UCLA star Lauren Betts day-to-day after missing Duke game with injury

UCLA women’s basketball (7-1) should be operating with a strong sense of urgency during the 2025-26 campaign, for this is Lauren Betts’ final season of eligibility. The All-American and Naismith Defensive Player of the Year led the Bruins to their first-ever Final Four appearance in the 2024 NCAA Tournament, and she returned to finish the job in 2025. There are plenty of factors that are outside her control, however, including injuries.

Betts suffered an arm injury in Wednesday’s upset loss versus Texas and did not play in the Players Era Championship consolation game on Thanksgiving. UCLA had no trouble in the star center’s absence, displaying its wealth of talent en route to an 89-59 win over the Duke Blue Devils. But everyone knows how important Betts is to this team’s national title aspirations. They urgently want clarity regarding her status.

Longtime Bruins head coach Cori Close is still waiting for some answers as well, but she did offer fans a fairly optimistic outlook on the 22-year-old’s health. Betts is considered day-to-day, via the Her Hoop Stats X account. She was surprisingly ruled out for the Duke game after the medical staff deemed it best to keep her on the sidelines.

Betts will undergo further testing to determine the severity of the injury. If the team receives good news, perhaps the two-way force will have a chance to compete in Sunday’s matchup versus No. 14 Tennessee (5-1).

It is imperative that UCLA does not risk further injury by rushing Lauren Betts back onto the court before she is ready. This squad is not just focused on a single marquee matchup. It wants to cut down the nets in Phoenix, Arizona. Some of her numbers are down in the early goings of the season — 14.1 points, 7.4 rebounds and 2.0 blocks in seven games — but No. 51 remains an incredibly valuable member of this program.

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