UCLA Women's Basketball: 2 Bruins Help Lead Team USA To FIBA U19 Final
Two of the youngest blue chip UCLA Bruins women's hoopers showed out for Team USA during its blowout 80-57 FIBA Under-19 Women's Basketball World Cup semifinal matchup against Team France yesterday, and today will hope to win the whole competition against Team Spain.
Guards Kiki Rice, an instant starter during her freshman season, and Londynn Jones, a bench microwave scorer in 2022-23, starred in the effort. Though the competition is billed as feting "Under-19" players, a more accurate designation would be "19 And Under," as both Rice and Jones, who previously won international FIBA gold in another youth competition, are already 19.
During a team-high 28:11, the 5'11" Rice scored a team-most (tied with University of Oregon forward Grace Van Slooten) 13 points on 4-of-10 shooting from the floor (1-of-3 from deep) and 4-of-5 shooting from the charity stripe. She also pulled down two rebounds, dished out two dimes (albeit while turning the ball over three times), and snapped a steal.
But the 5'4" Jones was no slouch herself, logging 26:02 of game time, the second-most on Team USA aside from her UCLA comrade. She scored nine points while shooting a scant 3-of-10 from the floor but 2-of-2 from the charity stripe, while grabbing two rebounds, passing out two assists and swiping two steals.
The final against Team Spain, in Madrid, tips off right now, 12 p.m. PT, on Courtside1981 and FIBA's YouTube channel. A Team USA victory would mark the program's 10th in this particular competition.