PHOENIX — Lauren Betts has UCLA women’s basketball’s 2025 Final Four loss to UConn seared into her brain.
The 6-foot-7 center watched the Bruins’ 34-point blowout loss to the eventual national champion Huskies at least 10 times, revealing her anger and confusion was the motivating factor behind her continually pressing rewind. Betts has since retired the footage and doesn’t remember the last time she’s watched it, but the loss has served as extra motivation as the Bruins returns to the Final Four in Phoenix in Friday.
“I knew I just wanted to get back here again. This is not the end goal. We want to keep playing two more games,” Betts said on Thursday. “At the end of the day, our senior season is on the line. We want this so bad.”
Betts said the biggest lesson she learned from the 2025 Final Four is “coming out with a certain level of aggression.” The Bruins trailed UConn 20 points by halftime in the program’s first Final Four appearance last year and the lead only swelled. It’s a troubling trend that’s followed UCLA into the 2026 NCAA Tournament. UCLA has had several shaky starts, including the Bruins’ Elite 8 win over No. 3 Duke, where they trailed 10 points before completing a second-half comeback.
“The amount of confidence that we have in each other to go out and compete from the very beginning, that’s the biggest difference,” Betts said. “We’re going to be ready tomorrow. So I’m really excited for that.”
No. 1 Texas handed UCLA its one and only loss of the season in November. The Longhorns’ stifling defense held Betts to eight points and she only put up eight shot attempts in the loss, but Betts said she’s going to prioritize “creating opportunities to get the ball as much as I can” in UCLA’s rematch against Texas on Friday. That starts with Betts being more aggressive in the paint, she said.
“I think just creating easier catches. (Texas) is really an amazing defensive team. I think as the guards are getting pressured on the perimeter, just trying to become so open that they just can’t like not give me the ball,” Betts said. “It’s not one person versus Texas, it’s a full team. We as a team are trying to beat them.”
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Betts credited UCLA head coach Cori Close and the teams’ staff with helping them sharpen their mentality with “a lot of mental toughness work” throughout the season.
“You have to have the mental reps almost. It’s just like getting yourself to a level where you’re feeling at your best and you want to feel confident,” Betts added. “We actually did one before practice today, and I’m sure we’ll do one tomorrow before the game. We talk about keeping your circle small, having a will that whatever happens during the game you’re going to get the job done, regardless of how you feel. There’s going to be state change. You have to remember what we’re trying to do at the end of the day.”
Reach USA TODAY National Women’s Sports Reporter Cydney Henderson at chenderson@gannett.com and follow her on X at@CydHenderson.
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