Kiki Rice posts 3-word caption after UCLA beat JuJu Watkins’ USC for B1G championship

After two defeats in the regular season, Kiki Rice and the UCLA Bruins exacted revenge on JuJu Watkins and her USC during the Big Ten Tournament championship game on Sunday. The Trojans lost 72-47 as second-half troubles ate away a solid start.

This is the Bruins' first championship since joining the conference for the 2024 season. Kiki Rice celebrated the victory with a special post on Instagram on Tuesday. Sharing pictures of herself and the team with the trophy, Rice wrote in the caption:

"Needed this one…🏆"

Previously, UCLA played in Pac-12 and had won the conference tournament championship just once in 2006. During the postgame press conference, Rice said:

"Excited and proud of this group and how we fought today. It hasn't been easy, but I think we came out there, we came ready to play. So I'm just really proud of everyone."

The junior guard had 13 points, four rebounds, eight assists and two steals. The Trojans had a lead in the first half, but Kiki Rice led the charge by scoring after halftime. She went 4-of-7 from the floor and 5-of-7 from the free-throw line. When asked about the important aspect of the game, Rice said:

“I think it was just rebounding. We made a really big emphasis on rebounding, getting those 50-50 balls. And even though I think they ended up out-rebounding us, we still found a way in the second half to really turn that up and just hustle and fight.”

“That's what we lacked the previous few times we played them,” Rice added. “And that's what we brought in the second half today when we came back and we won.”

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Kiki Rice and UCLA prepare for a deeper March Madness run

In her last two seasons at UCLA, Kiki Rice led the Bruins to back-to-back Sweet 16 appearances. However, for this year, the guard is hoping to take them on a deeper run.

In an interview with CBS Sports during the Big Ten Media Day in October, Rice spoke about how the Bruins' experience will help during their March Madness, saying:

"I think last year we hadn't been quite in that environment yet and I think knowing that, look, we have a lot of players and a team that's been there and is ready for that now; I think just having that confidence under our belt will really help us going into those games."

According to ESPN's latest bracketology by Charlie Creme, the UCLA Bruins are predicted to be a No. 1 seed in Region 2.