Toronto Tempo select Kiki Rice sixth overall in 2026 WNBA draft

The Toronto Tempo have made their first draft selection in franchise history.

With the sixth overall pick in the 2026 WNBA draft, the Toronto Tempo have selected UCLA Bruins senior Kiki Rice.

The five-foot-eleven point guard comes to Toronto fresh off a NCAA championship season in which she averaged 14.9 points, 5.9 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 1.5 steals while shooting 49 percent from the field, 38.5 percent from beyond the arc, and 90.2 percent from the free throw line.

Rice was the first of four draft selections for the Tempo alongside Teonni Key (22nd), Saffron Shiels (26th), and Charlise Dunn (36th).

The UCLA Bruins have set a WNBA record for most selections from a single team in the first round after Gianna Kneepkens became the 5th player from the team drafted.

More on the Toronto Tempo:

What to know about Mabrey and the rest of the Tempo’s expansion draft picks

After two years of anticipation and a timeline that cut things as close as they could conceivably get, the Toronto Tempo finally have their first 11 players.

At Friday’s expansion draft, the Tempo used 11 of the 12 selections available to them to build the first international WNBA team. Although the Tempo missed out on the top Canadian available — the Portland Fire took Bridget Carleton first overall — Toronto still took a global approach to building its inaugural squad. With eight international players, a heavy serving of shooting guards, and a concerted focus on younger players, it’s clear the Tempo already have a strong sense of where they’re headed.

Report: Tempo sign Harrison and Rocci

The Toronto Tempo have been actively busy as they are assembling their first-ever roster for the upcoming WNBA season, as they’ve officially signed Isabelle Harrison and signed Maddison Rocci to a training camp deal.

Report: Tempo sign Allemand to official deal plus six more training camp deals

Today, they got things going with another signing as they inked pen to paper with Julie Allemand, their second overall pick during the expansion draft. The Belgian point guard is a former third-round pick by the Indiana Fever, as she was drafted in the 2016 season, but has missed a ton of years in the WNBA due to playing in the Belgian league. For her career, she’s featured in 81 games, averaging 5.5 points, 3.3 rebounds and 4.7 assists per game.

The post Toronto Tempo select Kiki Rice sixth overall in 2026 WNBA draft first appeared on Raptors Republic.