Last season, the UCLA Bruins blew everyone away when they made it to the finals of the Pac-12 Tournament and advanced to the Sweet Sixteen in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2019.
This year, the Big Ten Conference officially recognized the Bruins as one of the best teams in the conference.
Not only was UCLA named the second-best team heading into its inaugural Big Ten season, but two players were also named to both the Media and Coaches Preseason All-Big Ten Team.
Guard Kiki Rice has proven to be an integral part of the Bruins’ offense since her freshman year. She was named to the Pac-12 All-Freshman Team in 2023 and the All-Pac-12 Team in 2024.
In her freshman season, Rice averaged 11.6 points, 4.5 total rebounds, three assists, and 1.2 steals across 37 games. She improved in each of these categories in her sophomore year, averaging 13.2 points, 5.7 total rebounds, 4.5 assists, and 1.4 steals.
Preseason #B1GWBball honors are here!
Here are who the head coaches voted as their preseason All-Big Ten Team, Player of the Year, and top 5 in the poll.
🔗: https://t.co/J2svTZ0Tvt pic.twitter.com/HnxAMQLBtu
— Big Ten Women’s Basketball (@B1Gwbball) September 26, 2024
The other Bruins standout on the All-Big-Ten Preseason Team is center Lauren Betts, who was unanimously selected onto the Coaches list.
Betts began her college basketball career with Stanford in 2022, where she averaged 5.9 points, 3.5 rebounds, 0.9 blocks, 0.5 assists, and 0.2 steals in 33 games.
Betts soon transferred to UCLA where she blew up. In 29 games, Betts averaged 14.9 points, 9.3 rebounds, two blocks, one assist, and 0.4 steals per game. She was named to both the All-Pac-12 Team and the Pac-12 All-Defensive Team for her play.
The only team ahead of UCLA in the preseason predictions was rival USC, who also had two players named to the Preseason All-Big Ten Teams: guard Kiki Iriafen and guard Juju Watkins.
In fact, Watkins was the only player unanimously selected by both the Media and the Coaches. They also named her as the Preseason Player of the Year.
Other players on the Media Preseason All-Big Ten Team are forward Hannah Stuelke from Iowa, guard Lucy Olsen from Iowa, guard Shyanne Sellers from Maryland, center Alexis Markowski from Nebraska, forward Cotie McMahon from Ohio State, and forward Serah Williams from Wisconsin.
The Coaches’ preseason team is largely the same, except with the addition of guard Makira Cook from Illinois since there was a tie in voting.
Other teams in the preseason Top Five are Ohio State (third), Maryland (fourth) and Indiana (fifth).
More UCLA Women’s Basketball: ESPN Power Rankings List Bruins Among Top 5 Best 2024 Teams
