LOS ANGELES — It’s an early-season practice at UCLA, and the ball is — as it often is — in Lauren Betts’ hands. The junior center has her back to the basket, but instead of posting up her defender, she unleashes a turnaround fadeaway. Splash.
In the first two years of her college career, Betts took all of 12 jump shots. Her other 405 field goal attempts could be classified as layups, hook shots or runners. On this day, however, her usual moves aren’t working, and the 6-foot-7 center has to dive deeper into her bag. Because in practice, she’s facing her toughest defender: the Bruins’ 6-6 scout team center, Jonny Garnett.
In the moment, Garnett asks when Betts learned this particular fadeaway. He knows her tape, and that type of shot isn’t on it. “It’s something that I’ve always had, but I never really do it just because I don’t really need to,” Betts says.
Against Garnett, she needs to.
As Betts puts together a national player of the year-worthy season, her practice battles have prepared her for everything she sees on the court.
“Going against Jonny every day has made me so much better and so much more skilled,” Betts said. “I give a lot of credit to him because he never takes it easy on me every single day.”
Entering her junior season, Betts had…
