Story by
UCLA’s Lauren Betts Wins Another Big Award for Magical Season
- Story by
- UCLA’s Lauren Betts Wins Another Big Award for Magical Season
Lauren Betts added another accolade to her historic senior season with the UCLA women's basketball team on Wednesday night. Betts was named the Best Women's College Athlete at the 2026 ESPYS.
Miami Heat's Bam Adebayo and rapper French Montana presented Betts the award. She won the award over Pittsburgh volleyball's Olvia Babcock, Oklahoma gymnastics's Faith Torrez and Northwestern lacrosse's Madison Taylor.
Advertisement
Heisman Trophy winner and former Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza won the same award in the men's category.
Betts led UCLA to the program's first national championship in the NCAA era and a program-record 37 wins during the 2025-26 season. She also became the first athlete to win both the Big Ten Player of the Year and Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year awards in the same season.
Jan 21, 2026; Los Angeles, California, USA; UCLA Bruins center Lauren Betts (51) defends Purdue Boilermakers guard Madison Layden-Zay (33) in the first half at Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom Financial. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images
Betts Spoke About Mental Health Issues in Her Acceptance Speech
Off the court, Betts has become an advocate for mental health in sports. She opened up about her own struggles with mental health in an article she wrote for The Players Tribune in March.
Advertisement
Betts used her acceptance speech as another opportunity to advocate for mental health.
"I feel like I have the opportunity with this platform that I have to speak on something that is really important to me," Betts said. "So, for a lot of people who know me, they know everything about my mental health journey.
"I just want people to know, for people that know about my journey, is that protecting my peace is the one thing that I've been as fierce about with chasing my dreams. Your mental health is not separate from your success. It's the foundation of everything that you do. The strongest people aren't the ones who never struggle. They're the ones who have the courage to let someone walk through their struggle with them."
2026 National Champion Lauren Betts won the ESPY for Best College Athlete – Women's Sports and used her moment on stage to advocate for mental health 💚 #WFinalFour x 🎥 ESPN pic.twitter.com/Pi13qdQcXF
— NCAA Women's Final Four (@WFinalFour) July 16, 2026
Photo Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images
Advertisement
The post UCLA's Lauren Betts Wins Another Big Award for Magical Season appeared first on LA Sports Report .
