$110,000 Valkyries forward reacts to Lauren Betts' stylish dumps celebrating historic NCAA season

On Monday, Golden State Valkyries star Monique Billings reacted to UCLA center Lauren Betts' stylish dump on social media. The forward commented on the Bruins star's post on Instagram as she celebrated her team's historic season. Billings, a UCLA alum, sent love to the young star as she prepared for her team's Final Four matchup.

Betts shared multiple images from her 2024-25 NCAA season in the 20-image dump. Captioning the post with two emojis, the center wrote:

"🧘🏽‍♀️🧘🏽‍♀️"

The post gave a glimpse into the Spaniard's season with the UCLA Bruins. This included snaps of her in the player tunnel, speaking to the media and showing her and her teammates on the court.

Monique Billings, who signed a one-year, $110,000 deal with the Valkyries, reacted to these images with a comment on the post as she wrote:

"4️⃣‼️"

Monique Billings comments on Lauren Betts' latest Instagram dump

The Valkyrie star, who was with UCLA between 2014 and 2018, reacted to Betts' post with a No. 4 emoji, signifying the Bruins' progression into the Final Four of the NCAA Tournament. Furthermore, the dump also showed the former Stanford center celebrating with the Spokane 1 trophy, which the team was awarded after beating LSU in the Elite Eight.

This was a historic year for the No. 1-seeded UCLA, which has a record of 34 wins and two losses this season. Lauren Betts played a huge part in her team's success, as she was awarded the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year Award for her defensive exploits. She also surpassed Monique Billings's single-season record in blocks with UCLA after earning six blocks against Illinois in February.

Monique Billings becomes the Golden State Valkyries' first free agent signing

The Golden State Valkyrie became the first expansion team to join the WNBA since the Atlanta Dream in 2008. Their addition to the league was made official in December as the expansion draft allowed them to choose an unrestricted player from each team, barring the Seattle Storm. Billings joined the Bay Area team from the Phoenix Mercury.

However, the selection of Monique Billings was initially met with skepticism as she was supposed to be an unrestricted free agent in January. Despite this, the Valkyrie selected Billings as their pick during the expansion draft and allowed her to become a free agent before re-signing her as a free agent on Feb. 3.

Speaking to the media about Billings, Valkyrie general manager Ohemaa Nyanin expressed her views on the versatile forward, praising her work rate:

"Monique brings veteran experience and elite rebounding ability to our frontcourt. Her energy and physicality align perfectly with the style of play we’re building, and her seven years of WNBA experience will be invaluable to our inaugural team."

Billings will join Natalie Nakase's team after spending the offseason in China. She will square off against the LA Sparks in her team's debut game at Chase Center on May 16.

About the author

Arian Kashyap is a basketball journalist at Sportskeeda with over two years of experience at Essentially Sports and Spice Bite and a Bachelor's in Physical Education and Sports Sciences.

Arian's favorite team is the Miami Heat and it’s mainly down to Dwyane Wade being his favorite player of all time. Arian loved how explosive Wade was as a player and he had all the attributes, whether that be shooting, defending or passing. Arian really liked how he won titles both with and without a dynasty behind him.

Arian has also worked with Bhaichung Bhutia Football Schools and was the manager for a Delhi-based women’s team called Garwhal Untied. Garwhal won the Delhi league and were runners-up during his tenure.

Arian has judged essay writing competitions for the Commonwealth Students Welfare Group of India in 2023 and was a part of the U-14 team for the Bhaichung Bhutia Football Schools academy that qualified for the AIFF Round in 2023.

When not working or watching sports, Arian likes riding his motorcycle and reading.

Know More

Edited by R. Elahi