Sports

Defending women’s basketball champion UCLA set for preseason exhibition in Canada

On3 · Jul 22, 2026 12:31 · 5 min read

UCLA head coach Cori Close delivers instruction in practice as Arkansas transfer guard Bonnie Deas looks on from her left side on July 16, 2026. (Credit: Greg Turk | Bruin Report Online)

A little more than three months since winning the national championship, the UCLA women’s basketball team will get its first opportunity to show just how different things already are in Westwood. The new-look Bruins, who had all five starters and the Big Ten’s top reserve drafted into the WNBA this spring, return just two contributors from the reco...

A little more than three months since winning the national championship, the UCLA women’s basketball team will get its first opportunity to show just how different things already are in Westwood.

The new-look Bruins, who had all five starters and the Big Ten’s top reserve drafted into the WNBA this spring, return just two contributors from the record-setting team that knocked off South Carolina in April for the program’s first title in the NCAA era. No longer is UCLA headlined by guards Kiki Rice and Gabriela Jaquez, forward Angela Dugalić and center Lauren Betts — the core foundation of a group that went 71-4 over the past two seasons, reached back-to-back Final Fours and won 31 consecutive games en route to the ultimate crowning achievement.

Instead, just two of the Bruins’ five returners — forward Sienna Betts and wing Lena Bilić — had reserve roles as freshmen and are now expected to be major contributors. UCLA head coach Cori Close brought in five transfers in an effort to reload instead of entirely rebuild, and together they will get their first taste of competition against someone other than one another Wednesday when they face Canada’s senior national team.

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The preseason exhibition at the Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre in Victoria, British Columbia contest will be livestreamed on YouTube via the Canada basketball account. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. Pacific Time.

“Especially right now, we are putting in way more than we should try to put in,” Close said last week before the team left for Canada. “So nothing looks incredibly pretty.

“I’m responsible to be a good teacher and they are responsible to be good learners. I just challenged them right after practice: If you don’t know something, make sure you’re putting in the extra work to learn it as quickly as you can.”

Close added that it’s “both a challenge and an excitement, at the same time” as she looks to mold a far different group. Transfers Elina Aarnisalo (North Carolina), KK Bransford (Notre Dame), Addy Brown (Iowa State), Bonnie Deas (Arkansas) and Donovyn Hunter (Texas Christian) were still learning their new teammates as late as last Thursday, when Bilić was fresh off returning to campus for practice after playing for Croatia in international competition.

Bruin Report Online had a full rundown after watching the full final hour of practice, but even then it was solely halfcourt, 5-on-5 against the scout team’s practice players and not one another.

“These girls are obviously really talented, come from really different programs,” Betts said. “I think it takes a second to adjust to coach Cori’s rhythm and her offense and just how she runs practice and games.

“Compared to other coaches, she really, really emphasizes every little thing you do on the court and she’ll hold you accountable for every little thing.”

What to know about Canada

Now, UCLA gets to see an opponent for the first time that is currently in training camp in preparation for the FIBA Olympic pre-qualifying tournament in August. Canada’s roster, which was finalized last week, includes eight current Division I players and eight others who played collegiately in the U.S.

Canada, which enters the game seventh in the FIBA world rankings, features ex-Virginia Tech guard Sami Hill (2013-16) and ex-Syracuse center Kayla Alexander (2009-13). Both are already listed on the Olympic pre-qualifying tournament roster, while key names also on the team but not on the training camp roster include Kia Nurse — a seven-year WNBA veteran currently with the Toronto Tempo.

Alexander, Hill and Syla Swords — a rising junior guard at Michigan — all competed for Canada at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Swords was an All-Big Ten first-team selection for the Wolverines after averaging 16.0 points and 6.2 rebounds last season.

Other notable all-conference first-team standouts from last season on Canada’s roster include guard Jasmine Bascoe (Villanova, Big East), guard Delaney Gibb (Brigham Young, Big 12) and Skylar Forbes (Marquette, Big East). Bascoe was a unanimous selection for a second consecutive season, while Forbes is a two-time selection who also landed on the league’s all-defensive team last season.

Others UCLA should be familiar with around the Big Ten include Michigan starting point guard Mila Holloway, Washington and one-time USC guard Avery Howell and Illinois forward Cearah Parchment.

What will be revealed of UCLA?

The team that ranked in the top 15 in both scoring offense and defense, 10th in 3-point shooting, ninth in rebounding and second in field goal percentage last season is not walking through that locker room door.

In short, it will be a work in progress as the Bruins look to create chemistry and build toward the upcoming season and games that count this fall. To expect any sort of immediate return to where they left off would be disingenuous.

But in the On3 preseason Top 25, national women’s basketball reporter Talia Goodman has UCLA ranked 10th.

“At this point, I just want them to focus on growing and learning each other,” Close said.

Still, the exhibition should offer a bit of early insight into the makeup of a team that will look for big minutes from the younger Betts sister. Along with Aarnisalo and Brown, the trio looks like the most likely projected starters at this juncture and there are some different combinations that could fill the other two spots in the lineup.

What last week’s practice did not reveal was the potential of UCLA’s defense. Hunter, though, was an all-defensive team selection in the Big 12 last season and could be the most logical choice to be paired with Aarnisalo in the backcourt.

“It’s every day we’re competing, we’re trying to get better,” Aarnisalo said. “We’re trying to get more physical so we’re going to be in better shape when the actual games start and the season starts.”

The Bruins will not be at full strength. Forward Timea Gardiner is still working her way back from the left knee injury that forced her to miss all of last season. Incoming freshman guard Somto Okafor is still fulfilling international obligations with Spain and will arrive in August.