Rice Women’s Basketball got within a last-second shot of league-leading UTSA but couldn’t get it to fall, dropping a heartbreaker to the Roadrunners.
A pair of three-pointers in the closing minutes of the first quarter staved off what looked to be a rout inside the confines of Tudor Fieldhouse on Saturday afternoon. Rice women’s basketball was hosting Senior Day and seemed to have been caught up in the festivities, sacrificing the opening minutes of a crucial game against top-seeded UTSA.
The Owls would eventually come to, though, playing the Roadrunners more or less even through the next two quarters. Rice runs would occasionally get the game back within seven or eight points, but UTSA would hold serve, keeping Rice at bay until things got interesting in the fourth quarter.
More: Rice Football: 2025 Recruiting Class Analysis — Defense
Rice opened that last segment with a scoring burst, but it was the Owls’ defense that made the biggest difference. The Roadrunners made three field goals in the quarter and just one in the final seven minutes, allowing the Owls to claw back into the contest and turn it into a competitive game once more.
Dominique Ennis hit a jumper to make it a three point game with 2:55 to play. Then Sussy Ngulefac cut the deficit to one and the defense forced a jump ball to get the Owls the ball back in time for a final shot. Ennis got the look, but it wouldn’t fall. After a foul and free throws, Rice got one last-second heave, but that shot went wide, too.
Final Box | UTSA 57, Rice 55
FINAL | UTSA 57, @RiceWBB 55 pic.twitter.com/yxbUTIZoHl
— The Roost (@AtTheRoost) February 23, 2025
Key takeaway | 40 minutes
Saturday’s fourth quarter against UTSA made it clear Rice women’s basketball could challenge the best of the AAC. The Owls outscored the Roadrunners by six in the fourth quarter as well as by one point in the third and were even with them in the second. UTSA won the first quarter by nine. And therein lies the problem Rice women’s basketball has yet to solve this season, the 40 minute game.
Every game is 40 minutes and it’s hard to play at 100 percent for a full 40 minutes. But the best teams tend to get a lot closer to that level of consistency than those in the middle of the standings.
A two-point difference at the final buzzer made that abundantly clear. UTSA isn’t so much more talented than Rice to the point where the back-and-forth action of the game has been rendered moot. On the contrary, Rice has the talent and the ability to play with these teams. They just aren’t consistent enough to be anywhere near the top of the standings, something that has generated an understandable level of frustration.
Up Next: vs UAB (Tues, 2/25)
