The storyline of Bruin basketball for the past three seasons has been Lauren Betts.

Her departure to the WNBA, alongside the five other Bruins that were selected in the 2026 WNBA Draft, opened up space for new players to shine.

And their absence was felt Wednesday, when UCLA women’s basketball fell to Canada’s Senior Women’s National Team 69-55 in an exhibition game for W’HOOP IT UP in Victoria, B.C.

With every player who started in the 2025-26 campaign having left for the WNBA, this matchup showcased several fresh faces. The starting lineup for the Westwood squad immediately highlighted its new transfers – rising sophomore forward Sienna Betts was the only returner to start.

“I’m learning to use my voice more amongst the team,” said rising senior guard Donovyn Hunter, who transferred from TCU. “As you get older and you’ve played enough years in college basketball, you learn that it’s the small details in basketball that people aren’t willing to do.”

The game started off in a back-and-forth battle, with both teams getting on the scoresheet early. Rising senior forward Addy Brown, who transferred in from Iowa State, kicked off the scoring for the Bruins, using her footwork in the paint.

UCLA exited the first quarter with a 21-15 lead backed by Betts’ 12 points. The Centennial, Colorado local was holding strong in the paint against Canada’s Kayla Alexander, a WNBA player for the Toronto Tempo.

Betts entered UCLA as the No. 2-ranked recruit per ESPN in the class of 2025 but only played in 28 games for the Bruins last season after returning from a leg injury, averaging six points and four rebounds in 14 minutes per game.

After the departure of the six leading scorers and only starters from last season, it was expected that she would have to step up.

She finished the game with 20 points and 12 rebounds, with her scoring mark sitting six points above her career-high and rebounds tying her highest mark from her freshman campaign. But the competitor in her is working for more.

“I can be really a big perfectionist so I’m thinking of the stuff later on, like when I got fatigued and started taking poor shots and maybe not making the right decision on offense and defense,” Betts said. “But it was really fun to go out there and play with the group.”

A 14-0 run for the Canadians in the second quarter put the Bruins down 35-30 entering halftime. Canada was slowing down Betts, and UCLA was struggling to score without her presence.

Last season, four Bruins averaged 12-plus points per game, with everyone on the floor being a threat. The Final Four and National Championship had six scorers, none of whom returned.

On Wednesday, only Betts and rising junior Elina Aarnisalo, who transferred back to UCLA after spending her sophomore campaign at UNC, reached double-digit scoring, with Aarnisalo adding 11 points for the reigning national champions.

Aarnisalo averaged 10.2 points per game on a 47.3% clip from the field and a 40.4% mark from behind the arc last season.

No one else on the UCLA squad was able to surpass seven points against Canada, yet the squad was able to keep it close, entering the fourth quarter down 50-45.

But the biggest weakness for the Bruins was on the defensive side.

UCLA allowed 65-plus points in only nine games last season, largely attributable to the presence of Lauren Betts in the paint.

The 6-foot-7 center recorded 76 blocks through the season. Without her, the Bruins were struggling to cover the rotations, opening up easy points for the Canadian squad.

And this showed towards the end of the game.

Down 10 with only four minutes remaining in the fourth, Canada’s Syla Swords – a rising junior at Michigan – picked apart the defense for an assist at the block and two straight threes of her own to put Canada up 18.

The Bruins were unable to fight back from the deficit, and the Canadian squad walked away victorious.

“I think we showed glimpses of what we are going to become and then we showed a lot of things we need to address and get cleaned up,” said coach Cori Close. “This game was going to show us our floor. It was going to absolutely show nothing about who we’re going to become later.”