UCLA Professional Athletes

The WNBA's post-FIBA break resumption gave UCLA's deep alumni contingent plenty of opportunities to remind the league what Westwood produces — and several Bruins delivered in a big way.

Kiki Rice Is Toronto's Brightest New Thing

The headline act was Rice, the Toronto Tempo rookie who has turned enough heads to crack the upper tier of CBS Sports' weekly rookie rankings. On Friday, Sep. 18, Rice put up 18 points, 5 assists, and 6 rebounds against Indiana — an all-around line that encapsulates why Toronto is increasingly bullish on her long-term ceiling. The Tempo lost 103-85, but Rice's performance stood out as the kind of showing that separates promising prospects from legitimate building blocks. CBS Sports noted that her late-season play has the entire franchise energized about what comes next.

Jordin Canada Runs Atlanta's Offense to Perfection

If Rice is the future, Canada is the present doing its best work. The Dream guard turned in a near-flawless performance Saturday, Sep. 19, posting 11 points, 10 assists, and 2 steals in Atlanta's dominant 106-81 win over Chicago. A plus-minus of +11 in a blowout tells the quieter story: Canada wasn't just padding her assist total — she was orchestrating a complete team effort. Double-digit assists for a guard in a convincing home win is a statement game, and Canada delivered it at exactly the right moment of the season.

Lauren Betts Continues to Make an Impression

The 6-foot-7 Washington Mystics rookie has had a week both on and off the court. In Friday's 110-80 demolition of Chicago, Betts contributed 9 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists, and a block — a quietly efficient outing that continued her steady development. The Sporting News also spotlighted her pre-game tunnel appearance as the WNBA returned from the FIBA break, a sign that Betts is already becoming a recognizable presence in the league's broader conversation.

Gabriela Jaquez Finds the Scoresheet Amid Tough Losses

Chicago's Gabriela Jaquez had a mixed week. She scored 10 points Friday in a 30-point blowout loss to Washington and followed it with 14 points, 2 steals, and 3 rebounds Saturday in another lopsided defeat — a 106-81 loss to Atlanta. Her individual production is real; the team context around it remains difficult.

Burke Sidelined; Connecticut Struggles

The week brought a sobering note for Kennedy Burke, who joined a growing list of WNBA players dealing with World Cup-related injuries. The Sun forward's shoulder injury, sustained during the FIBA break, clouds her availability at a critical stretch of the season. Her Connecticut teammates Charlisse Leger-Walker and Gianna Kneepkens were on the floor Thursday in a brutal 103-59 loss to Atlanta — Leger-Walker finished with 4 points and 3 assists while Kneepkens went scoreless — but the Sun's depth situation looks increasingly strained with Burke out.

Elsewhere, Rebekah Gardner chipped in 2 points and a +5 plus-minus in New York's 93-81 win over Minnesota on Friday, and Angela Dugalic logged 2 points and 2 rebounds off the bench in Washington's rout of Chicago.

With the regular season entering its final stretch, UCLA's WNBA footprint is hard to ignore — from Rice's ascending rookie arc in Toronto to Canada running the show in Atlanta.

Canada Steals the Show in Atlanta

Jordin Canada had the kind of game that reminds everyone why UCLA point guards tend to run things in the WNBA. On Sunday, August 30, the Dream guard posted 16 points, 10 assists, four rebounds, and a block in Atlanta's 89-81 victory over the Minnesota Lynx — snapping Minnesota's eight-game winning streak and sending Gateway Center into a frenzy.

The double-double was textbook Canada: controlled, precise, and decisive. She finished a plus-5 on the night, and her postgame generosity was equally notable. Canada directed her loudest praise at teammate Angel Reese, whose own standout performance drew glowing words from the veteran guard after the final buzzer. It was a team win, but Canada was the engine.

The victory was a statement bounce-back, too. Atlanta had dropped an 83-101 decision to the Portland Fire just two days prior, ending a four-game win streak of their own. Responding with a win over the suddenly vulnerable Lynx — in front of the home crowd, no less — gives the Dream real momentum heading into the playoff stretch.

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Leger-Walker Fights, but Sun Fall Short

Up in Connecticut, Charlisse Leger-Walker gave the Sun everything she had in a losing effort. The UCLA product dropped 17 points with five assists and a block against the Dallas Wings on Monday, August 31 — but it wasn't nearly enough as the Sun were routed 71-97, a minus-19 showing that masked just how hard Leger-Walker competed on an otherwise rough night for Connecticut.

Teammate Gianna Kneepkens had a quieter outing in the same game, finishing with 2 points and 3 rebounds (minus-1), unable to find her footing as the Wings pulled away.

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Rice Puts Up Numbers in a Lopsided Loss

Out west, Kiki Rice continued to flash her potential for the Golden State Tempo despite a blowout result. The former Bruin finished Sunday's 69-101 loss to the Mercury with 14 points, five assists, four rebounds, and a steal — a respectable individual line that got swallowed by a 32-point deficit. Rice was minus-17 in the loss, a sobering reminder that individual production means little when a team gets outclassed wholesale.

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The Bigger Picture

Canada's performance is the headline this week, and rightfully so. At a stage in the WNBA calendar when résumés are being written for playoff seeding and awards consideration, a 16-point, 10-assist double-double against one of the league's hottest teams carries weight. For UCLA alumni watchers, it's a reminder that Canada remains one of the most reliable facilitators in the game.

Meanwhile, Leger-Walker's 17-point effort in a blowout loss hints at a Sun team that may need more around its UCLA product to make noise in the postseason. And Rice, still developing her WNBA footing, continues to provide statistical flashes worth tracking as the season winds down.

Three Bruins, three very different nights — but Canada's looms largest.

It was a banner week for Bruins across the league, with Kennedy Burke, Kiki Rice, and Jordin Canada each turning in performances that went well beyond a box score line.

Burke's Defensive Masterpiece

The headliner was Kennedy Burke's Tuesday outing for Connecticut. In an 87-81 Sun win over the Sky, Burke finished with 19 points and an eye-popping 5 steals — the kind of two-way performance that doesn't show up on highlight reels but absolutely changes games. She also pulled down 5 rebounds. It was a sharp contrast to her quiet 2-point night the following Wednesday in a loss to the Valkyries, but that Tuesday showcase was the story of her week.

Her Sun teammates Charlisse Leger-Walker and Gianna Kneepkens were active throughout the stretch as well. Leger-Walker had a quietly productive week — 17 points in Wednesday's loss to Golden State and a 4-assist showing Tuesday against the Sky — while Kneepkens contributed steady minutes across multiple appearances.

Rice Hits a Season High

In Seattle on Thursday, Kiki Rice dropped a season-high 24 points for the Tempo in a 90-78 loss to the Storm, adding 5 assists, 3 rebounds, and a steal. The rookie out of UCLA is showing she belongs, even when the team around her comes up short. She followed with 10 points and 4 assists in Saturday's loss to the Aces, bookending a week that established her as a genuine scoring option in Golden State's offense.

Canada Helps Atlanta Clinch

Jordin Canada's week carried the biggest stakes. On Saturday night, she scored 12 points and helped the Dream hold off the Phoenix Mercury 99-89 — a win that clinched Atlanta a playoff berth. The Dream are now 24-13 and have won five of their last six. Angel Reese stole the headline with a career-high 31 points and 14 rebounds, but Canada's steady floor play — she also had 6 assists in a Friday loss to Chicago — has been a fixture in a Dream run that's now officially postseason-bound.

Canada's Tuesday contribution against the Sparks (9 points, 4 assists, 4 rebounds, 1 steal in a 78-71 win) was another reminder of her value as a connector guard in Atlanta's rotation.

The Mystics Trio

Lauren Betts, Michaela Onyenwere, and Angela Dugalic kept Washington's UCLA pipeline busy. Betts was the standout: 10 points and 8 rebounds in Wednesday's win over Phoenix, followed by 6 points and 6 boards in a Friday rematch against the Mercury. The second-year big is trending toward reliable starter production. Onyenwere had her best night Wednesday against Phoenix (10 points, +15), while Dugalic played spot minutes throughout.

Gardner and Jaquez

Rebekah Gardner posted 11 points, 2 steals, and a block in a blowout Liberty win over the Sky on Saturday (+19), showing well in expanded minutes. Gabriela Jaquez had a rough Saturday — 4 points and a -16 in the same game on the other side of that ledger — in a 19-point Sky loss.

A deep, productive week for the Bruin diaspora, with the Dream's playoff clinch serving as a fitting capstone.