Big news for UCLA Bruins women’s basketball player Elina Aarnisalo. She was invited to join team Finland at the FIBA U20 Women’s EuroBasket in Lithuania.
Finland will start their play on Saturday, July 6th against Poland. They will also play Italy and Turkey during the group play. The round of 16 starts on July 10th and the finals are set for July 14th.
Aarnisalo committed to UCLA in May and will join the Bruins this fall for the first semester. She was a five-star prospect out of HBA-Marksey in Finland.
She scored 19.5 points per game, 5.0 rebounds, and 4.0 assists during her final season there. When playing in the 2022 FIBA European U18 Championships, she scored just shy of 18 points per game.
With the loss of Masikewich, Osborne, and Brown, she will step right into a solid role for the Bruins during the 2024-2025 season.
Good luck, Elina! 🤩💙💛@ElinaAarnisalo will represent Team Finland at the U20 EuroBasket in Lithuania this weekend – more info in our preview! ⤵️
🗞️: https://t.co/RitvCESSsF #GoBruins pic.twitter.com/902rDMcRTS
— UCLA Women's Basketball (@UCLAWBB) July 5, 2024
The Bruins are coming off a 27-7 season a year ago. The Bruins finished tied with USC for second in the Pac-12. UCLA lost in the Sweet 16 to the 8th-seeded LSU Tigers. This season, UCLA will compete in the Big Ten