They found her in the post up against Indiana women’s basketball’s Lilly Meister. The 6-foot-3 junior forward was overmatched Saturday by No. 3 UCLA’s 6-foot-7 junior center Laruen Betts.
Betts shifted to her right and converted her left-handed shot attempted as Meister fouled her. She then flexed, yelling as she looked up toward the ceiling inside Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall.
She had just 8 points after the made basket just less than two and a half minutes into the second quarter. But over the next 27 and a half minutes, Betts proved why she’s one of the nation’s best, scoring 27 points alongside 12 rebounds.
“I thought our scouting report, the kids really tried to execute the scouting report today,” Indiana head coach Teri Moren said postgame. “They did. They did everything we asked them. It’s just that she’s an extraordinary five because of her size.”
Betts, who earned preseason All-American honors, notched 6 points in the opening quarter as the Bruins led the Hoosiers by just 2 points. She scored just 3 points in UCLA’s dominant second quarter during which it outscored Indiana 15-5.
But over the course of the first half, Betts felt she struggled to be patient and find her open teammates who were cutting toward the basket. So, with the Hoosiers attempting to mount a comeback in the second half, Betts said she went into the locker room at halftime with the goal of figuring out her first half shortcomings.
She did just that.
Betts finished with 17 points in the second half while also corralling seven rebounds and three assists over her 17 minutes on the hardwood.
Although Indiana scored 23 points in the third quarter, UCLA matched thanks in large part to Betts. The Bruins, led by Betts, consistently had an answer for the Hoosiers, who were trying to hold the visitors in hopes of pulling to within single digits.
“We were trying to push her out, trying to keep her away from the low block, trying to get the leverage from our legs,” Moren said. “We were trying to crowd her as much as we could off of other players, we call them our money spots, which were just opened up a little bit more and trying to detour the ball from coming inside. It’s frustrating.”
While Betts standing at 6-foot-7 certainly gives her a distinct advantage, there’s more to her skillset that makes her hard to defend.
UCLA head coach Cori Close said Betts’ ability to move laterally allowed the Bruins to funnel Indiana’s shuffle picks and back picks into her, where she prevented the Hoosiers from executing like they typically do.
Not only was Betts’ dominance frustrating for Moren, but so too was the officiating.
At the media timeout with just less than four and a half minutes left in the second quarter, Moren ripped into the officials. She stood in the lane on the north side of the court as she was animated in proving her dissatisfaction with their calls, or lack thereof such as potential fouls on Betts.
Moren wasn’t alone in the frustration. Throughout the contest, Hoosiers appeared to be confused as to how they were called for a foul. And while Indiana is historically one of the most physical teams in the Big Ten, Moren felt UCLA was “really physical” Saturday — something the Hoosiers had to adjust to.
However, when the 11th-year head coach had an opportunity to publicly voice her frustration with the three-person officiating crew — comprised of Michael McConnell, Brenda Pantoja, Brian Hall — Moren didn’t.
“I think that was a good crew that, look, officiating is hard,” Moren said. “It's hard in a really good league that has outstanding players. So, I don't know that the outcome had anything to do with the officiating today, even though there was some questionable calls that I thought that happened throughout that they tried to do their best to answer those.”
Now sitting at 10-4 after their first marquee conference matchup, the Hoosiers will face several more daunting bigs in USC’s Kiki Iriafen on Jan. 19 and Nebraska’s Alexis Markowski on Feb. 2.
For Indiana to be able to contain them and prevent performances like Betts’ on Saturday, Moren laid out what she and her staff will assess in game planning.
“And so, we're going to have to — maybe not fives of that size — but really good fives that we're going to have to be able to guard much better,” Moren said. “And so, you just continue to look at different ways we can use our coverages but be better in those coverages.”
The Hoosiers now have three days off before they return to the court and begin a two-game road trip. First up is an 8 p.m. matchup Jan. 8 against Northwestern inside Welsh-Ryan Arena in Evanston, Illinois. Indiana will then travel to Iowa City, Iowa, to face off against Iowa at 3 p.m. Jan. 12 inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
With their six-game win streak now over, the Cream and Crimson will look to rebound away from Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall before a pair of high-quality opponents come to Bloomington in Illinois on Jan. 16 and No. 4 USC on Jan. 19.
Follow reporters Dalton James (@DaltonMJames) and Savannah Slone (@savrivers06) and columnist Ryan Canfield (@RyanCanfieldOnX) for updates throughout the Indiana women’s basketball season.
