It wasn’t too long ago that Kiki Rice called Los Angeles home. Rice spent four years with the UCLA Bruins, capping off her run with an NCAA title last month to wrap up a record-setting season for the Bruins program.
On Friday, Rice returned to Los Angeles, this time as a member of the Toronto Tempo to take on the Los Angeles Sparks. The Tempo selected Rice with the No. 6 overall pick in this year’s draft, with the young guard.
Rice began her WNBA career with a 0-point performance but since then she’s scored 12 points, and then 11 points in LA on Friday. Against the Sparks, Rice shot 4-7 from the field and hit a trio of three pointers. Before the game Friday, Rice spoke to the media about her return to the West Coast.
“It’s just another game but it will be really cool to see friends, old teammates, some family coming out and to be able to play here,” Rice said before taking the court at Crypto.com Arena. “This is my first time playing here at Crypto, been to a lot of games over these past few years out here but to be able to step out on this court, and now finally be playing in the W, it’s a really exciting thing.”
Rice should be one of the more WNBA-ready rookies, as she played on a UCLA team that had six players drafted to the league. The Bruins are coming off of a 37-1 season, which ended with head coach Cori Close getting a fresh contract extension.
“It’s been honestly really busy, these past few months have been crazy busy. It’s been a lot of learning, a lot of new opportunities,” Rice said. “Cori prepared all of us seniors who graduated to fit right in at the next level.”
This article originally appeared on UCLA Wire: Kiki Rice makes her return to Los Angeles with the Toronto Tempo
Reporting by Dylan McNeill, UCLA Wire / UCLA Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
