In the 2024 Elite Eight, the No. 2 UCLA Bruins faced the No. 3 LSU Tigers in the Sweet Sixteen. The matchup pit the surging Pac-12 side against the reigning NCAA champions from Baton Rouge, led by superstar forward Angel Reese. After leading the Bruins with 45 points in the first two rounds, guard Kiki Rice watched the end of the 78-69 Sweet Sixteen from the bench after she fouled out.
“It was really tough just sitting on the bench feeling helpless in a sense,” said Rice in ESPN’s Full Court Press documentary.
Rice had two fouls and one turnover in the first two games of the tournament, but against LSU gave the ball away five times before picking up her fifth foul. Losing is not something any athlete wants to feel. But for Rice and a strong Bruins team, it cut deep.
“At no point did I ever think we wouldn’t be in a Final Four and that we wouldn’t be playing for a national championship,” said Rice. “Then all of a sudden that became the reality.”
For the next year, Rice was borderline obsessed over not only getting back to the Sweet Sixteen, but two games further and into the Final Four. So much so that Rice, someone who keeps a regular journal, scribed the goal at the top of each page for a year.
On Sunday, UCLA had one last opponent to beat to earn a place in the Final Four — those same LSU Tigers.
The result was different for the Bruins this time around when UCLA defeated LSU 72-65 to secure the program’s first Final Four. Not only did the Bruins flip the script from the year prior but Rice herself changed as a player to get UCLA to this historic point.
Rice joined the Bruins as a highly touted recruit who aimed to put the team’s offense on her shoulders. The sophomore frequently charged to the basket and did all she could to take over games.
Now UCLA is at the pinnacle of the sport after head coach Cori Close’s side earned the No. 1 overall seed in the 2025 NCAA tournament. That rise is owed, in part, to Rice’s evolution to being whatever player the team needs to win, even if it meant sacrificing scoring.
This season, Rice responded to last season’s defeat and became a more well-rounded player. After attempting 10 field goals per game in her first two seasons, Rice reduced it to 8.8 attempts this season, and increased her assists from 3.7 in the first two years to a career high 5.1 assists per game.
Take a look at the LSU matchup in the Elite Eight as a great example. Rice scored eight points in the win, the fourth highest on the team behind forwards Gabriela Jaquez, Timea Gardner and center Lauren Betts.
However, Rice had eight assists, a postseason high in the guard’s three-year NCAA career. It brought her 2025 NCAA tournament assist total to 29 in four games. In Rice’s previous six appearances in March Madness, the Maryland native had 15. Rice averaged 7.3 assists per game so far in the tournament, the most for any player in the Final Four.
The Bruins’ point guard also went a perfect 6-of-6 from the free throw line, all of which came in the final minute of regulation when the Tigers began fouling to try and get back into the game. Rice was unfazed, and alongside 17 points, seven rebounds and six blocks by Betts the Bruins earned a chance to face the UConn Huskies in the Final Four.
“Lauren [Betts] and Kiki [Rice] have carried us over and over again,” said Close. “They, there’s no question that they’re our big dogs, right, and we rely on them so much.”
That does not mean that Rice has given up scoring all-together. With Rice’s fewer attempts, she is shooting at a higher percentage, up to 49 percent from 44.9 last season and increasing three-point efficiency from 31.2 percent to 36.1 percent.
UCLA’s place in the Final Four is not only a manifestation or a “name it, claim it” type of success. It’s reaching the peak of the sport for the things that fans and the media do not see. The work that gets put into the game and the Bruins have been the epitome of that work.
During the regular season, the Bruins fell twice to the USC Trojans in the regular season. For some teams, that would not give a program much confidence facing them a third time but UCLA shocked the Trojans at the Big Ten Tournament finals. There is also Betts, who talked openly about her work through mental health struggles. Plus defeating the Tigers after falling hard last year in the Sweet Sixteen.
For Close, the program leader for the past 14 seasons, that hard work is what stands out the most about the Bruins. There is one source for that work too.
“I think it’s the hardest working team that I’ve ever been a part of, top to bottom. I have to kick them out all the time, of the gym. They want more. They’re incredibly hardworking,” said Close. “And I have to give that credit to Kiki Rice, because she has set a cultural standard of work that is contagious and pervasive. She deserves so much credit in that.”
There is no doubt that Betts plays a huge part of this team’s success. The National Defensive Player of the Year and Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year led the Bruins with 20 points and 9.6 rebounds per game. It’s led to earned attention on the national stage for the 6-foot-7 center, but the sacrifice and adjustment by Rice is the catalyst for what the world is seeing unfold in NCAA women’s basketball.
Another part of that hard work? On Wednesday, the NCAA awarded Rice with the NCAA Elite 90 honor, given to the player with the highest cumulative GPA at each of the NCAA’s 90 championship final sites.
Simply put, when Rice puts pen to paper, she succeeds.