{"id":567455,"date":"2026-04-06T07:26:12","date_gmt":"2026-04-06T07:26:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/567455\/"},"modified":"2026-04-06T07:26:12","modified_gmt":"2026-04-06T07:26:12","slug":"kiki-rice-has-sky-fans-begging-team-to-pair-her-with-angel-reese-after-wild-ncaa-final-play","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/567455\/","title":{"rendered":"Kiki Rice has Sky fans ‘begging’ team to pair her with Angel Reese after wild NCAA final play"},"content":{"rendered":"

Chicago Sky fans are desperate for the team to select UCLA guard Kiki Rice in the WNBA Draft, believing that she will perfectly complement Angel Reese on the roster\"Kiki<\/p>\n

Kiki Rice stunned with a triple in the first quarter of the national championship game(Image: 2026 Getty Images)<\/p>\n

UCLA guard Kiki Rice stunned fans with a triple as time expired in the first quarter of the national championship game, leading Chicago Sky fans to demand that she be paired alongside Angel Reese.<\/p>\n

Rice sank a smooth step-back triple to hand the Bruins<\/a> a 21-10 lead over South Carolina at the end of the first quarter. Rice is one of several senior stars preparing to enter the WNBA, but has also impressed off the court with a standout GPA<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The WNBA Draft will take place on April 13<\/a>, with Rice and teammate Lauren Betts expected to be early first-round picks. The Sky will pick fifth in the WNBA Draft, and fans called for the organization to select Rice.<\/p>\n

READ MORE: Tiger Woods slapped with additional punishment after shocking bodycam footage emerges from arrest<\/a>READ MORE: March Madness national anthem sparks fury as NCAA called out before Final Four begins<\/a><\/p>\n

Throughout the season, Rice averaged 15.1 points, 4.3 assists, and 5.9 rebounds. She helped UCLA win its first national championship in the NCAA era, as the Bruins finished the season 37-1.<\/p>\n

Chicago fans have been making mock drafts ahead of the WNBA Draft, but have concluded that Rice is the ideal pick. “KIKI RICE DO YOU LIKE DEEP DISH PIZZA???” One fan wrote on X<\/p>\n

“Kiki Rice u are a Chicago Sky,” another added. “Kiki Rice do you like the Chicago Sky line?” A third asked.<\/p>\n

Content cannot be displayed without consent<\/p>\n

“Kiki Rice wants to be a Chicago Sky so bad,” one fan claimed. Another supporter then suggested that the Sky should make a blockbuster trade during the WNBA Draft, allowing them to select both Betts and Rice.<\/p>\n

The Washington Mystics have the fourth overall pick, meaning that the organization could foil Chicago’s plans. “It\u2019s no way we can get Kiki Rice and Lauren Betts in Chicago? Mystics I have a trade proposal for you,” one fan suggested.<\/p>\n

While she failed to reach the national championship game, UConn’s Azzi Fudd is one of the leading candidates to be selected first overall. The Dallas Wings have the No. 1 pick and selected Paige Bueckers last season.<\/p>\n

\"Azzi<\/p>\n

Azzi Fudd joined Paige Bueckers at the 2025 WNBA Draft(Image: Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Bueckers led the Huskies to the national championship last season and won WNBA Rookie of the Year in 2025. Bueckers is also dating Fudd, meaning they could reunite in Dallas.<\/p>\n

Former UConn and WNBA star Diana Taurasi believes that selecting Fudd first overall makes sense. “Dallas is gonna have a tough decision to make, and it\u2019s a decision you want when you have the number one pick, and you have all this talent coming out,” Taurasi said to NBC Sports.<\/p>\n

“I think just from a bird\u2019s eye view, you would say Azzi is the number one pick. The synergy that she has with Paige on the court \u2014 they play great together.<\/p>\n

“The way Azzi\u2019s been playing \u2014 just dominant \u2014 she looks on the court on both ends right now,” Taurasi said. “I would say she\u2019s probably the one pick.”<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Rice helped UCLA claim the first NCAA title, with the Bruins claiming a dominant 89-68 win over South Carolina in Sunday’s March Madness final.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Chicago Sky fans are desperate for the team to select UCLA guard Kiki Rice in the WNBA Draft,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":567456,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[73],"tags":[3691,438,4044,102534,398,59128,99,250437,434],"class_list":{"0":"post-567455","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wnba","8":"tag-angel-reese","9":"tag-chicago-sky","10":"tag-college-basketball","11":"tag-march-madness","12":"tag-ncaa","13":"tag-south-carolina-gamecocks-basketball","14":"tag-sports","15":"tag-ucla-bruins-basketball","16":"tag-wnba"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/567455","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=567455"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/567455\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/567456"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=567455"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=567455"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=567455"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}