UCLA’s 6-foot-7 ‘generational’ star who left Angel Reese bloodied faces daunting Paige Bueckers challenge in Final Four

Angel Reese will have to wait another year to get revenge on Lauren Betts.

The 6-foot-7 junior is closing in on March Madness glory with No.1 seed UCLA off the back of a first ever Big Ten Championship.

She dropped 31 points and 10 rebounds on Ole Miss in the Sweet 16 and followed up with 17 in a victory over LSU to reach the Final Four.

Betts is now on a collision course with another college standout in UConn's Paige Bueckers, who is part of a star-studded offense that ranks No.1 in the country.

Bueckers has confirmed she is heading the WNBA draft and posted a career-high 40 points for the No.2 seed at the Sweet 16 stage.

The Bruins do not have the same depth as the Huskies and will be heavily reliant on Betts to stay out of foul trouble.

Last year, UCLA was beaten in the Sweet 16 by LSU.

At the end of the first quarter with the score at 15-15, former Tigers center Reese fought with Betts -- one of few women who tower over the 6-foot-3 WNBA star -- and came down without the ball.

Chicago Sky sophomore Reese ended up with a bloodied nose after being caught by the Bruins talisman's elbow.

No foul was called but LSU had the last laugh as Reese finished with 16 points and 11 rebounds in a 78-69 victory.

But this year the Bruins had the last laugh, reaching its first ever Final Four of the women’s NCAA Tournament with a 72-65 victory over LSU on Sunday.

Betts had 17 points and seven rebounds despite spending the entire second quarter on the bench.

The Bruins won a national title in 1978 in the pre-NCAA era of women’s basketball, but this was its first NCAA regional final victory in three attempts.

“Credit to my teammates for holding it down while I was out,” Betts said during the trophy ceremony.

“We did not take advantage of Betts being off the floor in the second quarter,” LSU coach Kim Mulkey said, “and we allowed perimeter threes and other people to step up.”

"She's an absolute generational player ... an elite player," UCLA coach Cori Close said of Betts earlier in the tournament.

"She's incredibly competitive. She affects the game in so many ways on both offense and defense. I mean the list goes on and on. 

"The scouting report starts with Lauren every time. And so it's really almost an impossible task [to guard her]. And our other players are the beneficiary of the attention that she draws every single night."

"Lauren just makes the game easy for everyone on this team," point guard Kiki Rice added.

"And I think her ability to shoulder so much weight and just do that on a consistent basis and show up for us every single day is something we really admire."

Betts was projected to be a top-five pick if she declared for this year's Draft but will stay in California instead as she eyes a family reunion.

Her sister Sienna -- a 6-foot-4 high school standout -- signed with the Bruins in November.

"College is the best years of your life, and so I don't think I'd ever give that up," Betts said. "Why not be spoiled for a whole another year?

"The way the coaches take care of us in this program, like, how comfortable I am here, and I think that the friendships I've created -- I'd want to do that for another year.

"I want to win a national championship, obviously, if not this year, then obviously next year, but hopefully we could just do it both times.

"I think that I would be crazy if I gave up the opportunity to play with my sister, so obviously, I'm going to come back next year."

Betts took time off in January 2024 -- two months before the defeat to LSU -- to focus on her mental health.

"I got into a state, the lowest state I've ever felt in my entire life," she told ESPN. "To a point where I was like, 'I can't be here. Like, I can't be here. I can't do life anymore.

"I'm in my hospital gown, sitting in that bed, and I'm watching them play, and I'm like, 'I can't believe this is happening right now. That was a huge wake-up call for me. I was like, 'I need help.'

"I have to put myself first. This is my life. Like, this is my health. It's way bigger than basketball."

After battling her demons, Betts is a different prospect this year.

The only team to beat UCLA this season is USC, who won the first two encounters between the powerhouses.

But in the Big Ten Championship finale, Betts and the Bruins came out on top of the Trojans, who are led by standout Juju Watkins.

"I don't think you guys understand… I am so freaking proud of this team," Betts said as confetti rained from the rafters. "We earned that game. We worked our butts off. We stayed together. We learned. We could have given up after we lost to them back-to-back.

"We would not be denied this game. And I'm so freaking proud of everybody. This means so much to UCLA."