA lead ballooned. She returned to the game in the closing minutes of the first half, where she helped her squad maintain their edge to the tune of a 38-26 advantage.

For the third frame, Betts showcased more of her defense, as the third-year stalwart was thwarting shots near the rim and playing pesky defense on her matchups. She then found herself on the free throw line for her lone points contributions for the period, before heading back to securing caroms for her team. This expanded UCLA's edge to 59-33 heading into the final period of play.

In the last quarter of the first-round matchup, Lauren Betts continued to put the clamps on the Jaguars while still being a force down low. She also became more of a facilitator in this period, showcasing her versatility as a player. She was then subbed out at the 6:07 mark as the game was no longer in reach for Southern, with the Bruins pulling away for an 84-46 triumph.

Here are Lauren Bett's final stats for Friday's win.

Player	MP	PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	FG	3-PT	FT	TO	PF
Lauren Betts	26	14	6	4	1	3	6-9	0-0	2-3	1	1

Lauren Betts is finalist for this year's Naismith Defensive Player of the Year award

With her dominant display throughout the whole 2024-2025 season, in the regular campaign and in postseason play, Lauren Betts was named as a finalist for the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year award. On the year, Betts has averaged 19.6 points, 9.7 boards, 2.8 dimes and 2.9 swats per contest.

Betts broke the UCLA single-season blocks record this season as well as the school's single-game blocks record with nine against Baylor. She will be up against Notre Dame's Hannah Hidalgo, West Virginia's JJ Quinerly, and USC's JuJu Watkins for the award.

Lauren Betts and the rest of the UCLA Bruins now move on to their second-round matchup in the NCAA national tournament, which is the eight-seeded Richmond Spiders on Saturday, March 22.