A close game got away from Rice Women’s Basketball down the stretch as the Owls fell to Louisiana on the road.
Rice Women’s Basketball found themselves in a defensive slugfest on the road against Louisiana early Saturday afternoon where points were at a premium and the score was harrowingly close for a full 40 minutes.
A 4-0 Louisiana lead to start the game proved to be just one basket shy of the largest lead by either side through the first 38 minutes. Louisiana led by three after the first quarter. The game pinballed back and forth to a 27-27 tie at halftime. Louisiana pulled back in front by two entering the fourth quarter before the game would be all tied up at 49 apiece with 5:09 to go in regulation.
More: Rice Women’s Basketball 2024-2025 Season Preview
Every indication suggested this one would go down to the wire. The contest featured eight ties and 12 lead changes culminating in a two-point Louisiana lead with 80 seconds to play. Then things went sideways for the Owls, who were held without a field goal for more than two minutes down the stretch while the Cajuns closed things out on an 8-0 run.
Final Box | Louisiana 64, Rice 54
FINAL | Louisiana 64, @RiceWBB 54 pic.twitter.com/zmxuvENGPV
— The Roost (@AtTheRoost) December 7, 2024
Key takeaway | Not simply a player away
For the past month, it was tempting to look at this team’s offensive inconsistency and tendency to allow big leads to wither late and believe everything would be better when Malia Fisher returned to the floor. Rice Women’s basketball was victorious in her return game against Utah Tech, but the good feelings were stifled somewhat by a 10-point loss in what should have been a much closer contest against Louisiana.
If it wasn’t clear before, this team isn’t one player away from being “fixed”, whatever that was supposed to mean, anyhow.
The good news is that it’s not even the middle of December yet and Fisher is far from the version of herself she’ll hopefully be in the spring. But that same truth has to be indicative of this team, too. There’s a lot of growth that needs to happen over the next several weeks and months for them to become the juggernaut they dreamed of being this season. The AAC is a tough league and they’re not going to be handed another conference crown.
Up Next: vs Texas Southern (Fri, 12/13)
