NEW YORK – UCLA graduate Lauren Betts has been named the recipient of the 2026 Honda Cup at the Collegiate Women Sports Awards presented by Honda on Monday night.
The Collegiate Women Sports Awards (CWSA), which was established in 1976 by former UCLA Director of Women's Athletics Judith Holland, annually recognizes the accomplishments of female athletes in NCAA-member colleges with a variety of prestigious awards, including the Honda Sports Award given to the top female athlete in 12 respective sports and the Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year (Honda Cup), given to the top overall female athlete. The Honda Cup is presented to one of those 12 athletes; Betts was named the Honda Sport Award winner for basketball following the 2025-26 season.
UCLA holds the record for most Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year awards with seven and ranks second in the nation with 37 total Honda Sport Awards.
Lauren Betts in 2025-26
A defining senior season for the Bruin center, Betts helped UCLA to its first-ever NCAA championship with three-consecutive double-doubles to close out the 2026 March Madness tournament. She earned the 2026 NCAA Tournament’s Most Outstanding Player award and was an All-Tournament Team honoree. Betts led UCLA in scoring and rebounding in 2025-26 playing 27.7 minutes per game, and she shot 58.2 percent from the field during her senior season. She averaged 17.1 points and 8.8 boards in her final collegiate campaign. Betts repeated as the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year with 2.1 blocks and 1.0 steals per game, and she was named the Big Ten Player of the Year; it marked the first time in conference history that a student-athlete had captured both awards in the same season.
Betts played 37 games during her final collegiate campaign, starting all 37 of her appearances. She averaged a career-high 3.2 assists per game, collecting 100+ assists for the first time in her career. Betts became one of three players in NCAA history to have a season with 600+ points, 300+ rebounds, 100+ assists and 75+ blocks, joining UConn’s Breanna Stewart (3x) and Cheryl Miller (2x). Betts was also included in the 18-person training camp roster for the USA Basketball women’s senior national team; the center was the only active collegiate player who made the trip to Durham, N.C., for the Dec. 12-14 camp.
She led UCLA to an 18-0 record in Big Ten play, becoming the fourth team in conference history to end the season undefeated in conference matchups. Betts earned Big Ten Player of the Week (Dec. 8) and was included as one of five USBWA Women’s National Players of the Week for her 24-point, 14-rebound, five-block performance against Oregon in UCLA’s B1G opener, and she was named Big Ten Player of the Week (Jan. 5) again for the set of games over the holiday, where she led UCLA to a 3-0 week to open the full slate of conference games - including two ranked wins at No. 19 OSU and against No. 17 USC. Betts wrapped the season with 14 double-doubles. The center scored a career-high 35 points (15-19 FG) against Oklahoma State in the second round of the 2026 NCAA March Madness tournament, her final home game inside Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom Financial. She was named to the Sacramento 2 All-Tournament Team before earning her Final Four All-Tournament Team honors.
Betts racked up a myriad of awards this season in addition to the Big Ten Player of the Year and Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year recognition. Betts was named First Team All-Big Ten (Coaches* & Media*), Big Ten All-Defensive (Coaches* & Media) and was included on the Big Ten All-Tournament Team as UCLA captured its second-consecutive postseason conference title. She was also named to a number of All-America teams: Associated Press All-America First Team, USBWA All-America First Team, ESPN All-America First Team, The Athletic All-America First Team, and Sports Illustrated All-America First Team. Betts was a Naismith Trophy Women’s College Player of the Year Finalist and was named the Lisa Leslie Center of the Year for the second-consecutive season. Betts captured the prestigious 2026 Honda Sport Award, as she was named the award winner for basketball. She also got it done in the classroom and was named Winter Academic All-Big Ten. Betts was selected fourth overall in the 2026 WNBA Draft by the Washington Mystics (Round 1, Pick 4), the first of a record-setting five Bruins taken in the first round.
*indicates unanimous selection
UCLA's Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year (Honda Cup) award-winners
Ann Meyers, Basketball (1978)
Jackie Joyner, Track & Field (1985)
Lisa Fernandez, Softball (1993)
Natasha Watley, Softball (2003)
Rachel Garcia, Softball (2019, 2021)
Lauren Betts, Basketball (2026)
UCLA's Honda Sport Award winners
Basketball – Ann Meyers (1978), Lauren Betts (2026)
Gymnastics – Sharon Shapiro (1981), Jill Andrews (1990), Mohini Bhardwaj (2001), Onnie Willis (2003), Kristen Maloney (2005), Christine Peng-Peng Lee (2018), Kyla Ross (2020)
Soccer – Abby Dahlkemper (2014), Sam Mewis (2015), Lilly Reale (2023)
Softball – Debbie Doom (1984), Janice Parks (1989), Lisa Longaker (1988, 1990), Lisa Fernandez (1991, 1992, 1993), Jennifer Brundage (1995), Natasha Watley (2003), Rachel Garcia (2018, 2019, 2021)
Tennis – Jeanne Duvall (1978), Keri Phebus (1995), Robin Anderson (2014, 2015)
Track & Field – Evelyn Ashford (1977), Jackie Joyner (1983, 1985), Monique Henderson (2005)
Volleyball – Liz Masakayan (1985), Natalie Williams (1992, 1993)
Badminton (no longer awarded) – Denise Corlett (1977), Barbara Bidermann (1981)
