The Women’s Final Four Most Outstanding Player becomes the sixth UCLA athlete to receive the top honor
UCLA’s Lauren Betts was named the Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year and awarded the Honda Cup on Monday during the 50th anniversary broadcast of the Collegiate Women Sports Awards presented by Honda in New York City.
Betts, who led UCLA to its first NCAA women’s basketball championship, was selected from the CWSA Class of 2026 Top Three, which also included Pittsburgh volleyball player Olivia Babcock and Nebraska softball player Jordyn Frahm. Votes from nearly 1,000 NCAA member schools determine the Top Three annually from the winners of the Honda Sport Award in 12 NCAA-sanctioned women’s sports. The CWSA board of directors makes the final choice for the recipient of the Honda Cup, recognizing the nation’s top female collegiate athlete for excellence in athletics, leadership, academics and community service.
Betts earned the Honda Sport Award for Basketball after the 2025-26 season. She is the sixth UCLA athlete to capture the Honda Cup. The Bruins have won it seven times, more than any other school, with Rachel Garcia claiming it twice (2019, 2021). Basketball players now have won the Honda Cup 17 times, the most of any sport.
How Lauren Betts led UCLA to its first NCAA championship
Betts finished her college career by recording 14 points and 11 rebounds for UCLA in the national championship game and earning 2026 NCAA Women’s Final Four Most Outstanding Player honors. She averaged 17.1 points, 8.8 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 2.1 blocks per game across 37 starts as a senior.
She was named the 2026 Big Ten Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year, becoming the first player in conference history to earn both honors in the same season. A two-time Lisa Leslie Center of the Year, Betts set the UCLA record for career blocked shots during the NCAA regionals, where she was named Regional Most Outstanding Player. She also earned WBCA first-team All-America honors for the second time and was a finalist for the Wade Trophy, Naismith Trophy and Wooden Award.
Betts became one of three players in NCAA history to post a season with 600-plus points, 300-plus rebounds, 100-plus assists and 75-plus blocks, joining UConn’s Breanna Stewart and Southern California’s Cheryl Miller.
The accomplishments, Betts said, grew from the confidence she received after transferring to UCLA.
“I always say UCLA changed my life. It’s the best decision I’ve ever made,” Betts said in an interview on CBS Sports Network after winning the Honda Sport Award for Basketball. “I can’t thank my coaches and teammates enough for constantly feeding me confidence and helping me become who I am as a person, as a player.”
A platform bigger than basketball
For Betts, the Honda Cup represented more than the final honor of a championship season. It also placed her alongside generations of women who used their athletic success to create opportunities for those who followed.
“By far, this is the biggest award I’ve ever received,” Betts said in her Honda Cup acceptance speech. “The legacy that this award leaves, the women that have come across, the sisterhood that they’ve left, it’s an honor to be part of.”
Betts has increasingly used her platform to discuss a more personal part of her journey. In a March essay for The Players’ Tribune, she wrote openly about her experience with depression, receiving treatment, and learning to manage her mental health with the support of her family, teammates, coaches and therapist.
She said sharing that experience has helped her connect with young fans who have faced struggles of their own.
“The way that I’ve been able to speak my truth, my vulnerability, it’s not only helped me, but it’s helped so many people along the way,” said Betts, who now plays for the WNBA’s Washington Mystics. “I was just at All-Star weekend this past weekend in Chicago, and the amount of little girls who came up to me crying, saying that my story has helped them, it means the world to me. And that’s why I do it.”
Those interactions have reinforced what Betts believes athletes can accomplish by speaking honestly about their experiences.
“Women’s sports are able to change people’s lives,” she said. “The biggest thing I’ve learned is I’m going to continue to share my story. I’m going to continue to speak my truth. I’m going to make sure I leave the sport better than I found it.”
Honda Cup celebrates 50 years of women’s college sports
The Collegiate Women Sports Awards, established in 1976, marked its 50th anniversary this year and Honda’s 40th year as presenting sponsor. Since partnering with Honda in 1986, the program has provided more than $3.4 million in institutional grants to support women’s athletics programs nationwide.
Betts joins a roster of past winners in which 96% won a national championship in college or went on to reach the Olympic Games.
Related: A look back at 50 years of the Honda Cup.
Betts was selected fourth overall by the Washington Mystics in the 2026 WNBA Draft, the first of a record five Bruins chosen in the first round. The Honda Cup winner capped a decorated year that also included the 2026 ESPY Award for Best College Athlete, Women’s Sports.
“There is something incredibly special about watching another extraordinary young woman join the legacy of this award,” said Chris Voelz, executive director of the Collegiate Women Sports Awards. “Lauren has distinguished herself among the very best in collegiate athletics, and she represents the excellence, determination and character that have defined CWSA honorees for five decades.”
