The source for Rice sports news

Rice Women’s Basketball tops SMU on buzzer beater

By

Rice Women’s Basketball topped SMU at the buzzer to improve to 2-0 in American Conference play this season.

Coaches like to say defense travels. That old adage was certainly true for Rice women’s basketball on Sunday. Playing their first road contest as AAC members, Rice relied on their defense to build an early lead against SMU and set the stage for a 2-0 start in league play.

Rice held SMU to 25 percent shooting in the first half, turning the Mustangs over seven times before the halftime buzzer. That allowed the visiting Owls to take a double-digit lead midway through the second quarter and an eight-point lead at halftime, spurred by a balanced scoring effort from Destiny Jackson, Dominque Ennis and Emily Klaczek.

SMU was able to whittle the halftime deficit away in the opening minutes of the second half, setting up an incredible boxing match down the stretch with the teams trading blows (and the lead) into the final minutes. After Rice led for the vast majority of three quarters, the lead changed five times in the final five minutes. Malia Fisher came through with several big plays in those key moments.

After missing the potential go-ahead shot with 30 seconds to play, Rice was able to force a turnover on an SMU travel and retain possession. That paved the way for Destiny Jackson to wind through the SMU defense and hit the game-winning layup at the buzzer. The victory evens the all-time series record between these two programs. In 72 meetings, each team has won 36 times.

Final Box | Rice 65 – SMU 63

Key takeaway | Measuring stick moments

Rice women’s basketball was picked to finish third in the AAC in the preseason coaches poll. SMU was picked to finish fourth. Those prognostications from early October don’t mean much anymore with actual game results in hand and the conference standings beginning to take shape. However, after both teams labored through nonconference play, Rice is starting to get into a rhythm. SMU remains unbalanced.

Rice joins Charlotte and East Carolina as the lone unbeaten in Conference play thus far and Rice hosts Charlotte next weekend. As the Owls work to find their footing in their new conference every win serves to further legitimize their aspirations of becoming the top team in this league. Beating SMU alone won’t make Rice the frontrunners, but it’s a good next step against a quality opponent on the road.

Up Next: vs Charlotte (Thursday, Jan. 11)

Subscribe on Patreon for exclusive Rice football recruiting updates, practice notes and more.

Recent Posts

Rice Basketball falls to UTSA in overtime

By

Rice basketball was unable to hold onto a second half lead, falling in overtime to UTSA in their AAC “home” opener.

Away from home for the first time as “hosts” in an American Conference game, Rice basketball was out of sorts from the start against UTSA. The visiting Roadrunners showed no signs of confusion when it came to finding their shot at Jerabeck Activity and Athletic Center, jumping out to a double-digit lead in the first 10 minutes of the opening half.

When the Owls needed a spark, Travis Evee took charge. He scored three straight layups to get Rice within four. Soon after his first three of the day got Rice within one score. Noah Shelby took the baton from there, knocking down a three-pointer to give Rice its first lead since the 16-minute mark to begin the game. Trailing by as many as 11 points, Rice had battled back and entered halftime with a three-point lead.

Rice was able to take that advantage and push it to double-digits early in the second half. For a moment, it looked as if the Owls had escaped disaster, but those hopes dissipated rapidly. UTSA immediately fired back and turned it into a back and forth game, which eventually found itself in overtime.

UTSA would go on to outscore Rice 12-5 in overtime, handing the Owls a crushing loss and pushing the Owls to the bottom of the AAC standings.

“We didn’t have the end of the game like we needed to handle it,” head coach Scott Pera said. “They made us pay. They got the shot. Those are hard lessons to learn.”

Final Box | UTSA 89 – Rice 82 (OT)

Key takeaway | Red Alert

UTSA entered this contest dead last in the American in KenPom, No. 290 in the country. How bad have the Roadrunners been this season? For comparison, they’re more than 60 spots behind the next closest AAC team in those rankings. Unfortunately, that next team is Rice. The Owls entered Saturday at No. 224 and they’re going to drop further after this.

If the result wasn’t scary enough, the company Rice has kept this season should raise concern. If Rice basketball can’t put away UTSA, why should they expect to be competitive in a conference that expects to send multiple teams to the NCAA Tournament?

The Owls need to circle the wagons and find some answers. The offense, which was meant to be the strength of this team, has yet to click this season. The defense has had spurts of success but isn’t nearly consistent enough to make up for the Owls’ shooting struggles. With conference play looming, Rice is running out of time to make those adjustments. Until proven otherwise, it appears Rice basketball has a long season ahead of them.

Up Next: at USF (Friday, Jan. 12)

Subscribe on Patreon for exclusive Rice football recruiting updates, practice notes and more.

Recent Posts

Rice Football Recruiting: JUCO LB Blaise Tita commits to Owls

By

The 2024 Rice Football recruiting class picked up another transfer this week. JUCO linebacker Blaise Tita has committed to the Owls.

The first junior college transfer in the 2024 Rice Football recruiting class is officially in the fold. A local product who played his high school ball just down the road at Alief Taylor High School, Killgore Junior College linebacker Blaise Tita has committed to the Owls.

Tita spent the 2022 season with Lamar, initially playing sparingly before finishing the season with 19 tackles in his final three games. From there he transferred to the JUCO level, looking for a bounce back. When he reentered the portal this offseason he had received offers North Alabama, Southeastern, Mississippi Valley State and Abilene Christian. Then Rice swooped in and sealed the deal.

“It’s truly a blessing,” Tita told The Roost. “I can’t wait to make the most of it.”

Tita is the first commitment since the early signing period when Rice formally announced 13 additions to their program. He’s the second linebacker in the class and should pair well with incoming freshman Kaleb Blanton. Tita has at least two seasons of eligibility remaining, with the potential for a third.

Premium: Rice Football Recruiting Offer and Commitment Tracker.

Tita is always ready to deliver a big hit. A quick look at his play from his stint at Lamar makes that abundantly clear. And unlike a perfectly cut up highschool highlight reel, Tita’s season’s worth of action at Lamar lays his play out in the open. He’s aggressive and instinctive and appears to have some range. Rice football definitely knows what it wants from an outside linebacker at this point. Tita fits the bill.

Become a Patron!
Subscribe on Patreon for exclusive Rice football recruiting updates, practice notes and more.

Recent Posts

Rice Basketball drops first-ever AAC tilt to Tulane

By

The shooting woes continued for Rice basketball who dropped its American Conference opener on the road against Tulane on Wednesday night.

Playing in their first-ever AAC game, Rice basketball looked every bit the part in the opening minutes against the Tulane Green Wave. The Owls got to the line, made their free throw shots, knocked down a big three and otherwise went toe-to-toe with a Tulane squad that had won seven of eight on their home court so far this season. Then things went sideways.

The three ball faded away quickly. The foul trips stopped. But Tulane just kept scoring. A five-point game with a little under 13 minutes to play in the first half ballooned into a double-digit deficit in the blink of an eye. Then Rice was down by 14. Then 18. Rice was held to 25 percent shooting from the floor in the first half as the deficit continued to grow.

When Rice did manage to string a few baskets together, things got interesting, albeit in brief flashes. Rice got the game back within seven points early in the seven half. Tulane lengthened their advantage only for Rice to sneak back within nine points via a 7-0 run midway through the half. The Owls wouldn’t have much more of a resistance after that, though.

Following Rice’s last push to get within nine, Tulane outscored Rice 20-2 in the next six minutes of action. Down by 27 with zero points from Max Fiedler and only one Rice player above 12 points on the night, there wasn’t much more the Owls could do, falling on the road to begin AAC play 0-1.

Final Box | Tulane 84 – Rice 59

Key takeaway | Yellow Light U?

Green Light U has been the Owls’ tagline over the last several seasons, meant to reflect the “green light” head coach Scott Pera gives his shooters in what is meant to be a fast-paced, three-point-heavy offense. There’s just one problem so far this season: the shots aren’t falling. This was covered in further detail in our midseason Rice Basketball State of the Program and it doesn’t appear to have corrected itself in a significant way during the holiday break. Rice isn’t hitting threes.

Rice shot 25 percent from three against Tulane. Conservatively, that’s at least 10 percentage points behind what they’d call a mediocre day and 15 points behind a great day from deep. This team was built to have great days from long range. It can win with okay days. To continually fail to find any sort of production from three is going to render this offense sluggish, at best.

Travis Evee was 3-for-9 (33 percent) from three on Wednesday night. The rest of the team was 5-for-23 (22 percent). Simply put: the shooting wasn’t there and Rice basketball lost by double a landslide.

Up Next: vs UTSA (Saturday, Jan. 6)

Subscribe on Patreon for exclusive Rice football recruiting updates, practice notes and more.

Recent Posts

Rice Women’s Basketball tops Wichita State in AAC opener

By

Forced to play away from home in their American Conference opener, Rice Women’s Basketball prevailed nonetheless, topping Wichita State at the Fertitta Center across town.

Rice women’s basketball did not open American Conference play under ideal circumstances. The Owls were forced to play their “home opener” just down the road at the Fertitta Center because of water damage to Tudor Fieldhouse over the holidays.

Makeshift visitors in their inaugural game in a new league, Rice took some time to get settled into their red-clad benches. The Owls and the true visitors, Wichita State, traded baskets and free throws throughout the first quarter. It wasn’t until the midpoint of the second frame that the Owls started to find their groove, opening an 11-point lead, only for the Shockers to whittle it back within one score at halftime.

Wichita State scored the first five points in the second half, but it was all Rice from that point onward. The Owls outscored the Shockers 20-8 through the rest of the third quarter, taking a double-digit lead into the fourth quarter. Dominque Ennis led the charge, scoring 11 of her 17 points after the break. She left the game with a minute remaining in regulation with an injury, souring an otherwise very encouraging night for the Owls.

Staked to a 10-point advantage entering the fourth, the margin waivered below 10 points on two brief occasions, but the Owls delivered clutch free throws and kept things from getting too interesting down the stretch. Despite some early jitters, Rice found a way to close out the “home” win away from Tudor Fieldhouse and move to 1-0 in AAC play.

Final Box | Rice 76 – Wichita State 64

Key takeaway | Making the right adjustments

Early on, Wichita State was able to hang around in this game because of their ability to capitalize on extra opportunities. They outrebounded Rice 24-20 and edged Rice 10-5 in second-chance points, netting 33 percent of their first half scoring after their first shot failed. That’s an exorbitant amount of extra chances and something the Owls simply could not let continue if they were going to win this game.

Not only did Rice do a better job on the boards in the second half, 17-14 in their favor, but they stonewalled Wichita State in those second half opportunities. The Shockers had zero second-chance points in the second half, allowing that double-digit point differential that was bypassed in the first half to flow in earnest after the halftime buzzer. Without the extra opportunities, the Shockers couldn’t keep pace with the Owls.

The teams that strive to compete well into March can make those sorts of adjustments. Wednesday’s win was another step in the right direction for a Rice women’s basketball team that hopes to do just that.

Up Next: at SMU (Sunday, Jan. 7)

Subscribe on Patreon for exclusive Rice football recruiting updates, practice notes and more.

Recent Posts