Rice Women’s Basketball bludgeoned Wichita State, rocketing past the Shockers on the scoreboard in a game that was never in doubt following a 12-2 start.
It was all Rice women’s basketball from the opening tip on Friday night at Tudor Fieldhouse. The Owls were clinical in the first frame, opening up a 12-2 lead as Hailey Adams exploded for seven points and seven boards, contributing to an electric 10-for-15 start from the field for the home team.
A 12-point lead after the first quarter would balloon to a 24-point advantage by halftime with almost all of the scoring coming from members of the Rice bench, including the first points of the season from Kennedy Clifton who had recently returned from injury.
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The Owls coasted from there, effectively ending the bout with a 17-2 run late in the third quarter while Wichita State had only managed 26 total points at the time. Ahead by 36 after three, Rice turned to the bench and closed out a lopsided victory.
With the win, Rice women’s basketball improves to 22-3 on the season, 12-0 in league play and 12-0 in Tudor Fieldhouse. They’ve won 17 games in a row.
Final Box | Rice 80, Wichita State 42
Key takeaway | Take the Rest of the Night Off?
Extending the winning streak and getting closer to a regular season conference championship was the necessary result on Friday night, but winning in such a way that the Owls did not need to overly tax their best players would have been a nice ancillary benefit.
Rice and Tulsa are the only teams in American Conference with four players averaging at least 30 minutes played per game in conference play, and even that stat is barely true. Aniah Alexis came into the game averaging 29.9 minutes per game against conference opponents. The starters did eventually get some rest, but played well into the second half, helping to extend a 24-point lead to nearly 40 points, which included two late threes from Dominque Ennis up 36 points in the fourth.
The Owls’ bench is talented and capable, but used sparingly. The recipe has worked up to this point, but any rest head coach Lindsay Edmonds can get her starters is worth seizing. As March draws near, they’ll be needed more than ever. And those games will be much more important than a romp over 5-21 Wichita State.
Up Next: vs South Florida (Tues. Feb. 17 at 7:00 pm)