3 UCLA Women's Hoops Commits Win FIBA Medals

FIBA summer international play officially commenced and three incoming UCLA Bruins women's basketball commits walked away with medals; Sienna Betts, Lena Bilic and Gianna Kneepkens.

In a media release by UCLA Athletics, they detailed Betts' path to a gold medal with Team USA, Bilic earning third place with Croatia, and Kneepkens' debut with the US.

On Betts:

"Betts and the US junior national team dominated their competition at the FIBA U19 Women's Basketball World Cup in Brno, Czechia; the USA squad went 7-0 on the way to a gold medal. Betts averaged 14.6 points and 10 rebounds per game, which ranked 11thand second in the tournament, respectively, and shot .587 from the floor.

"The Centennial, Colo., native exploded for 25 points (11-12 FG) against South Korea in the opening game as the USA claimed a 134-53 victory. Betts captured a double-double in five of her seven appearances with Team USA and impressed defensively – she had 13 points, 13 rebounds, five blocks and three steals against Hungary in game two of the tournament. China had no answer for the big; she had 21 points (10-17 FG), 10 rebounds, three blocks and two steals to close out the group phase. Betts averaged 2.1 blocks and 1.0 steals per game with the undefeated United States team. She put up 11 points (5-8 FG), 11 rebounds and a block in her gold medal effort; Betts played 39 minutes to help lift USA past Australia in the championship game."

On Bilic:

"Croatian phenom Lena Bilić helped lead her junior national team to a 6-1 record at the FIBA U18 Women's EuroBasket Division B in Lithuania; with a third-place finish, Croatia has earned a promotion to next summer's top division tournament.

"Bilić led the U18 Division B tournament in scoring, averaging 23.6 points per game as a focal point of Croatia's impressive offense. She opened the games with 23 points against Great Britain, which included a game-winning jumper from the short corner as Croatia squeaked out a one-point win. Croatia coasted to a 76-point win in the next game against Norway; Bilić had 15 points in 17 minutes on the floor. The Croatian caught fire in the last two games of the group phase and picked up her defensive effort; Bilić had 24 points, six rebounds, five assists, six steals and three blocks against Bulgaria before clearing the 30-point hurdle her next game. Croatia needed all of her 32 points (10-18 FG, 3-6 3FG) against Denmark in the 100-98 win – she also racked up five rebounds, seven assists and five steals in the nail-biter. Croatia dropped its first and only match of the tournament against Germany in the semifinal round, and Bilić responded by leaving everything on the court in the third-place game against Lithuania. She had 41 points (15-29 FG, 6-12 3FG) in the bronze medal match as Croatia took down host Lithuania 88-83. Bilić also had five rebounds, seven assists and four steals as Croatia earned its promotion.

"She averaged 6.0 rebounds, 4.1 assists, 2.9 steals and 1.4 blocks per game, earning Bilić a spot on the All-Star Five for the tournament.

On Kneepens:

"The graduate transfer made her first-ever appearance with USA Basketball at the FIBA Women's AmeriCup 2025 in Chile this summer. Kneepkens was just shy of a double-digit scoring average, putting up 9.7 points per game through seven appearances.

"Kneepkens opened the tournament scoring 12 points (3-5 FG, 2-3 3FG) against host Chile in the first game of her international career. She also corralled four rebounds, assisted twice and snatched two steals. Against Puerto Rico, Kneepkens had 14 points on 5-of-8 shooting as the United States coasted to an 80-62 win. Kneepkens best performance came against Mexico and new teammate Gabriela Jaquez; the guard scored 20 points (7-10 FG, 4-7 3FG), grabbed five boards and had two steals in the rout of Mexico. She followed that with a 14-point outing against the Dominican Republic in the quarterfinals; Kneepkens was +45 in 19 minutes as USA claimed a dominant win to advance (110-44).

"The Duluth, Minn., native finished the tournament averaging 3.6 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game. The sharpshooter put up an impressive .548/.500/1.000 split and proved herself an offensive weapon on the international stage."

Gabriela Jaquez and Angela Dugalic also competed in the tournament, representing Mexico and Serbia, respectively.

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