Saturday, May 16

Awards galore



If you don’t already know – so if you’re living in some sort of cave – awards became a ritual for UCLA this week.

Commit Sienna Betts, Lauren Betts’ sister, won McDonald’s All-American MVP honors on Tuesday. With her distinction, UCLA will have three McDonald’s MVPs next year in Betts, Gabriela Jaquez and Kiki Rice.

That doesn’t come often.

Then came a pair of the most prestigious awards in college basketball. Coach Cori Close earned the 2025 Werner Ladder Naismith Women’s College Coach of the Year. Lauren Betts was awarded the Naismith Women’s College Defensive Player of the Year, both awards announced Wednesday by the Atlanta Tipoff Club.

Could the Bruins cap off an award-filled weekend with a trip to the national championship game?

(Aidan Sun/Assistant Photo editor)

Senior staff

Gorawara is Sports senior staff and Copy staff. She was previously the 2024-2025 Sports editor on the football, men’s basketball and NIL beats, an assistant Sports editor on the men’s volleyball, men’s tennis, women’s volleyball and rowing beats and a contributor on the men’s volleyball and rowing beats. She is a fourth-year economics and communication student minoring in professional writing from Hong Kong.


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