
After winning the NCAA championship, Lauren Betts and Kiki Rice worked a shift at Raising Cane's in Hollywood as part of their victory tour.
The UCLA Bruins participated in NBA game appearances and had all six seniors selected in the historic 2026 WNBA Draft.
The UCLA Bruins won the NCAA championship on April 5, 2026, by defeating the South Carolina Gamecocks.
Lauren Betts served food at Raising Cane's in Hollywood, California, as part of a tradition for champions.
UCLA champions Lauren Betts and Kiki Rice took a break from their victory tour to work a shift at Raising Cane's in Hollywood. Their busy schedule includes NBA appearances and the historic 2026 WNBA Draft.
UCLA center Lauren Betts serves a box combo at Raising Cane's in Hollywood, CA.
LOS ANGELES - Itâs been a whirlwind for the UCLA Bruins since they became NCAA champions after blowing out the South Carolina Gamecocks in Phoenix on April 5 and their victory tour has taken a variety of turns.
From appearances at games for both Los Angeles NBA teams to an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, capped off with all six of UCLAâs seniors hearing their names called at the 2026 WNBA Draft in a historic run, the Bruins have certainly been busy.
Sandwiched in between those NBA games and the WNBA Draft, though, was a pitstop for Lauren Betts and Kiki Rice in what has become a hallowed tradition for champions across sports, a shift at Raising Caneâs.
From KikĂ© Hernandez and Will Smith of the Los Angeles Dodgers to Charlie May and Nimari Burnett of the 2026 NCAA champion Michigan Wolverines on the menâs basketball side of things, it seems like every champion needs to check in for a shift to serve up box combos for the 30-year-old chicken empire.
Betts and Rice are no different and on April 9 they pulled up to Raising Caneâs in Hollywood to serve the people.
UCLA guard Kiki Rice during an interview at Raising Cane's in Hollywood, CA.
Jack Haslett
UCLA guard Kiki Rice during an interview at Raising Cane's in Hollywood, CA.
âItâs really special to feel the love from everybody.. I think the growth of womenâs sports, especially in LA, and to feel all the support from everybody, itâs just special,â Betts said. âItâs been the craziest three days of our lives, so weâre really just trying to soak it all in.â
As a crowd of fans began to swarm outside, Rice and Betts answered questions from the media ranging from their experience on their victory tour to a look into Bettsâ Dancing with the Stars aspirations.
UCLA fans gather outside of Raising Cane's in Hollywood, CA.
Jack Haslett
UCLA fans gather outside of Raising Cane's in Hollywood, CA.
Their shift at Raising Caneâs wasnât just a fun photo op. It was representative of the impact that UCLA womenâs basketball has made on the community.
When the Bruins werereceived at Pauley Pavilion the day before, head coach Cori Close finished the ceremony with an anecdote about how she was told when she first took the job that it would be hard to make Los Angeles care about womenâs basketball.
15 years later, the Bruins came home as champions and their media tour in the following days has represented something so much bigger than just a championship. It was an embrace by the community and a fulfillment of Closeâs mission.
As Betts and Rice checked in, welcomed as celebrities and playing their part in a fun and now-storied champion tradition, they too proved that womenâs basketball has a place in both the sports world and the vast cultural hotbed that is Los Angeles.
âItâs been really great to see the growth after all these years,â Rice said. âPeople are here and engaged and interested in our stories. Itâs really cool to have opportunities like this one at Raising Caneâs at a time when womenâs sports is growing.â
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