{"id":615052,"date":"2026-04-30T10:13:09","date_gmt":"2026-04-30T10:13:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/615052\/"},"modified":"2026-04-30T10:13:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-30T10:13:09","slug":"lauren-betts-brings-championship-mentality-to-washington-mystics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/615052\/","title":{"rendered":"Lauren Betts brings championship mentality to Washington Mystics"},"content":{"rendered":"

WASHINGTON (7News) \u2014 The WNBA season <\/a>is almost here.<\/p>\n

Preseason is underway, and the Washington Mystics<\/a> tip off their regular season one week from Friday. One player to watch: rookie center Lauren Betts. Fresh off a national title at UCLA<\/a>, the 6’7” center is ready to bring a championship mindset to the nation\u2019s capital.<\/p>\n

After the Mystics selected Betts fourth overall in the 2026 WNBA Draft, it didn\u2019t take long for her to settle in.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love these coaches, this organization, they\u2019re really special and it\u2019s like a family over here which I love, so it reminded me a lot of the UCLA program.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"PHOENIX,<\/p>\n

PHOENIX, ARIZONA – APRIL 05: Lauren Betts #51 of the UCLA Bruins celebrates after the victory against the South Carolina Gamecocks in the National Championship of the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament at Mortgage Matchup Center on April 05, 2026 in Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo by Sarah Stier\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

A force in the college game, Betts helped lead UCLA to its first NCAA title. Now, alongside fellow first-rounders Angela Dugalic and Cotie McMahon, she\u2019s poised to make an immediate impact for the Mystics.<\/p>\n

SEE ALSO | Gabriela Jaquez’s 22 points power No. 3 UCLA to a dominant 99-67 win over No. 12 Maryland<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cCoach always says just stay true to what I do, be confident in what I do. I don\u2019t have to do anything special, but it is nice that I get to elevate,” Betts said. “As a rookie, you\u2019re going to make mistakes. It\u2019s going to happen, and so just being comfortable with that, and learning every day, and just giving myself grace.\u201d<\/p>\n

Grace to grow \u2014 and grow together. The Mystics are the youngest team in the WNBA this season, and one of the youngest in league history. But Betts believes that\u2019s exactly what makes this group special.<\/p>\n

\"PHOENIX,<\/p>\n

PHOENIX, ARIZONA – APRIL 05: Lauren Betts #51 of the UCLA Bruins gestures during the second quarter against the South Carolina Gamecocks in the National Championship of the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament at Mortgage Matchup Center on April 05, 2026 in Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo by Christian Petersen\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s a really cool opportunity for us to be able to grow with this group, and we\u2019re going to continue to get better and better and better as things go on,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

And Betts already has a message for fans across the region: \u201cPlease support, it\u2019s going to be such a good group of girls. We\u2019re exciting, we\u2019re competitive, we\u2019re fun, and you guys should all show out.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Mystics wrap up preseason play on Sunday, May 3, against the Atlanta Dream. The team will open the regular season on Friday, May 8, on the road against the Toronto Tempo<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"WASHINGTON (7News) \u2014 The WNBA season is almost here. Preseason is underway, and the Washington Mystics tip off…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":615053,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[73],"tags":[99,434],"class_list":["post-615052","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wnba","tag-sports","tag-wnba"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/615052","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=615052"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/615052\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/615053"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=615052"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=615052"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=615052"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}