Rice Women’s basketball finished off a strong non-conference slate and looks forward to CUSA play beginning in the new year.
The Rice Women’s Basketball team began the 2018-2019 season strong, rounding out a 9-3 record in non-conference play with a road win over Incarnate Word on Saturday. The Owls have held serve against the vast majority of their opponents, with their three losses all coming at the hands of quality teams.
Rice lost a pair of mostly competitive games to Texas A&M and UCLA, both NCAA Tournament teams last year, as well as a road contest against a North Carolina squad which could make a postseason bid of their own in March. A win in one of those games would have been big, but the effort the Owls put forth is an encouraging start.
As far as individual efforts go, Erica Ogwumike picked up right where she left off last season. The Owls leading scorer averaged 17.9 points per game last season and has matched the same scoring clip so far this year, averaging 17.9 points and 11.2 rebounds per game. She’s scored in double-digits in all but one of the Owls’ first 11 games with six double-doubles.
Joining Ogwumike in the everyday lineup has been senior Nicole Iademarco and freshman Jasmine Smith. Lauren Grigsby has been important off the bench, averaging 9.7 points with 15 steals, second most on the team. It’s been a true team effort with 10 players averaging 12 or more minutes per game.
The Owls will get a few days off for the New Year before CUSA play starts with a pair of road trips. They take on Southern Miss on Jan. 3 and Louisiana Tech on Jan. 5 before returning home for their first conference home game on Jan. 10 against UTSA.
