Sidwell Alum and current UCLA senior Kiki Rice ‘22 helped lead the UCLA women’s basketball team to the national championship Sunday, April 5. The Bruins routed the University of South Carolina 79-51 in Phoenix, Arizona.

UCLA finished its season with a 37-1 record. Rice, who led the Quakers to an undefeated season and national championship in her senior year, is the second Sidwell Friends basketball player, after Josh Hart '13 in 2016, to play on an NCAA national championship basketball team. She is one of six seniors on the Bruins team and played all four college years as a starting guard for UCLA, which won its only other women’s championship in 1978. Rice finished the game with 10 points, 6 rebounds, and a team-leading 5 assists. Lauren Betts, the All-American center for UCLA, won the tournament’s Most Valuable Player award.

As a senior at Sidwell, Rice was named All-Met Player of the Year, DC Gatorade Girls Basketball Player of the Year, and Gatorade Girls National player of the year. At the end of the school year, she was named high school female athlete of the year by both Gatorade and MaxPreps.

Rice was also a standout soccer player for Sidwell Friends, winning the DC Gatorade Play of the Year honor in her sophomore and senior seasons—bracketing a junior season canceled due to Covid. The Quakers won the DCSAA team championship both years.

At the post-game press conference, Rice reflected on the win.

“Today was a fantastic display of our resilience,” she said. “We had a feeling this was our time; this was our year. There’s no better way we could hope to end our career. We’re grateful for all the moments we spent together over these four years. It’s really rewarding because this is a special group of people.”

Rice is projected to be an early first-round draft pick in the WNBA draft on April 13.

Photos by Ben Solomon and Christian Petersen