A career night from Jazzy Owens-Barnett pushed Rice women’s basketball to victory over South Florida on the road.
Rice women’s basketball found itself on the ropes in the early going against South Florida on Wednesday night, hoping to avoid being victims of a Sunshine State sweep following a loss to FAU over the weekend. Rice made just four shots from the field in the first quarter and fell into a 10-point hole following a three-ball from the Bulls to start the second quarter.
It would be hyperbolic to say it was all Owls from that point forward, but it’s fair to say some sort of switch flipped in the blue and gray with their backs against the wall. It was at that point Jazzy Owens-Barnett began to take over, scoring 11 points in the span of five minutes of court time as Rice erased the gap and managed to walk into halftime with a 29-29 tie.
The teams traded buckets early in the third but the later parts of the quarter is when Rice really took command of the game. The Owls made 10 consecutive field goals from the midpoint of the third quarter going into the final frame. Almost at the same time, the Bulls missed 12 shots in a row. USF was able to hang around, but Rice never trailed in the final quarter, pulling out a big win on the road.
“We want to be playing our best basketball right now and I feel like that’s where we’re starting to trend to,” head coach Lindsay Edmonds said afterward. “We’re learning from mistakes. We’re growing. And I think the best is yet to come.”
The win was Edmonds’ 50th at Rice, making her the fastest coach in program history to 50 victories.
Final Box | Rice 69 – USF 59
FINAL | @RiceWBB 69 – USF 59 pic.twitter.com/FC6qncaxuo
— The Roost (@AtTheRoost) February 8, 2024
Key takeaway | Getting close to full strength
Rice spent the better part of the past month without Malia Fisher or Jazzy Owens-Barnett on the court. Injuries had forced the Owls to do their best with a makeshift starting lineup and reworked defensive rotations. Various players have stepped up and had big games in the interim, but it’s been quite a while since we saw this team playing up to its fullest potential.
Owens-Barnett has been back in the lineup for a few games now. Fisher returned for the first time tonight. This is as close as the Owls have been to 100 percent in weeks and they were able to go on the road and pick up a crucial victory against a team tied with them in the standings when the day began.
A career night from Owens-Barnett, 21 points including a perfect 4-for-4 from three, propelled the Owls this time around. “I feel like every night someone from our bench can step up,” Edmonds said of Owens-Barnett. “What a spark plug. We needed every single one of it. She led our charge offensively, but she helped us a ton defensively as well.”
As Edmonds alluded, it might be someone else next time out. And that’s the beauty of depth. Finally healthy and with so many options, this team has the potential to be scary down the stretch.
Up Next: vs Tulsa (Saturday, Feb. 10)
