This post was updated July 30 at 5:59 p.m.
A pretty pass inside, a drop through the net and a foul call constituted an electric sequence.
The two teammates orchestrating the three-point play looked at each other and screamed, “And-one!”
Rising sophomore center Lauren Betts recalled her reaction upon watching that play in the USA vs. Colombia game film.
“Oh shoot, that UCLA connection!” Betts thought to herself.
UCLA women’s basketball rising fifth-year guard Charisma Osborne comprises the other half of the Bruin duo. The play in question included just one of the many assists she would dish out as the two athletes developed their chemistry in the 2023 FIBA Women’s AmeriCup.
Alongside the U19 World Cup’s rising sophomore guards Kiki Rice and Londynn Jones, Betts and Osborne round out the most Team USA representation of any Division I college program this summer. But unlike Rice and Jones, the latter pair has never competed in a regular season together.
“That was foreshadowing the future,” Osborne said in summer training after the tournament.
Betts announced her transfer from Stanford to UCLA in April, just in time for the FIBA Women’s AmeriCup trials in her home state of Colorado.
During the trials competition including the top athletes in the nation – LSU forward and March Madness phenom Angel Reese, familiar USC guard/forward Rayah Marshall and South Carolina guard Raven Johnson, to name a few – Betts and Osborne were by chance assigned as roommates.
Then, at the tournament in Mexico, they were paired as roommates again. Both Betts and Osborne attested to their bond’s growth in what was a formative experience personally and professionally.
Betts broke Team USA’s single-game block record with four against Colombia, en route to setting USA Basketball’s Women’s AmeriCup all-time rebounding record with 76 boards across the tournament. She was Team USA’s most efficient performer, averaging 11.4 points and 10.9 rebounds on a 72.7% field goal percentage.
Osborne paced the team at three assists per game while averaging 5.1 points and 4.1 rebounds. While Betts and Osborne assume different roles and positions, Betts said developing confidence in each other has helped them excel in their respective areas.
“We really love playing together,” Betts said. “She’s really good at getting the ball inside, and I really like kicking it back out to her because I trust that she’s going to hit her shot.”
Osborne continued to hone her shooting throughout the tournament, but the veteran Bruin said she was particularly proud of the strides she made on the other end of the ball against formidable and experienced opponents.
“Overseas, we were guarding professional athletes,” Osborne said. “I knew that it would be a challenge, and I also really enjoyed it. I was like, ‘OK, my defense just stepped up.'”
Betts has yet to debut in Pauley Pavilion as a Bruin, but the AmeriCup was a unique privilege to glimpse what may soon be in store for UCLA: an era of depth and roster consistency.
The former Cardinal added that competing together in the AmeriCup for Team USA helped her understand Osborne’s leadership style, one of the veteran’s defining characteristics and most impactful contributions of her career in Westwood.
“I learned a lot from her on the court and how she leads by example and with her words,” Betts said. “She’s just really good at getting people to work together, and I just love how she plays. I think we work really well together.”
The Bruins will have plenty of opportunity to test that theory again in a few short months.
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