INDIANAPOLIS — At halftime, with her star center failing to dominate in a game that was uncomfortably close, Cori Close staged a demonstration.
The UCLA women’s basketball coach bodied up forward Timea Gardiner, showing Lauren Betts how she needed to seal her defender.
“Like, go after people,” Close said, referencing her message to Betts. “Do not call for the ball until you have contact, until you have somebody behind you, because we’re not giving it to you unless you do that.”
Betts complied in the second half Friday, giving the top-seeded Bruins the lift they needed against eighth-seeded Washington in a Big Ten Tournament quarterfinal.
In her first game since becomingthe first player in conference history to be selected both Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Yearin the same season, Betts was a dual force in powering her team toa 78-60 victory at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
Sealing her defender as prescribed, Betts scored 16 of her game-high 26 points in the second half. She added eight rebounds and two assists for a team that controlled the paint, outscoring the Huskies, 52-32, and outrebounding them by 11.
“I just thought every single touch she got in the second half was to the rim and was with aggression,” Close said of Betts, who made 13 of 20 shots. “We’re best when we can play through that, play through the paint, and Lauren was huge tonight on both sides of the ball.”
As an unexpected bonus, Betts might have saved her coach from getting a technical foul. After Close grumbled about a questionable traveling call on Gianna Kneepkens in the fourth quarter, Betts said a few soothing words to her coach to prevent the situation from escalating.
“Just got to calm her down a little bit,” Betts said. “She’s OK. She usually doesn’t get like that, but she has her little moments.”
Added Close: “She’s been having my back a lot recently.”
Source: California Post – Breaking California News, Photos & Videos
