What Lauren Betts learned after watching 2025 Final Four loss 10 times

It’s been one year since the UCLA women’s basketball lost in the 2025 Final Four to UConn by a 34-point deficit - which is something that center Lauren Betts hasn’t forgotten. 

That Huskies team went on to win the national championship, while Betts ruminated on the loss by watching the tape 10 times. 

USA TODAY writer Cydney Henderson wrote that Betts has since retired the footage. While she doesn’t remember the last time she watched it, the memory serves as motivation as the Bruins and Betts make their return to the Final Four in Phoenix this Friday. 

"I knew I just wanted to get back here again. This is not the end goal. We want to keep playing two more games," Betts said on Thursday. "At the end of the day, our senior season is on the line. We want this so bad."

After UCLA fell behind 20 points by halftime in last year’s Final Four exit, Betts said “coming out with a certain level of aggression” was her biggest lesson ahead of their game against the No. 1 seed Texas Longhorns, which happens to be the only team to hand UCLA a loss this season.

Betts and company would be wise to remember that lesson; the trend has followed the Bruins into this year, including this March Madness. In their Elite 8 matchup against Duke, despite winning 70-58, they trailed by 10 points before mounting a second-half comeback. 

"The amount of confidence that we have in each other to go out and compete from the very beginning, that's the biggest difference," Betts said. "We're going to be ready tomorrow. So I'm really excited for that."

This article originally appeared on UCLA Wire: Final Four: Lauren Betts learned her lesson from last year's loss