BOULDER — Michelle Betts had one eye on the action in front of her and the other on the mother of all text chains. The last one coming courtesy of some Grandview girls basketball dads.
“54 to 49 Wolves with 10.5 seconds left,” the mom of former Grandview hoops star Lauren Betts and current Wolves stalwart Sienna Betts said Friday night, flashing the screen of her phone, now littered with running line of score updates. “So I think we’re good.”
The largest crowd to ever attend a Buffs women’s basketball game at CU Events Center (11,338 fans) featured a small pocket of Bruins blue and Grandview blue behind the visiting bench to witness UCLA 76, CU 68.
Lauren Betts, who led the Wolves to a CHSAA state title in 2022 and watched her sister help Grandview notch another crown last March, dropped 20 points and 13 rebounds on the third-ranked Buffs as the fifth-ranked Bruins pulled away late.
It was Betts’ eighth double-double of the season, and her ninth since joining the collegiate ranks. But this one was made even more special by the presence of a few familiar faces near the floor.
“It was really exciting, honestly,” said Lauren Betts, who’s averaging 15.9 points and 8.9 rebounds in her first season with the Bruins after transferring from Stanford.
“Just throughout warmups, I kept seeing more and more of my family and my friends just coming in the crowd. It (was) just really special and I’m just so proud of this team. They know how bad I personally wanted to win this game in my hometown, so everyone just really showed out.”
The 6-foot-7 center became CU’s center of attention early, as a smothering Buffs defense threw double teams at the local prep product at almost every turn. Betts misfired on seven of her first 10 attempts from the floor and felt aggrieved by the lack of fouls called early.
“I feel like we just came out (in the second half) with a different type of aggression,” said Betts, who netter 12 of her 20 points after halftime.
Given that Friday was the last regular-season Pac-12 meeting — CU’s moving to the Big 12 this summer, UCLA to the Big Ten — between the Buffs and Bruins in Boulder, Betts wanted to make it count.
“I’m going to try to get her back to the Denver or Boulder area one more time,” UCLA coach Cori Close vowed after the game. “I’m hoping for (Betts’) senior year, that we get to come back here again. I’m planting that seed now.”
And with good reason. In two visits to the Events Center as a collegian, one with UCLA and another with Stanford, the former Wolves standout is 2-0 while averaging 17 points, 10.5 rebounds, two assists and 1.5 blocks.
“Yeah, I’m going to miss coming back here, for sure,” Lauren Betts reflected. “Great win (Friday), and yeah, super-excited to see all of my family and friends.”
Not all the family, though. While Lauren was taking on CU, sister Sienna’s Wolves were putting the finishing touches on a 55-49 victory at Arapahoe. The younger Betts, one of the top prep forwards in the country for the Class of 2025, is planning to join her sister at UCLA.
Yet both Michelle and Andrew, Lauren and Sienna’s dad, elected to come to Boulder rather than split sites, because they wanted to be there in person for what could be Lauren’s last collegiate game in Boulder.
“I told them they could prioritize me for one day,” Lauren recalled. “‘You guys can come to my game, Sienna will (be fine).’”
She probably also won’t let her big sister live it down.
“No, she won’t (be fine),” Lauren Betts laughed. “She’s still mad. But it’s OK. They had to do what they had to do.”
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