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History made! Women’s basketball ranked in Top 25 for first time ever

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Rice women’s basketball has made history, achieving a ranking in the AP Top 25 basketball poll for the first time in school history.

Expectations were high entering the 2018-2019 Rice women’s basketball season, and for good reason. The Owls finished 23-10 the season prior and were returning key pieces on the floor like Erica Ogwumike, Nancy Mulkey, Nicole Iademarco and others. This was supposed to be the caliber of team which contended, not only for a Conference USA Championship, but a spot in the NCAA Tournament.

The Owls haven’t secured either of those aspirations quite yet, but for the first time in school history Rice women’s basketball has been ranked in the AP Top 25. Following a pair of runaway victories against FIU and FAU over the weekend the Owls jumped into the rankings, currently as the No. 25 team in the nation.

The achievement marks the start of what the Owls hope will be a banner season in program history. The only real question is why it took so long for the nation to take notice of the incredible run under way at South Main.

Rice hasn’t lost a game since December 18, currently in the midst of a 15-game winning streak, the longest in school history. The Owls have played two games decided by fewer than 10 points in that stretch, the most recent coming in early February against a tough Old Dominion team on the road.

Other than that, Rice has blown the doors off of just about every opponent they’ve faced. Every time it looked like they might have peaked, they won again, and again, and again. Now sitting at 22-3, they don’t look to be slowing down any time soon.

Congratulations to the ladies and to head coach Tina Langley. Earning this designation is a tremendous accomplishment. May the best be yet to come.

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Baseball: Matt Bragga era begins with series win vs Rhode Island

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Rice baseball opened the Matt Bragga era with a series win over visiting Rhode Island at Reckling Park, highlighted by a walk-off wild pitch for the Owls’ first win of the season.

The Matt Bragga era on South Main is officially underway. Hired away from Tennessee Tech, Bragga was introduced in June and has been hard at work ever since. Fall ball and spring workouts have given way to real baseball, starting with the Owls’ opening weekend against Rhode Island at Reckling Park.

Rice took the series two games to one. Here’s a rundown of each game a few closing thoughts from the weekend.

FRIDAY | Rhode Island 2, Rice 1 (10 innings)

The concerns around this team during the offseason largely focused on the offensive side of the ball. Those early worries proved accurate out of the gate with as the Owls failed to give their ace Matt Canterino much support on Friday night.

Canterino was superb, tossing 6.1 innings of scoreless baseball, allowing three hits and one walk while striking out nine. The offense managed one run on a Trei Cruz RBI single, one of six hits on the night.

It was the defense that faltered in extra innings. Rice committed two errors in the 10th, the first of which allowed Rhode Island to score an unearned and eventual game-deciding run.

SATURDAY | Rice 7, Rhode Island 6 (13 innings)

A comfortable lead turned into a thrilling finish on Saturday, culminating in an extra-inning win, the first of the Matt Bragga era. Rice had built a 3-0 lead on a career night from starting pitcher Evan Kravetz, inserted after Addison Moss was a late scratch (wrist). Kravetz set a career high with 10 strikeouts through five innings, giving way to Dalton Wood in the sixth.

Rhode Island battled back, eventually tying the game in the top of the ninth inning, the second full inning worked by potential closer Garrett Gayle. The score would stay deadlocked at 5-5 entering extra until Rhode Island scratched across a run in the top of the 13th.

Trailing 6-5, Rice needed a spark. They got it from Dominic Cox. He was hit by a pitch, advanced to second on a wild pitch and came in to score on an errant throw to third on a Trei Cruz single. Cruz would come in to score the winning run minutes later on a passed ball, a fortunate break which capped off the five-hour contest.

SUNDAY | Rice 15, Rhode Island 3

There was no pitchers duel on Sunday. Rice matched their seven runs scored in 13 innings the game prior in the first three frames. Rhode Island starter Nick Robinson surrendered five extra-base hits, including the first two home runs of the weekend one by Trei Cruz, the other by Justin Collins.

Cruz launched a grand slam in the fifth inning, the highlight of a masterful performance at the plate. That long ball gave him eight RBI for the game, the most runs driven in by any Rice player since Anthony Rendon tallied eight RBI against Cal in 2010.

On the mound, Jackson Parthasarathy moved quickly mowing down Rhode Island hitters left and right. He matched the strong starts from Canterino and Kravetz, going six innings while allowing one hit, no runs and striking out eight.

After the slow start, Sunday’s runaway win gave this team a nice boost of confidence headed into two important midweek games against Texas and Arizona.

TAKEAWAYS | Rice wins series 2-1

1. Rice pitching was as good as advertised

There will be much more threatening visiting lineups in Reckling Park this year. Rhode Island was a young, mostly unproven group from the northeast and Rice met them with an experienced group of hurlers. It should have been a dominant outing by the Rice pitching staff. For the most part, it was.

Through three games, Rice starters hold a season ERA of 0.00. The combination of Canterino, Kravetz and Parthasarathy allowed seven hits, two walks and zero runs while striking out 27 over 17.1 innings pitched.

It wasn’t just a good weekend for the rotation. Kendal Jeffries and Kel Bordwine were both strong out of the pen. Jeffries relieved Canterino on Friday night, throwing 3.2 innings with six strikeouts and four hits. Bordwine carried the Owls through three extra frames on Saturday. Despite being charged with the go-ahead run allowed by Zach Esquivel, he allowed three hits with two strikeouts, facing 13.

Bragga had high praise for his pitchers, saying “They’re giving our offense a chance to find our identity right now.” It took every bit of success from the Owls on the bump to match Rhode Island on Friday and Saturday. Sunday, the offense took over.

2. The offense is a work in progress, but there’s plenty to work with

Active baserunning, hit and runs, a squeeze play at home and the long ball were all part of the repertoire for the Rice offense on opening weekend. Bragga expects the offense to become more cohesive as the season progresses, but for now, he’s going to continue to experiment.

“I’m learning this team. I’m learning these guys and trying to figure out what’s best suited for us to score runs,” Bragga said. “We’ll do whatever it takes to get those runs in because are pitching staff is throwing really well.”

Cruz was the offensive MVP of the weekend, leading the team with eight hits, including two home runs and two triples on Saturday, and 10 RBI. Dominic DiCaprio and Cade Edwards had a pair of doubles. Bradley Geniting had six hits, scoring five times. Four Owls (Gneiting, T. Cruz, Collins, Edwards) leave opening weekend with a batting average better than .300.

3. The fielding must get better

The pitchers shined and the offense showed flashes, leaving the errors with the gloves the most glaring concern of the weekend.

Rice committed seven errors on the weekend. If they play clean baseball the series could very well have ended in a sweep. When the offense is firing on all cylinders they’ll have the wiggle room to work past the occasional fielding mistake. For now, it’s even more imperative the team tightens up their fielding.

Both of the first two games were decided by errors with the deciding runs coming for each squad via fielding miscues. Even with a sizable lead on Sunday, Rice couldn’t come up with a clean sheet.

ON DECK | vs Texas (Tues), vs Arizona (Wed), vs UC-Irvine (Fri.-Sun.)

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MBB: Owls suffer stinging setback against FIU

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Excessive turnovers proved too much to overcome for Rice basketball as they fell on the road to FIU by a final score of 86-65.

It had been more than a month since Rice basketball had lost a game in regulation by more than four points. 3-3 over their last six, it looked like this young team was starting to iron out some of their inconsistencies. The Owls were playing their best basketball of the year as the calendar turned into the spring.

Thursday night’s dud against FIU was far from the standard this team had established for itself over the last month. Rice outrebounded FIU (42-29) and outshot FIU from the floor (44.4 percent – 44.1 percent). But all that good could erase a stunning season-high 33 turnovers, nearly doubling their previous high of 17.

Winning on the road isn’t easy, especially in conference play. But Rice did themselves no favors against a middle-of-the-road FIU squad which had lost four of it’s previous five.

The Box

PLAYER FG 3PT FT OREB DREB REB AST STL BLK TO PF PTS
J. Williams 4-8 0-0 0-0 1 3 4 0 0 0 5 3 8
Q. Millora-Brown 7-9 0-0 0-0 7 9 16 2 1 2 2 3 14
C. Mullins 2-8 0-2 1-2 0 0 0 1 0 0 4 1 5
J. Parrish 4-6 0-0 5-8 2 2 4 0 2 0 5 3 13
A. Adams 2-5 1-3 0-0 0 3 3 1 2 0 6 3 5
R. Martin 1-7 0-2 6-6 1 6 7 3 2 1 3 2 8
T. Harrison 0-0 0-0 2-2 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 2
P. Moore 0-2 0-0 0-0 0 2 2 1 0 0 1 4 0
T. Murphy III 3-6 2-5 0-0 0 1 1 0 1 2 2 0 8
D. Peterson 1-3 0-1 0-0 0 1 1 0 0 0 2 1 2

Player of the Game – Quentin Millora-Brown

Even in defeat, the Owls’ freshman forward took significant strides in his offensive game. Shooting 7-for-9 from the field on any given night is huge, but adding a game-high seven offensive rebounds to that percentage is almost absurd. For reference, FIU grabbed 10 offensive boards as a team.

Millora-Brown is gaining confidence in his shot. If he can consistently score in the paint, the Rice offense is going to become that much more lethal. His double-double against FIU is a good start.

Up next

Rice closes out their Florida road trip with a Saturday contest against FAU. The others Owls of Conference USA edged North Texas at home on Saturday 57-47 and have won four of their last six games.

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WBB: Owls hoping to build NCAA Tournament worthy resume

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Rice women’s basketball is in the midst of an incredible run which the team hopes will end in an NCAA Tournament berth. How close are the Owls to the postseason?

March is nearing and Rice women’s basketball is looking for their dancing shoes. The squad has been one of the most dominant teams in the nation for the entirety of 2019. They’ll hope to capitalize on their storybook season with a trip to the NCAA Tournament. The necessary preparations for a postseason run are being put in place.

The Streak

The circumstances are almost irrelevant — this team doesn’t care. All they do is win. The Rice women’s basketball team has won 20 of their last 21 games and has yet to suffer defeat in conference play. With just two road games remaining against 5-6 North Texas and 1-10 UTSA, the Owls have a real shot at winning out and reaching 25 wins before the conference tournament.

Rice has won 13 games in a row, the most consecutive victories in school history and the third longest active streak in the nation. Every win literally makes history. The Owls have won 11 straight conference games, reaching 20 wins early in February. For comparison, Rice won their 20th game on March 3 in 2018,  March 19 in 2017 and only reached 18 wins combined between the ’14-’15 and ’15-’16 seasons.

Bracketology

There’s no doubting the Owls’ impressive run will force the NCAA selection committee to look long and hard at all this team has accomplished this season. With five regular season games remaining, Rice is projected as an 11-seed in ESPN analyst Charlie Creme’s latest Bracketology. That seed line could creep higher if Rice continues to win, but a higher seed isn’t all that’s at stake right now.

Multiple CUSA teams have reached the field in the somewhat recent past. MTSU and Western Kentucky both made the field in 2014, the Blue Raiders first year in the conference. Multiple CUSA squads haven’t made the field together since the conference contract to 14 teams in 2015.

Conference USA has traditionally been a one-bid league. Win the conference tournament and you’re going dancing, regardless of how your season has faired up until that point. Lose the conference tournament, and more often than not, you’re out.

If Rice can win out, but falls in the conference tournament, they’ll still have a strong chance of making it in, which is another testament to the incredible job these ladies have done this season. Rice is closing in on lock status, but the Owls can’t truly be sure of their NCAA fates without cutting down the nets in Frisco.

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Baseball: Breaking down the 2019 offensive lineup

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Rice baseball expects to return to contention in Conference USA under the new direction of Matt Bragga. To get there the Owls’ will need to find consistent offensive production.

Although pitching is expected to take the forefront in the upcoming season, Rice baseball will bring a solid mix of offensive weapons to the plate in 2019. Matt Bragga, renowned as an offensive whisper during his time at Tennessee Tech, should be able to get the most out of the Owls’ bats.

Here’s how the main position players set up entering the spring:

C – Collins
1B – DiCaprio
2B – Edwards
SS – T. Cruz
3B – Corneaux
OF – Cox, Beaulaurier, Brewer, A. Cruz, Gneiting
DH – Duluc, Dunlap

The proven commodities

Braden Comeaux (.319/.429/.412) and Andrew Dunlap (.260/.368/.435) were two of the more reliable bats in the lineup last season and both guys return in 2019. Comeaux has the potential to lead Conference USA in hits after finishing fourth last year. Dunlap took a step back from a career-best season in 2017, but has the experience and situational awareness to be a big asset at the plate.

Catcher Justin Collins could be the most important piece, though. After showing flashes as a freshman he’s started to pick things up this offseason. During the fall exhibitions, he blasted a grand slam against Sam Houston and was near perfect Texas A&M, going 4-for-5 with a double. He’ll be asked to be a consistent run producer in the middle of the lineup in 2019.

Who else steps up?

It remains to be seen how Matt Bragga will deploy the rest of the lineup. There are an array of guys who could fill the outfield spots. Trei Cruz and Bradley Gneiting both had their moments and will be counted upon to be more or less everyday players again this season.

Dominic Cox and Dominic DiCaprio are both wildcards to watch. DiCaprio brings some pop, provided he can make enough consistent contact to earn a spot in the starting nine. The same goes for Cox who appeared in 50 games last season despite holding a .182 average.

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