The defending champion UCLA Bruins kicked off the 2026-2027 season Monday morning and left with a familiar result, picking up a 73-53 over Lehigh win to kick off the season at Pauley Pavilion. It wasn’t a banner performance for the banner-raising program but No. 11 UCLA moves to 1-0 on the year.

A different look for UCLA

UCLA led just 32-27 at halftime with the Mountain Hawks proving to be a worthy opponent for the national champs. It must be said that this is a very different UCLA team that doesn’t have Kiki Rice, Lauren Betts and Gabriela Jaquez to rely on throughout the games.

Who stepped up for the Bruins?

Without the experienced seniors, the Bruins relied on sophomore Sienna Betts and transfer Donovyn Hunter. Betts scored 15 points and added seven rebounds while Hunter added 14 points with four assists, two blocks and two steals.

Help wanted

While Betts and Hunter were good, they needed some help, and UCLA didn’t have a ton of that for them on Monday. KK Bransford was the only other Bruin in double-figures, as she scored 10 points on 4-7 shooting in her UCLA debut.

Desperate from deep

UCLA was beaten at the three-point line, going 6-21 from deep while Lehigh went 9-23. Only Hunter made multiple threes for the Bruins with the team still figuring out their offensive identity in the early goings of the season.

UCLA is still UCLA

What made the difference on Monday was UCLA’s physicality. The Bruins outrebounded the Mountain Hawks 41-25, with UCLA grabbing 14 offensive rebounds. UCLA forced 20 turnovers from Lehigh and blocked another five shots.

What's next?

It wasn’t dominance like UCLA displayed for so much of last season but it was a victory. This will be a different year for the Bruins but Cori Close’s team is in the win column. The team will get back in action on Thursday at home against UC Irvine.