Rice Women’s Basketball didn’t quite lead wire to wire, but came close, controlling their rematch with South Florida to earn their eighteenth straight win.
Tenacious defense set the tone as Rice women’s basketball began its long-awaited rematch with preseason conference favorite South Florida. Already with a victory over the Bulls in Tampa, the Owls made it abundantly clear the visitors would have to work for every point on Tuesday night, holding them to 25 percent shooting in the opening quarter.
Ahead by five to start the second, the margin would hover around there for the next several minutes as both sides traded baskets. South Florida would briefly get back before Victoria Flores and Hailey Adams conducted a shooting clinic. That duo, with one basket from Louann Battiston, converted seven consecutive field goals, stretching the Owls’ advantage to nine points entering halftime.
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Some foul trouble for Shelby Hayes in the third quarter opened the door ever so slightly for South Florida, who whittled an 11-point deficit to four with Hayes sidelined for a few minutes. When Hayes returned, Rice got back into gear, stretching their edge back to double-digits midway through the fourth.
A flurry of fouls in the fourth allowed South Florida to stay in the game, but the Bulls never got closer than five points as Flores converted her trips to the charity stripe to close things out. With the win, Rice women’s basketball improves to 23-3 on the season, 13-0 in league play and 13-0 in Tudor Fieldhouse. They’ve won 18 games in a row.
Final Box | Rice 79, South Florida 72
What They’re Saying
Key takeaway | Alone On Top
South Florida received 11 of the possible 13 first place votes in the American Conference Women’s Basketball Preseason Coaches Poll. Rice got one. A few months removed from those ballots being submitted and the actual standings are just stark, albeit in the opposite direction.
By virtue to two head-to-head wins, Rice women’s basketball sits alone in first place in league play, the clear frontrunner to win the regular season championship following a second win over South Florida.
“We always responded. Really, really proud of that effort,” head coach Lindsay Edmonds said. “It’s a great team. They’re going to win a lot of games. But we just showed how impressive we can be, too.”
Up Next: at East Carolina (Sat. Feb. 21 at 12:00 pm)