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Victoria Flores Propels Rice Women’s Basketball Past UTSA

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A 33-point outburst from Victoria Flores propelled Rice women’s basketball to its 14th consecutive victory, a road win over UTSA in San Antonio.

UTSA struck first with a pair of jumpers out of the gate, but Rice women’s basketball controlled the vast majority of their Saturday tilt in San Antonio. The Owls were back in front a few possessions later and led from the midpoint of the first quarter onward.

The Roadrunners briefly tied things up at 15 apiece in the final minutes of the frame and went into halftime within three points, but the Owls responded early in the third quarter with a crushing 14-2 stretch via six free throws from Victoria Flores and a pair of threes, one each from Aniah Alexis and Louann Battiston.

Flores dominance from the line was matched with her success from the field. She led all scorers with 33 points, going 8-of-10 from the floor and 4-of-6 from three with 13 free throws and five rebounds.

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In front by double digits entering the fourth and final period, Rice weathered one last rally from the home team, but their sizable advantage and tenacious defense made it too little, too late. With the win, Rice women’s basketball improves to 19-3 on the season and 9-3 away from Tudor Fieldhouse.

Final Box | Rice 65, Temple 56

Key takeaway | Physical Dominance

One of the most encouraging aspects in this dominant run from Rice Women’s Basketball is how consistent they’ve been on both sides of the ball. Along the way, they’ve proven they can win with great defense and offensive outbursts. On Saturday, they did both, trusting in the hot hand of Flores while holding UTSA to less than 30 percent shooting.

Nine players had at least three fouls. Battiston fouled out. It was one of the most physically grueling games this team has played in some time and still, Rice won relatively comfortably posting 10 more rebounds than UTSA including 12 offensive boards. No one has out-physicalled this team in a while and it doesn’t look like many, if any, in the American Conference can match their toughness.

Up Next: at Memphis (Sat. Feb. 7 at 1:00 pm)

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Rice Basketball comes up short against Charlotte

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Rice Basketball gave the American Conference’s leading team a push before falling short late in the second half to split their North Carolina road trip.

Even though Charlotte opened the scoring with a three and made their first five shots from the field, Rice basketball looked very much up for the challenge in the early portions of their contest with the 49ers on Friday night. The Owls answered that initial burst with baskets of their own, including a pair from Nick Anderson, who put Rice in front for the first time with consecutive free throws not long afterwards.

The Rice lead would be short-lived, lasting a matter of minutes, but Rice would keep the game close and pull back ahead three more times in the first half as the two sides traded leads. Another three from Charlotte, this time right before the halftime buzzer, gave the 49ers a seven-point edge, their largest of the game to that point.

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Rice opened the second half with back-to-back-to-back threes from Cam Carroll, Jalen Smith and Nick Anderson, pulling within two points. Then the shots stopped falling — Rice missed 12 of their next 13 field goals — and Charlotte ran away with things for good. A 10-0 run for the Owls in the final minutes briefly made things interesting, but Charlotte slammed the door with 10 straight points, all free throws, to win the game.

Rice Basketball falls to 9-13 with the win. The Owls are 4-7 away from Tudor Fieldhouse this season.

Final Box | Rice 80, Charlotte 70

What They’re Saying

The biggest thing for me is (Charlotte shot) 52% from the field and 47% from three. They’re possibly playing the best basketball in the league right now. So your margin for error is not great. This wasn’t a matter of not playing hard or playing together. The level that we needed to play at needed to match the level that they’re playing at, and we didn’t meet that. The message after the game was that there’s a big difference between being discouraged and being disappointed. This was a disappointing outcome, but I’m very encouraged with the way we’re improving, the way we’re playing together, and the spirit of the team. There’s a great connection between these guys that I felt a couple of weeks ago I was longing for. I feel that taking place right now. – Rice Basketball head coach Rob Lanier

Key takeaway | Not the Wrong Recipe

Objectively, the defense could still be better, but for the most part, Rice basketball comported themselves rather well in a losing effort against the now 7-2 Charlotte 49ers. Rice won the rebound battle by 10, had 29 second chance points, didn’t turn the ball over, had seven assists and didn’t really deal with much in the way of foul trouble.

Basketball games aren’t played on paper, but strip out the score and this version of the game is one that will probably make the Owls competitive on most nights, especially if they find just a bit more consistency from three. There are no moral victories, though, and at 3-6 in the standings, Rice sure could use some wins.

Up Next: vs North Texas (Wed. Feb. 4 at 7:00 pm)

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Rice Women’s Basketball Stifles Temple at Home

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Rice women’s basketball ground out a defensive struggle to take down Temple and improve their winning streak to 13 games.

It was the defenses that took center stage on Wednesday night in an all-Owl affair at Tudor Fieldhouse. Rice women’s basketball held Temple to just eight first half field goals and 28 percent shooting, a mark which should have yielded a decent early lead had it not been for the other Owls’ equally imposing point-prevention efforts.

The difference at the break was a short sequence in the second quarter sparked by a three-pointer from Louann Battiston and continued not long after by another three from Victoria Flores. Temple had just one triple in the first 20 minutes as Rice shut walled off the perimeter and took a four-point edge into halftime.

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Shelby Hayes keyed a third quarter rally to get Rice in front by as many as 12 before Temple pulled back within seven to set up a pivotal final frame. Both sides traded baskets for a while before Dominique Ennis stepped up and delivered consecutive back-breaking threes to put the Owls back in front by double-digits once again.

Hailey Adams, who played all 40 minutes and registered a double-double, pointed towards shots like that when describing the team’s success.

“I’m surrounded by great shot makers,” she said. “Everyone on the team is a great shot makers so I just have to get the rebound and get it to them and they’re going to make the shot.”

From there, the Owls were able to clamp down on defense once again and secure their 13th consecutive victory. With the win, Rice women’s basketball improves to 18-3 on the season and remains a perfect 10-0 at Tudor Fieldhouse. This is the first Rice team to start 10-0 since the 2018-2019 squad that went undefeated at home that season. Still, the team is taking it one game at a time.

“It means a lot, but our motto this year is TNT, Today-Not-Tomorrow,” Shelby Hayes said, referencing the strong start at Tudor. “That’s all great, but we’ve got to focus on what’s in front of us and what’s next, and that’s UTSA. So we’re just going to focus on that.”

Final Box | Rice 65, Temple 56

What They’re Saying

Key takeaway | Making Them Brick It

Coming into Wednesday night, Temple had averaged 70.1 points per game, a number which ranked in the top five in the American Conference in scoring. They didn’t come close to that mark against Rice, a testament to the Owls’ relentless defense.

Rice held Temple to 34 percent shooting from the floor and forced 14 turnovers, preventing their visitors from ever getting into any semblance of a rhythm.

Temple made consecutive field goal attempts just three times in the duration of the contest and had extended droughts of 10 consecutive missed shots and a spurt in which they made just one of 12 from the floor.

Up Next: at UTSA (Sat. Jan. 31 at 1:00 pm)

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Rice Basketball soars past East Carolina on the road

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Big games from distance from Jalen Smith and Nick Anderson propelled Rice basketball past East Carolina for a much-needed road win.

Rice basketball was the aggressor early in Greenville on Wednesday night. East Carolina knocked down a layup to get things started, but the host Pirates would not lead again for the remainder of the first half thanks to some efficient shooting from the Owls. The Rice lead never reached comfortable margins, however.

East Carolina tied the game twice before the break, erasing a six-point deficit then a nine-point deficit to take a deadlock 33-all score into halftime.

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Nick Anderson set the tone from the first shot of the second half, knocking down a three to spark another Rice rally, quickly pulling back in front by nine following his second triple of the half. The lead ballooned to 17 on Jalen Smith’s fifth long ball of the night, a dagger shot that put the game out of reach.

Trae Broadnax would lengthen the advantage to 18 before East Carolina began whittling the lead down from there, but the Pirates simply did not have enough time to dig out from a deficit that high.

Rice Basketball improves to 9-12 with the win. The Owls are 3-5 away from Tudor Fieldhouse this season.

Final Box | Rice 83, East Carolina 77

Key takeaway | The Recipe is Three

Scoring points generally plays a meaningful role in winning basketball games and the three-point shot has proven an excellent tool for underdogs at all stages to find success. That’s been true of Rice basketball, too.

Coming into Wednesday, Rice was 6-3 when knocking down at least 10 three-pointers in a game; They’re now 7-3 and 2-9 in all other contests. Rice drained 12 threes against East Carolina, Smith and Anderson combining for nine of them.

Rice is one of the better three-point shooting teams in the American Conference even though they’re only fifth in total three-pointers attempted. If they can continue to hit them at the rate they have lately, it might be worth leaning even further into the long distance play moving forward.

Up Next: at Charlotte (Sat. Jan. 31 at 5:00 pm)

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Rice Basketball outlasted by Tulsa

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A massive opening deficit proved too much to overcome as Rice Basketball fell to Tulsa for the second time this season.

The game was nearly over before Rice basketball made their first field goal. The score was 16-0 at that time, in favor of the visiting Tulsa Golden Hurricane who blanked the Owls through the first five minutes of regulation until Cam Carroll knocked down a three, the first signs of life from the Owls.

Tulsa would grow their advantage to 22 points in the first half and went into halftime with a comfortable 20 point lead. Even with a strong rally — and Rice would play much better after the break — that kind of advantage would be hard to overcome.

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Rice slowly trimmed the Tulsa edge from 20 down to five, rattling off an 8-0 stretch to bring the game back within reach. Massive days from Nick Anderson (18 points), Jalen Smith (24) and Trae Broadnax (21) kept the dream alive. The Owls would get within three, but not any closer. Tulsa fought off that final Rice charge, sweeping the season series.

Rice Basketball falls to 8-12 with the loss. The Owls are 5-6 at Tudor Fieldhouse this season.

Final Box | Tulsa 87, Rice 81

Key takeaway | Outclassed

Most metrics and ratings system tab Tulsa as the best team in the American Conference and the second best team Rice basketball has played this year, trailing only Tennessee. That includes perennial NCAA Tournament contender Memphis and a talented Oregon squad. For the most part, Rice held their own against those last two teams. Tulsa, not so much.

Tulsa routed Rice 97-48 in their first meeting on New Year’s Eve and looked to be on their way to a similar result before Jalen Smith got hot from three to keep the game from reaching another obscene margin in favor of the Golden Hurricane.

Both Saturday’s result and the previous meeting make it clear Rice isn’t on that level, even if a burst of second half successes did its best to offer some hope. Basketball has inherit volatility and anyone really can beat anyone when they play their best game. But that’s what it would take for Rice to beat an NCAA Tournament caliber team right now — their absolute best. Anything less will produce just another loss.

Up Next: at East Carolina (Wed, Jan. 28 at 6:00 pm)

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