PARADISE ISLAND, Bahamas- UCLA freshman guard Kiki Rice from Sidwell Friends in Washington, D.C. was the co-MVP in the 2022 McDonald’s game and the star of the USA Baskertball’s 19-under gold medal team, not to mention the central figure in the four-player No. 1 recruiting class in the country.
She was the No. 1 ranked point guard in the class and came to Westwood to make an impact.
And he has scoring 18 points as the undefeated Bruins (6-0) overcame a poor shooting effort to defeat Marquette, 66-58, in overtime to win the second annual Battle 4 Atlantis. The win vaulted the Bruins from unranked to No. 20 in the AP poll which was announced at halftime. “We don’t want numbers to change this team,” UCLA coach Cori Close said. “We want to stay a gritty team.”
The Bruins may not have the same national profile as as second-ranked Stanford, which pushed defending national champion South Carolina to the llimit in an overtime loss at Palo Alto; or unbeaten Arzona, “But we’re committed to raising hte level of West Coast basketball and keeping the local talent at home,” Close said. “We’ve been ranked as a Top 2 conference in five of the last seven years. West Coast basketball is really good.”
If Close’s young talent matures as expected and can compliment the veteran players on her roster, UCLA could do some damage in March madness.
Rice has become an instant star, the first player to sign an NIL deal with Jordan Brand, carrying the Bruins on a day when senior star guard Charisma Osborne, the tournament MVP who had dominated the first two games against South Dakota State and Tennessee, , was limited to nine points on 4-for 16 shooting..
UCLA finally took control of this unexpected final in overtime as Osborne and fifth year senior guard Gina Conti, a one–time transfer from Wake Forest who scored 16 points, and senior guard Cam Brown scored eight of their team’s last nine field goals,The Bruins broke a 53-53 tie at the start of overtime when Osborne scored on a driving layup and then wearing the Eagles down at the end with their defensive pressure during a 13-5 extra period… They
“We didn’t play our best basketball for the first 25 minutes, but it’s about the way we handle adversity,” Close said. ‘One of our assistants said, ‘Some people quite. but truly disciplined people don’t quit until they’re done Disciplie over default..”
The Bruins, who made 26 threes in a blowout win over Tennessee in the semis, beat a well coached team despite scoring just three field goals in the first quarter and shooting jsut 6 for 18 from three for the game. .
Big East women’s basketball has always been defined by Connecticut, with its 10 national championships.
The Huskies have dominated the league since returning from the American three years ago. As such, some of the other teams have been undervalued.
Last year, the Big East only had three teams– Creihgton DePaul and Villanova– to the tournament last year and other than UConn, which was a 2 seed, none of the others received a single digit seed.
That apparently is starting to change. UConn and Creighton are both ranked in the AP Top 10 and Villanova is in the lower part of the Top 25.
But Marquette which won 23 games last year and won three games in the WNIT, made a huge statement here yesterday when the Golden Eagles (5-1) defeated Louisville and pushed UCLA to the limit with their defense. Who knows what might have happened if guard Jordan King, who did such a good job shutting down Osborne before fouling out at the strart of overtime, had been on the court. “We are a well balanced veteran teamand we
feel we can play against anyone in the country,” Marquette coach Megan Duffy said. “Our teams are well coached and prepared. I think we deserve a little more respect.”
