Seniors Lauren Betts and Kiki Rice from UCLA have been named to the 30-player 2026 Jersey Mike’s Naismith Trophy Women’s College Player of the Year Late-Season Team, according to an announcement by the Atlanta Tipoff Club and Naismith Awards on Tuesday.
Betts, who plays center for UCLA, leads her team with averages of 16.4 points, 8.4 rebounds, and 2.0 blocks per game. She also has a conference-leading 10 double-doubles this season. One of her standout performances was a 16-point, 16-rebound game that helped UCLA defeat No. 8 Michigan on February 8.
Rice, serving as point guard, has scored in double figures in 24 games this season and is averaging a career-high 15.5 points per game with shooting splits of .509/.419/.890. She reached two career milestones this season: surpassing 1,500 career points against No. 19 Ohio State on December 28 and achieving her 500th career assist at No. 25 Nebraska on January 11. Rice is also averaging a personal best of 6.5 rebounds per game and leads the team with 129 defensive rebounds.
The late-season team includes players from various programs across the country such as Oklahoma, Vanderbilt, Texas, Ohio State, Iowa State, USC, Richmond, South Carolina, Duke, UConn, Notre Dame, LSU, Ole Miss, TCU, Maryland, Michigan, NC State, Baylor, Washington, Kentucky, Michigan State and others.
