Bruins' Betts, Rice Relying on Trust Through Tournament Run

For UCLA stars Lauren Betts and Kiki Rice, Friday’s Sweet 16 matchup against Ole Miss isn’t just another postseason game. It’s the product of months of preparation, leadership growth and trust in themselves and in each other.

“We’ve done the work, and we’re ready,” Betts said Thursday. “But I think we’re going to just take it game by game and focus on Ole Miss for right now. But I know what this team wants at the end of the day, and we have all the parts to do it. I just think it’s going to be us stopping us at the end of the day.”

That steady mindset has become a hallmark of this UCLA team, which is back in the Sweet 16 for the third straight year. The Bruins are leaning on their chemistry, maturity and shared accountability, led by the connection between their star point guard and dominant center.

“Yeah, it makes life easy for any point guard playing with her,” Rice said with a smile. “Lauren catches any pass, finds out of triple teams, double teams, she finds her shooters on the perimeter. … I know that she has my back down there and is really going to just hold it down.”

Betts echoed the mutual respect between the two.

“She just works her butt off,” Betts said. “There's so much trust built in that. I love playing with her. She makes me better, I make her better. … It's just really fun to play with Kiki.”

For both players, the journey to this moment hasn’t just been about skill. It’s also been about leadership and growth through adversity.

“Losing against USC at home was really hard,” Betts admitted. “But watching the film, communicating with my teammates, and learning to let go of things is something that's really crucial for me. And I think that moving forward, I've done a much better job of that.

"And knowing that after games, I can say that I've been the best teammate and I've been the best leader that I can possibly be.”

Rice, now in her third NCAA Tournament, said the team’s mindset shifted after previous March exits.

“That feeling of coming out here the last two times and not having won, it really is a sour taste in all our mouths,” Rice said. “We don’t want to have that same feeling again.”

That hunger has shown up behind the scenes from summer workouts to fall practices and preseason preparation.

“We’ve individually all gotten so much better,” Rice said. “We’ve put in that work to be prepared for any moment that we face and just to trust in that.”

With the Bruins earning the No. 1 overall seed and staying closer to home this year, Rice admitted the travel helps but said they would be ready no matter where they played.

“Last year was Albany, five hours and a time change,” she said. “So, it does feel better for us to be closer. But I do think that having played in the Big Ten this year, where we're used to cross-country trips and the long flights and everything, we would have been fine either way.

"But it is nice to kind of earn that top seed and be closer to home.”

As tipoff nears, the message from UCLA’s leaders is clear. They have already put in the work. Now it is about trusting each other, staying in the moment and taking one step at a time.

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