This Sunday, the Bruins women’s basketball team soared higher than ever. UCLA claimed a commanding 82-67 victory over No. 8 Maryland, their toughest Big Ten challenger yet. Despite the huge success, the spotlight belonged to junior center Lauren Betts. While she dominated on the court, her mom, Michelle, cheered from the sidelines with a heart full of pride.

From the opening tip-off, it was clear that Maryland had no answers for Betts. She dominated the paint, going 14-for-15 from the field. By halftime, she had already scored 24 points, putting her just shy of breaking her personal scoring record. When the moment finally came—Betts sank a layup to surpass 1,000 career points and set her new high.

She finished with a staggering 33 points, a career-high contribution to her team’s total. As expected, by the end of the game, she was all over the internet. In fact, Betts’ mother, Michelle, couldn’t contain her emotions either. “Like a baby! So happy for my kid and her team,” she shared a heartwarming reaction.

Betts credits her teammates and coaches for putting her in a position to score but admits it is all in the flow of the game. “I don’t really try to force anything,” she says. The Junior has now totaled 1004 career points, all in just below 2 seasons.

But well, the mother isn’t just proud of her daughter—she also mentioned “her team.” It was because, with Sunday’s win, UCLA improved to 20-0, cementing their position as the No. 1 team in the nation. Junior guard Kiki Rice, who added 14 points and dished out key assists to Betts, said it best: “We’re feeling really good as a team—the only undefeated team left in college basketball.”

Lauren has sure been a major part of the success, leading the team in scoring, rebounds, and blocks. But do you know where all this excellence she displays on the court comes from?

Lauren Betts’ success has found its way through family

Lauren Betts has athleticism in her veins. Both her mother and father were athletes during their collegiate time. While her father, Andrew, was a player at CW Post Campus of Long Island University, Michelle was a Division 1 NCAA volleyball player for Long Beach State Athletics.

Her mother stopped before going pro, but her father continued, being drafted by the Charlotte Hornets as the 50th pick in the 1998 NBA Draft. He would also go play internationally across Greece, Italy, Spain, and Ukraine, among others. He’s been a trainer whenever Betts needed one and even when she hadn’t. “My dad always gives me advice, even when I don’t ask for it sometimes,” she reveals. But it wasn’t just Andrew who helped in the journey.

“My mom is one of the most amazing people to talk to. When I’m having a hard day, I can just sit and talk to her for hours,” Betts shared.

For sure, this quality had a lasting impact on Lauren. Even now, Michelle’s got Lauren’s back.