UCLA women’s basketball players are hitting the transfer portal after the program’s first appearance in the NCAA Final Four.
Freshmen Elina Aarnisalo, Kendall Dudley and Avary Cain – who were part of the fourth-ranked signing class in the country last year – have entered the transfer portal. None have made a public announcement on social media with details regarding their decisions as of Tuesday afternoon.
Aarnisalo came into the Bruins’ program as a highly touted international player from Helsinki, Finland. She started at point guard in the first seven games of the season while Kiki Rice was working her way back from injury and even drew praise from South Carolina coach Dawn Staley.
“I thought Elina did a really great job,” Staley said after the Nov. 24 loss to UCLA. “Really great job. It’s fun watching her on film. I was hoping that she would come off the bench and not get as many minutes. She’s the one that was really, really impressive.”
Aarnisalo scored 13 points against the Gamecocks and ended the season with an average of 5.1 points and 2.2 rebounds per game. The 5-foot-10 guard started in three more games as the season went on but saw varying minutes.
Dudley, a 6-foot-2 wing, was the No. 18 recruit in the 2024 ESPN HoopGurlz recruiting rankings in her senior year at Sidwell Friends School in Washington, D.C. She consistently came off the bench throughout the season to average 12.4 minutes across 37 games. She shot 46.5% and averaged 1.9 points and 2.3 rebounds per game.
Cain, a 6-foot-1 guard from Santa Maria, was a five-star recruit but played only a handful of minutes per game, with a season-high 21 minutes against Colgate on Nov. 10. The last game she played in was a home matchup against Ohio State on March 8.
Zania Socka-Nguemen is the only player left from the Bruins’ freshman class. She was the 26th-ranked recruit in her class but missed multiple games this season due to concussion protocol.
Two recruits highlight UCLA’s incoming freshman class: Sienna Betts and Lena Bilić.
Bilić is a 6-foot-3 Croatian guard who averaged 18 points per game with European club ZKK Tresnjevka 2009. Betts is the younger sister of 6-foot-7 Lisa Leslie Center of the Year Lauren Betts.
The younger Betts, who is 6-foot-4 and plays forward, is the No. 2 recruit in her class and a three-time Colorado Gatorade Player of the Year. She averaged 23 points, 16.5 rebounds, 4.9 assists and 3.4 blocks per game in her senior year at Grandview High School, which culminated with a state title.
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