UCLA women’s basketball will likely be without one of its most impactful players in Lauren Betts for another weekend.
The 6-foot-7 center is still day-to-day due to an undisclosed medical reason, according to coach Cori Close, adding to a list of Bruin absences for UCLA’s home games against Arizona on Friday and Arizona State on Sunday.
“I’m not playing a media-holding-back thing,” Close said during a Zoom call with reporters Wednesday. “It is day-to-day. I really don’t know the answer to that in terms of a timetable, but she is day-to-day.”
Betts, a sophomore transfer from Stanford, has now missed the last four games, including No. 9 UCLA’s lopsided loss to Stanford on Sunday. She was averaging 15.4 points per game and 8.6 rebounds per game.
Betts’ absence adds to an already shrinking bench, especially when it comes to size. UCLA lost 6-4 senior forward Emily Bessoir after one game this season due to a reinjured ACL. The program also announced the retirement of 6-4 senior forward Izzy Anstey, an Australian forward who dealt with multiple injuries in her career. She will remain with the team for the rest of the season, according to a statement from UCLA.
Two other Bruins will miss this weekend’s games. Senior Angela Dugalić and sophomore Lina Sontag will be competing at the FIBA 2024 Women’s Olympic Qualifying Tournament this weekend in Belém, Brazil. The 6-4 Dugalić will play for the Serbian national team and the 6-3 Sontag will be representing the German national team.
Close, who has dealt with shortened benches before, said Wednesday overcoming mental fatigue will be an important factor in this weekend’s games.
“These players are hard workers,” Close said. “I honestly think we had to get past the mental and emotional fatigue more so than anything else. We played our hardest basketball on Sunday in the last three minutes when you should be, technically, the most fatigued.”
The Bruins are preparing for an Arizona team that presses a lot, which Close said will force UCLA to be deliberate in matchups and rotating players.
Sophomore Christeen Iwuala and 6-4 freshman Amanda Muse could find themselves in that rotation this weekend. Both players have been slowly getting more playing time since Betts’ first absence.
The 6-2 Iwuala contributed eight points against Stanford – her most since the Hawaii game Dec. 21 – but Close wants her to be even more aggressive on defense.
“The place I’m really challenging her on is her post defense and ball screen defense,” Close said. “For her to walk into the opportunity at the highest level, that’s where we need to see the biggest jump from her and I know that’s what she wants it as well.”
Cam Brown and Gabriela Jaquez will play multiple positions in this weekend’s games to make up for the Bruins’ absences. Kiki Rice and Charisma Osborne will work to compensate for the offensive loss of Betts, whose height came in handy close to the rim.
The pair have worked to find the best spots to create their own offense and play off each other in the process.
“Before, we haven’t had as many opportunities,” Rice said. “Charisma and I, we haven’t had to actually figure out how to do it as much. But now over these past few games and however long we need to, I think there’s going to be playing off each other and making it easier for each other.”
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Close said she wants those behaviors to continue even after Betts returns in order for UCLA to make a deep postseason run. Betts is valuable, but so is the trust the Bruins have in one another.
“We’re gonna have to like weather the storms,” Rice said. “I think this week has been a really good opportunity for us to go back to what we committed to at the beginning of the year and why we’re doing this. And go back to why we love to play with each other and for this school.”
Arizona at No. 9 UCLA
When: 8 p.m. Friday
Where: Pauley Pavilion
TV: Pac-12 Network
Arizona State at No. 9 UCLA
When: Noon Sunday
Where: Pauley Pavilion
TV: Pac-12 Network