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Rice Women’s Basketball: Owls blow past Nicholls St in season opener

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Nicholls St scored the first two points before Rice Women’s Basketball slammed the door in an emphatic season-opening rout at Tudor Fieldhouse.

In many ways, the beginning of the 2019-2020 Rice Women’s basketball season began just as last season had ended. It took less than five minutes of play before Nancy Mulkey had a block and Erica Ogwumike had a basket and bucket. A 2-0 Nicholls St lead evaporated quickly, with Rice outscoring the Colonels 17-6 throughout the remainder of the first quarter.

The Owls used their trademark suffocating defense to make their early double-digit lead feel insurmountable. They held Nicholls St to 27.8 percent shooting from the field in the first half. By half, they’d more than doubled up their opponent.

More: 2019-2020 Rice Women’s Basketball season preview

From there it was clockwork for the Owls, who had already turned quickly to their young bench. Freshmen Lauren Schwartz, Destiny Jackson, Katelyn Crosthwait, India Bellamy, Ashlee Austin and Arianna McCurry made their collegiate debuts, with Schwartz earning a starting nod. Every player on the roster saw action, 12 scored and 12 registered at least one rebound. Rice would go on to win by a final score of 71-41.

“We hoped that we could come out and get out to a good lead and make sure we got an opportunity to see everyone together in different lineups,” head coach Tina Langley said after the game.” It was good to have that opportunity today.”

Player of the Game

Prior to the beginning of the season, Erica Ogwumike was named to the Ann Meyers Drysdale Award watch list which honors the best shooting guard in the nation. Nancy Mulkey was named to the Lisa Leslie Award watch list, honoring the best center. We knew those two stars were going to shine bright for Rice Women’s Basketball this season. What we didn’t know for sure, was who would step up to join them.

Sophomore guard Haylee Swayzee would like to throw her hat into the ring. Swayze was eighth on the team in minutes played last season, averaging 4.3 points per game with 22 three-pointers. She did much more than that in her first action of the 2019-2020 season. On Tuesday, she knocked down four shots from deep and led the team with 22 points.

“It was really fun,” Swayze said of her big night before pivoting to her supporting cast. “I think we’ve done a really good job of playing together as a team, we’ve really embraced our “Go Together” [motto] this year,”

If the Owls can add some outside shooting to their one-two punch on the interior, this is going to be a very scary team come March.

Up Next

Rice Women’s Basketball gets one more home game before their first trip away from South Main. They host Arkansas Little Rock on Saturday at 1:00 p.m. It’ll be a double-header for Rice fans. The men play their home opener following the conclusion of the women’s contest at 3:30 p.m.

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Rice Football 2019: Owls in the NFL Week 9 Update

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It’s a good time to be an Owl. Rice Football alums went undefeated in Week 9. Here’s the latest on what the NFL Owls did on the field this week.

There are former Rice football players are scattered across the NFL. Stay tuned each week for their game results and notables from each player.

Week 9 results

Broncos 24 (Anderson, Callahan) – Browns 19
Cowboys 37 (Covington) – Giants 16
Eagles 22 (Sendejo) – Bears 14
Seahawks 40 (Ellerbee, Willson) – Bucs 34 OT
Steelers 26 (Boswell, McDonald) – Colts 24
Texans 26 (Gaines) – Jaguars 3

Calvin Anderson, OT, Broncos

Anderson is still awaiting his first game action with the Denver Broncos after being signed off the Jets practice squad. He was inactive for their Week 9 win over the Browns. The Broncos are on bye in Week 10.

Bryce Callahan, CB, Broncos

Like his teammate, Callahan is awaiting his first 2019 snaps with the Broncos. He was also inactive on Sunday and hasn’t played since a foot injury he suffered with the Bears last season. The Broncos are on bye in Week 10.

Christian Covington, DE, Cowboys

Covington was active, but did not get into the game on Monday Night Football against the Giants. The Cowboys host the Vikings on Sunday Night Football in Week 10.

Andrew Sendejo, Saf, Eagles

Sendejo had one tackle in the Eagles Week 9 win over the Bears. His tackle count is up to 25 on the year, his seventh consecutive year with 25 or more in a season. The Eagles are on bye in Week 10.

Emmanuel Ellerbee, LB, Seahawks

Ellerbee was placed injured reserve prior to the start of the season. The Seahawks visit the 49ers on Monday Night Football in Week 10.

Luke Willson, TE, Seahawks

Willson was targeted twice in the Seahawks’ Week 9 overtime win over the Seahawks. He hauled in both passes, the first for four yards and the second for 12 yards. The Seahawks visit the 49ers on Monday Night Football in Week 10.

Chris Boswell, K, Steelers

Boswell rebounded from his first missed field goal of the season in Week 8 by going 4-for-4 against the Colts, including a 51-yard try and a 26-yard game-winner in the final minutes of the fourth quarter. He added two successful extra points as well. The Steelers host the Rams in Week 10.

Vance McDonald, TE, Steelers

After a few quiet weeks, McDonald burst through with a big showing in Week 9. His five receptions were the second-most on the team. He had 30 receiving yards and fought through a slew of defenders for the Steelers’ lone receiving touchdown of the day. The Steelers host the Rams in Week 10.

Phillip Gaines, CB, Texans

Gaines was placed on injured reserve following an ankle injury suffered during the Texans’ Week 8 game against the Colts. The Texans are on bye in Week 10.

More Owls in the NFL

From practice squads to current free agents, there are others Owls on the cusp of returning to active rosters. Find more detail on current contractual agreements and former Rice football players waiting for their next opportunity here.

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Rice Football: From walk-on to starter, Tre’shon Devones is on the rise

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From walk-on to starter, Rice Football freshman corner Tre’shon Devones has a bright future at South Main and his journey is just getting started.

At risk of stating the obvious, scholarships to play college football don’t grow on trees. There are limitations on how many can be handed out. There’s plenty of red tape when it comes to eligibility in genreal. For those reasons, most every locker room contains a mix of scholarship players and those paying their own way, commonly referred to as walk-ons.

Walk-ons can become scholarship players, but it takes work. They have to prove themselves, to the coaching staff and to their peers. Ari Broussard knows what that’s like. So do Matthew Sams and Brendan Suckley, Austin Conrad and Evan Marshman. Rice football true freshman Tre’shon Devones was one of the six former walk-ons to earn scholarships this year. And he found a way to expedite the process.

Broussard, who earned a scholarship in the spring, along with Sams, Suckley, Conrad and Marshman who earned scholarships this fall, spent at least a full year with the team prior to earning their scholarship. Two of those, Broussard and Suckley, changed positions before they found their niche. Devones earned his spot in three weeks.

More: Takeaways from Rice Football vs Marshall

The condensed timeline isn’t a knock on the former five, but rather offers a compelling case for Devones’ unique talents. Devones had offers from schools in the Pac-12, ACC, Big 12 and AAC programs but instead walked on without a scholarship at Rice. In many ways, he bet on himself.

“I knew coming in that I was going to work really hard,” Devones said. “So every chance that I got, I just tried to go my 100 percent, 110 percent at that.”

Devones had put in the work, but he had no idea the scholarship was coming. He found out during a team meeting after fall camp when his picture flashed up on the screen. “I had to tell my mom first,” he admitted, going on to praise the staff and his teammate for helping him get to the point where he was deemed worthy of a scholarship to play Rice Football.

His 110 percent put him on the field in the Owls’ season-opening game against Army. On that night, he registered his first collegiate tackle. He was a consistent special teams ace, filling in on defense several times over the weeks that followed. Before missing the Southern Miss game with the flu, Devones had been one of four true freshmen to play in every game this season.

Devones knows as well as anyone his role with Rice Football will be dependent on his ability and effort. That’s why he’s set an honest, straightforward goal for the 2019 season: “Be the best Tre’shon Devones I can be, that’s my goal every day.”

More: Breaking down JoVoni Johnson’s first career start 🔒

Coach Mike Bloomgren, who saw enough in the true freshman to put him on scholarship prior to the season, isn’t surprised. “It’s so earned,” Bloomgren said of Devones’ starting assignment. “It was earned incrementally the way we want it to be and every game opportunity has been good. I think we’re seeing the start of a great career in Tre’shon Devones… It’s really exciting.”

On Saturday against Marshall, Devones started his first college game. He registered his second pass break up, the second-most of any corner on the roster. The “best Tre’shon Devones” is already one of the better defenders on the team.

If that’s even a fraction of his ability, Rice football fans are going to want to take note of number 19. His best is still to come.

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Rice Football: Breaking down JoVoni Johnson’s first start 🔒

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JoVoni Johnson left his first start as the Rice football quarterback with an injury, but made the most of his longest outing of the season.

It wasn’t perfect, but there was a lot to like from JoVoni Johnson’s first career start on Saturday against Marshall. One of four Rice football quarterbacks to see action this season, Johnson proved to be the most dynamic.

Here’s a closer look behind the numbers and a few reasons to be encouraged by what we saw from Johnson against Marshall.

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Rice Football: JoVoni Johnson not enough to power Owls past Marshall

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Rice football found a way to keep it close, but the offense’s spark came too late to overcome a late deficit as the Owls fell to Marshall on Homecoming.

A win on Homecoming against Marshall was something Rice football desperately needed to snap a grueling streak of losses. Like seemingly every other game this season, the game was close into the second half. When both teams looked up at the scoreboard at the start of the fourth quarter they saw a two-score game with plenty of time remaining.

This one ended the same way the others had to this point in the season, with Rice falling short on the scoreboard. Here are a few immediate reactions from the game:

1. Hello, Jovoni Johnson

Things were pretty clear during the week that Wiley Green was not going to start this game, regardless of the health of quarterback Tom Stewart. After Stewart’s limited availability in practice, his status entering Saturday was very much so up in the air. As reported on Friday, that left JoVoni Johnson as the most likely alternative should Stewart be unable to go.

Stewart warmed up but it was Johnson who started the game and played all but one snap, leaving briefly for one play after getting the wind knocked out of him on a hit. The coaching staff raved about his athletic ability throughout fall camp and liked how he’d progress in recent weeks.

In his first outing as the Rice football starting quarterback, Johnson played well. As long as he was on the field, the offense had life. When Tom Stewart took over, the offense fizzled. He completed one of his nine passes, ending promising drives with nothing to show for it.

Limited possessions didn’t do anything to help the young quarterback find his rhythm, but the simplified scheme and some plus running lanes provide by the offensive line aided him in his first career start. After starting 8-of-9 passing for 77 yards, No. 3 went on to complete 10/17 passes for 97 yards and one touchdown. He added 65 yards rushing with his legs. Perhaps even more importantly, he committed no turnovers.

2. Redzone warriors

The Rice defense almost singlehandedly kept the team in the game last weekend against Southern Miss. The Eagles reached the redzone four times but only found the endzone once in those possessions. The same sort of pattern emerged early against Marshall. The Herd got into the redzone twice in the first quarter alone but left with just three points. For the game, they managed two touchdowns on four redzone possessions.

Linebacker Adrian Bickham was the star of the first Marshall redzone drive. One of three true freshmen to play in every game this season, Bickham reached up and knocked down the Justin Rohrwasser’s first field goal of the day.

A strategy of keeping the offense in front of them, which they’ve achieved more often than not this season, has lent itself to this sort of bend-but-don’t-break style of defense. At the very least, they’ve softened the blow of some of C-USA’s most powerful offenses, giving the Owls’ own offense a chance.

3. Not the best day for the Rice secondary

The mandate given to this team by the coaching staff has been constant all season: don’t turn the ball over on offense and don’t let the ball go over your head on defense.

The former has been the sticking point for the Owls this season. Several quarterbacks have been cycled through to fix the problem. The latest, Johnson, did not turn the ball over on Saturday. With that half of the mandate delivered finally delivered, the secondary struggled to hold up their end of the bargain.

PODCAST: Special interview with Denver Broncos offensive lineman Calvin Anderson

Green was masterful through the air against the Owls. He completed 17-of-22 passes for 269 yards and one touchdown. He hit several long plays, including a 63-yard strike to Xavier Gaines who was tackled at the one-yard line, setting up a touchdown run from Brenden Knox. On the next possession, Green hit Talik Keaton over the top for a 19-yard score.

The secondary was able to clamp down in the second half, limiting Green’s effectiveness. But the points scored in the first half proved to be too many for the Owls’ own offense to overcome.

4. In search of playmakers

Marshall tight end Armani Levias and running back Brenden Knox were difference makers in this game. When the Herd needed a big play, one of those delivered time and time again. In fact, six different Marshall players had a play from scrimmage of 18-yards or more.

Reliable slot man Austin Trammell was the only non-quarterback to gain 18 yards on a single play for the Owls. Bradley Rozner came close, hauling in a 17-yard reception. But those are the two names we’ve come to expect to make plays from on offense this season.

Rice needs somebody else to step up. Johnson helped fill the void, picking up several first downs with his legs. Juma Otoviano had his best day running on the season but was held to 66 yards on the ground. With Johnson at the controls, the offense was better today, but its upside could rise dramatically if someone else can generate a few more chunk plays of their own.

5. Is it too much to ask for both?

Against Southern Miss, the Rice defense pitched a near-shutout through 59 minutes against one of the best offenses in Conference USA. On Saturday against Marshall, that same defense looked a step slow and far less consistent than they’d been to this point in the season. The offense looked promising, hindered by Johnson leaving the game twice in big moments.

That’s been the story of the 2019 Rice Football season in miniature. The defense wows while the offense goes quietly. Then when the offense has their moments, the defense is good, but not quite as proficient as we’ve come to expect. Special teams has ebbed and flowed, too.

If Rice puts its best product on the field, there’s no reason why they shouldn’t have at least one, if not multiple conference wins. To this point, the Owls’ worst enemy has been themselves. They know that but have thus far been unable to find the right combination of all three phases to win.

The law of averages would suggest that Rice will find that combination. With three games left, they’re running out of time.

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