A 33-point outburst from Victoria Flores propelled Rice women’s basketball to its 14th consecutive victory, a road win over UTSA in San Antonio.
UTSA struck first with a pair of jumpers out of the gate, but Rice women’s basketball controlled the vast majority of their Saturday tilt in San Antonio. The Owls were back in front a few possessions later and led from the midpoint of the first quarter onward.
The Roadrunners briefly tied things up at 15 apiece in the final minutes of the frame and went into halftime within three points, but the Owls responded early in the third quarter with a crushing 14-2 stretch via six free throws from Victoria Flores and a pair of threes, one each from Aniah Alexis and Louann Battiston.
Flores dominance from the line was matched with her success from the field. She led all scorers with 33 points, going 8-of-10 from the floor and 4-of-6 from three with 13 free throws and five rebounds.
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In front by double digits entering the fourth and final period, Rice weathered one last rally from the home team, but their sizable advantage and tenacious defense made it too little, too late. With the win, Rice women’s basketball improves to 19-3 on the season and 9-3 away from Tudor Fieldhouse.
Final Box | Rice 65, Temple 56
Key takeaway | Physical Dominance
One of the most encouraging aspects in this dominant run from Rice Women’s Basketball is how consistent they’ve been on both sides of the ball. Along the way, they’ve proven they can win with great defense and offensive outbursts. On Saturday, they did both, trusting in the hot hand of Flores while holding UTSA to less than 30 percent shooting.
Nine players had at least three fouls. Battiston fouled out. It was one of the most physically grueling games this team has played in some time and still, Rice won relatively comfortably posting 10 more rebounds than UTSA including 12 offensive boards. No one has out-physicalled this team in a while and it doesn’t look like many, if any, in the American Conference can match their toughness.
Up Next: at Memphis (Sat. Feb. 7 at 1:00 pm)
