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Rice Women’s Basketball drops home finale to North Texas

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Rice Women’s Basketball rallied from a large deficit in the first half but couldn’t replicate the feat in the second half, falling to North Texas at home.

Rice women’s basketball may not have had a worse first quarter against a conference opponent this season than they experienced on Tuesday night against North Texas. The Owls were outscored 14-0 before they got on the board, barely clawing back to a 10-point deficit before the end of the frame.

The second quarter was an entirely different story. Rice came out the aggressor, scoring 15 of the first 18 points to take a two-point lead over the Mean Green and make this game interesting once more. North Texas would counterpunch, ending the half on a 9-0 run to take a seven-point lead into the break.

More: Rice Football: 2025 Recruiting Class Analysis — Defense

North Texas would hold serve in the second half, keeping Rice women’s basketball at arm’s length and answering every volley with one of their own. Rice made consecutive field goals just once in the third quarter before unraveling in earnest in the fourth.

After a layup from Sussy Ngulefac opened the scoring, North Texas outscored Rice 10-2 in the next four minutes, turning a comfortable lead into a one-sided advantage with haste. Rice women’s basketball falls to 14-16 on the season and 7-11 in conference play.

Final Box | North Texas 68, Rice 56

Key takeaway | Can Lightning Strike Twice?

If things hold, Rice women’s basketball should be the No. 8 seed in the American Conference Tournament this weekend, a far cry from where this squad expected to be. However, this program proved a season ago that an up-and-down regular season could be pushed aside in March in favor of an electric run to a tournament championship.

Rice didn’t want to bank on another miracle to reach a second consecutive NCAA Tournament, but that’s what the Owls will need to reach those lofty goals. For better or worse, it’s a series of one-game seasons from this point onward with an eye on the horizon looking for another bolt of inspiration.

Up Next: AAC Tournament

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Rice Baseball winless at Astros Foundation College Classic

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Rice Baseball went winless at the Astros Foundation College Classic, dropping three one-sided affairs to some of the nation’s top teams.

FRIDAY | Mississippi State 14, Rice 3

Staff ace Davion Hickson opened the weekend with great stuff but inconsistent command. Walks and a balk set up a pair of two-out RBI singles in the second and third innings, respectively, which put Mississippi State in front 3-0.

Last Time Out: Rice Baseball falters late against Arizona

Hiram Bocachica got Rice back in the game with a screaming two-run shot into the Crawford Boxes before Mississippi State got another run off Hickson, driving him from the game in the fifth inning, putting the pressure on the bullpen to go the rest of the way. Garrett Stratton worked out of that jam but was less fortunate in the sixth, giving up two runs on four hits.

The Bulldogs would take a 6-3 lead into the seventh, in front but not yet out of sight. That would change quickly with a pair of home runs of Maddox Keo and another off Jack Ben-Shoshan, the latter of which ended the game via run-rule.

SATURDAY | Tennessee 13, Rice 3

Rice baseball opted to use Blaine Brown as an opener in the Saturday game but the freshman struggled mightily against the Vols’ vaunted lineup. He recorded one out, walking four and leaving the Owls in a three-run deficit when he was lifted in favor of JD McCracken.

That Rice got one run back in the bottom of the inning by way of a wild pitch would prove to be little solace thanks to a four-run outburst from the Volunteers in the second inning.

Trailing 7-1 after two, the Owls managed just enough offensively down the stretch to avoid another run-rule decision, scoring two in the seventh on RBI from Austin Eppley and Graiden West to keep the margin within 10 until their final at bat in the ninth.

SUNDAY | Texas A&M 14, Rice 4

Things got off to an encouraging start for Rice baseball in the tournament finale. Barrett Eldridge put the Owls in front with a two-run double in the first inning before Cole Green tacked on a solo shot to the Crawford boxes in the second. Rice was up 3-0 and feeling good but the Aggies wouldn’t be put down that easily.

More: 2025 Rice Baseball Season Preview

Texas A&M tied the game in the fourth on the second of five home runs they’d go on to hit that evening. The onslaught commenced in earnest in the fifth. The Aggies scored three in the fifth and six in the sixth before pushing two more across in the seventh to enact the run-rule. After falling behind by three, Texas A&M scored 14 unanswered runs, going on to win by 10.

THREE FOR THE ROAD

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Rice Basketball runs out of steam at UTSA

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Rice Basketball traded punches with UTSA in the first half but couldn’t keep pace with the Roadrunners’ offense which ran away with the game in the second half.

What began as a defensive slugfest on Sunday night between Rice basketball and UTSA at the Convocation Center in San Antonio, TX was a far cry from the offensive firefight between these same teams that happened at Tudor Fieldhouse in mid-January. Both teams were held below 40 percent in the first half this time around, trading meager leads throughout the opening portion of the contest.

UTSA was the first to amass a two-score lead when Marcus Millender hit the fourth three-pointer of the evening with a little less than three minutes remaining before the halftime buzzer. The Roadrunners snagged the first meaningful a few minutes later, scoring 12 of the final 14 points from the field in the first half to take an eight point advantage into halftime.

More: Rice Football: 2025 Recruiting Class Analysis — Offense

Rice would keep things relatively close for the opening portions of the second half until UTSA started to connect from long range. The Roadrunners’ Primo Spears knocked down a trio of consecutive three pointers to get their advantage to double-digits for the first time. Rice, which had only made 1-of-14 threes to that point, found itself in a sizable hole.

The lead only ballooned from there. Shortly thereafter UTSA took charge in earnest with an emphatic 16-3 run, rendering signs of life from three-point range largely moot. Rice basketball has now lost six of its last seven games.

Final Box | UTSA 84, Rice 56

Key takeaway | Scouting the Standings

March is officially here and the conference tournament is right around the corner. With the shrinking calendar and the mounting losses, Rice basketball is running out of time to avoid a potential first round game pitting the bottom two teams in the conference standings.

Rice (4-13) and Charlotte (3-13) hold those positions at this point. The Owls had been just above the line, but this loss to UTSA, which moves the Roadrunners just above them in the standings. Rice has one game remaining against Wichita State, capping the Owls’ conference win total at a maximum of five.

If Rice win that game and Tulsa loses to Temple and Wichita State, Rice would escape the opening round game, but the Owls have reached the point of the season where they need help after failing to help themselves often enough during the year.

Up Next: vs Wichita State (Thr, Mar. 6)

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Rice Women’s Basketball overwhelmed in second half by Temple

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Rice Women’s Basketball led at halftime but couldn’t keep up the pace, falling by double-digits on the road at Temple on Friday.

Temple hit the first few shots, but it was Rice women’s basketball that set the tempo on Friday night in Philadelphia. After falling behind 5-0 in the first quarter, the Rice rallied to take the lead four minutes later and quickly surged ahead on the aggressive offensive play of Aniah Alexis, who paced both teams with a game-high 12 first quarter points.

Rice maintained a multiple-possession lead through the second quarter but never grew their advantage to double digits. Temple just wouldn’t go away, eventually pulling even again midway through the third quarter on a 9-2 run that brought the score to a deadlock at 42 points apiece. That’s when the momentum began to swing in favor of the hometown Owls in earnest.

More: Rice Football: 2025 Recruiting Class Analysis — Defense

After leading for the better portion of two quarters, Rice found itself trailing at the onset of the fourth quarter, falling even further behind when Temple opened the period with six straight points to go in front by 10, the largest lead be either side at that point in the contest. The onslaught wouldn’t stop there.

Interrupted by one layup from Trinity Gooden, Temple went on a fresh 9-0 run, ballooning the lead to 17 points and putting the game on ice before stretching their advantage to as many as 22 points. After controlling much of the early moments of this game, Rice would be outscored 50-25 in the second half, falling to 7-10 in AAC play and 14-15 overall.

Final Box | Temple 83, Rice 63

Key takeaway | Battle on the boards

One statistic doesn’t often tell the full story, but the Owls’ second half slump coincided quite clearly with a shift in their success rebounding, or lack thereof. For all their struggles this season, Rice had out-rebounded their opponents in 14 of their 16 conference games to date. That level of consistency appeared to be on track after the first half with Rice winning the rebounding battle 25 to 19 at halftime.

The second half was an entirely different story, though. Temple outrebounded Rice 17-11 in the second half and instead of losing this fight rather handily as the first half had suggested, actually matched Rice on the boards, 36 to 36. That changed the entire complexion of the game, disrupting the Owls’ offensive flow and thwarting any chance of a second half comeback.

Rice women’s’ basketball is 3-6 this season when losing the rebounding battle.

Up Next: vs North Texas (Tues, 3/4)

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2025 Rice Football Schedule Announced

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The 2025 Rice Football schedule was released by the American Conference on Friday, including a full 12-game slate.

Opponents have been known for some time, but now we have dates. All of a sudden the 2025 Rice football season is starting to take shape following an announcement by the conference office on Friday that laid out the full slate of games the Owls will undertake this fall.

The AAC released this statement concurrently with the schedule

The nonconference portion of the schedule features seven games against teams ranked in the top 25 of the final Associated Press poll of 2024, including four games against teams that reached the College Football Playoff.

Teams from The American will play eight nonconference games against opponents from the Sun Belt, seven against the SEC, five against the ACC, four each against the Big 12 and Mountain West, three against the MAC and two each against the Big Ten and Conference USA. American teams will additionally face Notre Dame, Washington State and Oregon State among others.

So, here it is, the 2025 Rice Football schedule:

DateOpponentH/A
Aug. 30, 2025LouisianaAway
Sep. 6, 2025HoustonHome
Sep. 13, 2025PVAMUHome
Sep. 18, 2025Charlotte (Thr)Away
Sep. 27, 2025NavyAway
Oct. 4, 2025Florida AtlanticHome
Oct. 11, 2025UTSAAway
Oct. 18, 2025— OFF — —
Oct. 25, 2025UConnHome
Oct. 31, 2025Memphis (Fri)Home
Nov. 8, 2025UABHome
Nov. 16, 2025— OFF ——
Nov. 22, 2025North TexasHome
Nov. 29, 2024USFAway

Note: There was a misprint in the conference release. The Louisiana game is on the road, not at home.

Full Conference Schedule

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Rice Football, NCAA

Judge Approves Historic House v. NCAA Settlement

Posted: June 6, 2025

Following a lengthy process, a federal judge on Friday granted final approval of the House v. NCAA Settlement, paving the way for schools to pay athletes directly. In a landmark decision that will alter the landscape of collegiate sports, Judge Claudia Wilken of the Northern District of California approved a far-reaching settlement of the House […]

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The Roost Podcast | Ep 200 – 2025 Rice Football Opponent Previews: Navy

Posted: June 6, 2025

The 2025 Rice Football season previews march on. This week, we’re joined by Omar Borja of Redshirt Sports to talk Navy. The second edition of our Rice Football opponent summer preview series is in your podcast feeds. Returning guest Omar Borja, an Army alum who covers Navy for Redshirt Sports, stopped by to walk us […]

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Rice Football Recruiting: DE Quincy Tchikou commits to Owls

Posted: June 4, 2025

The 2026 Rice Football recruiting class has its first addition on the defensive side of the ball. Cy Ranch defensive end Quincy Tchikou has committed to the Owls. Following an initial burst of new additions on the offensive side of the ball, the 2026 Rice Football recruiting class has picked up its anchor in the […]

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Initial Kickoff Times for 2025 Rice Football Schedule Released

Posted: May 29, 2025

Kickoff times for the first four weeks of the 2025 Rice Football season, in addition to the midweek prime time games, have been released. The first kickoff times for the 2025 Rice Football schedule, the debut of head coach Scott Abell, have been released by the American Conference. These games include the opening weeks of […]

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The Roost Podcast | Ep 199 – 2025 Rice Football Opponent Previews: USF

Posted: May 28, 2025

2025 Rice Football season previews have arrived. This week, we’re joined by Seth Varnadore of the Bay Area Examiner to talk South Florida. The first edition of our Rice Football opponent summer preview series is in your podcast feeds. Returning guest Seth Varnadore, who covers South Florida for the Bay Area Examiner, stopped by to […]

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