Rice Women’s Basketball caught fire in the second quarter and ran away with a dominant home victory over the UAB Blazers.
Had it not been for a handful of pesky three-pointers from UAB, Rice women’s basketball might have run away with things in the opening quarter on Tuesday night. The Owls were held to a modest two-point advantage after one, a lead that grew quickly when the long range shot died up for the Blazers in the ensuing quarter.
Rice outscored UAB by an astounding margin of 22-5 in the next 10 minutes, taking a 19-point edge into halftime, firmly in control of the contest. Led by a game-high nine points from Victoria Flores, the Owls would only need to hold the line after the break if they wanted to secure a much-needed conference win.
More: Rice Football: 2025 Recruiting Class Analysis — Defense
UAB refused to make it easy. The Blazers opened the second half on an 11-2 run, cutting the Owls’ lead to 10 points but the sprint would stop there. Rice responded with a 13-2 run of their own, capped by a pair of threes from Flores to catapult the Owls to a 20-point lead, their largest of the game to that point.
“Everybody was locked in,” head coach Lindsay Edmonds said, praising her team’s defensive effort to hold UAB to just four threes as well as a commanding 62-27 margin on the boards.
The big lead would prove enough wiggle room to afford Rice women’s basketball a chance to exhale and play loose in the final quarter. They’d go ahead by as many as 30 before closing out a comfortable home win, their second home conference victory by 20+ points in the past three games.
Final Box | Rice 73, UAB 48
FINAL | @RiceWBB 73, UAB 48 pic.twitter.com/aD2VVvOcoX
— The Roost (@AtTheRoost) February 26, 2025
Key takeaway | Vic-torious
Few athletes on South Main had bigger shoes to fill than Victoria Flores this season. Taking over the point guard start from Destiny Jackson was a huge responsibility for a younger player who didn’t have the same on-court success as a fixture within the program like Jackson.
Even still, the growth Flores demonstrated as the season progressed was unmistakable and the link between her progress and the Owls’ success was crystal clear. Flores scored 23 points against UAB, her 11th game this season reaching double-digits. Rice women’s basketball is 10-1 when she scores at least 10.
To put that in perspective, Rice is 7-11 when Dominique Ennis scores at least 10 and 5-7 when Malia Fisher reaches double-digits. Both of those players are crucial pieces to framework of this team, but Flores’ opens up the offense and changes the complexion of this squad when she’s at her best.
Rice will need all of its stars if it wants to replicate its late-season tournament run of a year ago. Flores has done enough to warrant inclusion in that company.
Up Next: at Temple (Fri, 2/28)
