Former Bruin Kiki Rice makes her way back to the court for the Tempo

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Former UCLA Bruin guard Kiki Rice missed over a month with an ankle injury but in her third game back in action the Toronto Tempo rookie made her presence felt. Rice scored 16 points in Toronto’s loss on the road against the Golden State Valkyries on Sunday.

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Rice has had as good a season as any of the UCLA rookies, currently averaging 11.8 points, 4.5 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game. Rice did miss a chunk of the season with the ankle injury, having played in only 13 games so far this season.

In those 13 games, Rice has scored double-figures in nine of them. After Rice failed to score in her WNBA debut, she rattled off eight-straight games with 10+ points before the streak came to an end in the game where Rice injured her ankle.

Rice was instrumental to Cori Close and the Bruins during her four seasons with UCLA. Her Bruin career ended on quite the high note, winning UCLA’s first-ever NCAA championship to cap off a historic 37-1 season for the Bruins.

The Tempo made Rice the franchise’s first-ever draft pick, selecting Rice with the sixth overall pick, immediately following two of Rice’s college teammates, with Lauren Betts going fourth to Washington and Gabriela Jaquez going sixth to Chicago.

Rice’s chances at winning the WNBA Rookie of the Year are extremely slim. Minnesota Lynx rookie Olivia Miles nearly has the award wrapped up, currently putting up 19.7 points per game and looking like a perennial All-Star caliber player. Rice is fourth among rookies in points-per-game behind Miles, Flau’Jae Johnson and Azzi Fudd.

This article originally appeared on UCLA Wire: Former Bruin Kiki Rice makes her way back to the court for the Tempo

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