UCLA’s Lauren Betts named Big Ten Conference Female Athlete of the Year

WESTWOOD — UCLA graduate and national champion Lauren Betts added one more accolade to her historic 2025-26 campaign with the Bruins.

Betts was announced as the 2026 Big Ten Conference Female Athlete of the Year on Wednesday.

The 6-foot-7 Washington Mystics center led UCLA to the program’s first NCAA women’s basketball title this past season. Betts averaged 17.1 points and 8.8 rebounds while shooting 58.2% from the floor before being selected fourth overall in the WNBA draft.

Betts joined Riverside Poly and USC legend Sheryl Miller and Breanna Stewart of UConn as one of only three players in history to record 600+ points, 300+ rebounds, 100+ assists and 75+ blocks in a single season.

Her historic campaign included Betts becoming the first player to win the Big Ten Conference Player of the Year and Big Ten Conference Defensive Player of the Year in the same season.

UCLA finished 37-1 while defeating No. 2 seed Iowa 96-45 in the Big Ten Championship — the largest margin of victory in the tourney’s history.

The success of the Bruins was a boost for women’s basketball as well. UCLA won the national championship 79-51 over South Carolina in front of 9.9 million viewers — setting the record for the third most-watched women’s championship final.

Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza, who led the team to a national title and won the Heisman Trophy, was named the Male Athlete of the Year for the Big Ten.

More on UCLA women’s basketball

UCLA women’s basketball coach Cori Close gets new contract

UCLA’s national title celebration shows Bruins are ‘all trailblazers in a different lane’

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