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Rice Women’s Basketball buries Texas Southern

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Rice Women’s Basketball turned on the jets late in the second half, surging past Texas Southern in one of their most dominant wins of the season.

In front of a roaring crowd of school children on Friday morning, Rice women’s basketball jumped out to a 7-0 lead in front of intra-city foe Texas Southern at Tudor Fieldhouse. The Tigers composed themselves and fought back to within one before another Rice rally put the home team in front by 10 at the conclusion of the first quarter.

Both teams swapped scores in the second frame but the margin hung around double digits at halftime. Texas Southern put up a fight in the early portions of the third quarter but that was all the Tigers had left in the tank. Rice closed the frame on a dominant 21-5 run, taking a 23-point lead into the fourth.

More: Rice Women’s Basketball 2024-2025 Season Preview

Rice would go on to stretch their lead to 30 with Malia Fisher leading the Owls with 19 points and Emily Klaczek connecting on 3-of-4 from three. The 27 point win represents the largest margin of victory for Rice women’s basketball this season as the team moves to 7-4 on the year.

Final Box | Rice 89, Texas Southern 62

Key takeaway | Runaway Win

Rice women’s basketball defeating a 1-6 Texas Southern team is far from a Herculean feat. This year’s Tigers squad is not in the same weight class as the Owls, something which was quite clear on Friday. However, this is not the first time this season Rice has been head and shoulders better than their opponent.

Simply put, putting games away has been a problem for this team. They’ve been able to race out to double-digit leads with relative ease, but finding a way to turn a 10-point third quarter advantage into a 20-point fourth quarter lead has been lacking, until now.

Rice won by 27. And while margin of victory isn’t the most important statistic in the world, in this case it is instructive. The Owls found that next gear that’s eluded them to this point and that’s something that should be an encouraging sign for the program moving forward.

Up Next: at Georgia Tech (Wed, 12/18)

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Rice Basketball comes up short at Texas State

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Rice Basketball drew close on multiple occasions but could never catch up to Texas State, falling on the road.

A pair of free throws from Trae Broadnax followed by a jumper from Trey Patterson put Rice basketball in front on the road against Texas State on Sunday afternoon. The Owls’ lead endured for the early portion of the first half before a 6-0 Texas State run leveled the score at eight apiece and signaled a changing of momentum for the remainder of the contest.

Both sides traded baskets from that point onward but a flurry of three-pointers by Texas State would prove to be significant. The Bobcats hit six in the first half, accounting for nearly half of their made baskets. The Owls had to make do with just two triples and went into the half training by four points.

More: Rice Basketball 2024-2025 Season Preview

Rice cut their deficit to one point on five separate occasions in the second half but never was able to break through and level the score. Each close call was answered by Texas State and while the Bobcats never built a commanding lead — their largest of the game was nine — it was enough to hold on for the victory.

Rice falls to 7-3 with the loss and 4-3 in games played away from Tudor Fieldhouse.

Final Box | Texas State 75, Rice 66

Key takeaway | A bit better on the boards

Rice basketball did a lot of things well against Texas State. Aside from a couple less threes and the already evident free throw inconsistencies, the Owls mirrored the Bobcats in shooting and outdid them in second chance points, blocks and steals. The one most glaring deficiency came on the boards, where Texas State finished with a commanding 37-28 advantage.

In a game that was within a possession or two for almost a full 40 minutes, those nine rebounds add up. Another rebound here or there can swing momentum and perhaps change the result of a close game like this. For the time being, this game should be considered the exception, not the rule. Rice was +49 in rebounds entering this game and had never been outrebounded by more than four.

Up Next: vs Alcorn State (Mon, Dec. 16)

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Rice Women’s Basketball runs out of steam at Louisiana

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A close game got away from Rice Women’s Basketball down the stretch as the Owls fell to Louisiana on the road.

Rice Women’s Basketball found themselves in a defensive slugfest on the road against Louisiana early Saturday afternoon where points were at a premium and the score was harrowingly close for a full 40 minutes.

A 4-0 Louisiana lead to start the game proved to be just one basket shy of the largest lead by either side through the first 38 minutes. Louisiana led by three after the first quarter. The game pinballed back and forth to a 27-27 tie at halftime. Louisiana pulled back in front by two entering the fourth quarter before the game would be all tied up at 49 apiece with 5:09 to go in regulation.

More: Rice Women’s Basketball 2024-2025 Season Preview

Every indication suggested this one would go down to the wire. The contest featured eight ties and 12 lead changes culminating in a two-point Louisiana lead with 80 seconds to play. Then things went sideways for the Owls, who were held without a field goal for more than two minutes down the stretch while the Cajuns closed things out on an 8-0 run.

Final Box | Louisiana 64, Rice 54

Key takeaway | Not simply a player away

For the past month, it was tempting to look at this team’s offensive inconsistency and tendency to allow big leads to wither late and believe everything would be better when Malia Fisher returned to the floor. Rice Women’s basketball was victorious in her return game against Utah Tech, but the good feelings were stifled somewhat by a 10-point loss in what should have been a much closer contest against Louisiana.

If it wasn’t clear before, this team isn’t one player away from being “fixed”, whatever that was supposed to mean, anyhow.

The good news is that it’s not even the middle of December yet and Fisher is far from the version of herself she’ll hopefully be in the spring. But that same truth has to be indicative of this team, too. There’s a lot of growth that needs to happen over the next several weeks and months for them to become the juggernaut they dreamed of being this season. The AAC is a tough league and they’re not going to be handed another conference crown.

Up Next: vs Texas Southern (Fri, 12/13)

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Malia Fisher returns, Rice Women’s Basketball tops Utah Tech

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Rice Women’s Basketball has won four in a row at home, defeating Utah Tech in the Owls first game back from Cancun.

Utah Tech hit their first shot of the night, a three-pointer to open the game. It was all Rice women’s basketball the rest of the way. The Owls took the lead for good with 5:11 remaining in the first quarter on a layup from Sussy Ngulefac and never looked back.

Rice led by eight after the first quarter and grew its advantage to 14 by halftime. Utah Tech pushed back in the third, cutting the deficit to eight, but two well-timed baskets from Malia Fisher got the Owls’ advantage back to double-digits.

More: Rice Women’s Basketball 2024-2025 Season Preview

In the fourth quarter, Utah Tech rallied once more, getting within six. Who else, but Fisher arrived with a three to claw back some breathing room down the stretch? As has been the case with this team all season, a large never truly felt completely safe, but with Fisher back on the court, Rice was able to weather the comeback much more saliently, hanging on to win at home.

Final Box | Rice 82, Utah Tech 71

What They’re Saying

I’m really glad to be back at home and be back in front of our fans and get a win. Wins are hard to come by, and I’m grateful to get a win. I think our group has so much potential, and I think we can be really, really great. I think we showed that in spurts tonight, and we are going to continue to challenge them to show a full 40 minutes and see how special we can truly be. We’re still growing as a team and trying to figure that piece out. I thought there were a lot of really good performances, in particular by [Malia and Hailey] and also by Sussy. There are definitely some good highlights and some really good stats out there; I just would have liked to have seen us just finish out the game a little bit better. – Rice Women’s Basketball head coach Lindsay Edmonds

Key takeaway | Malia’s back!

By far the most significant development of this game wasn’t the score, but rather the return of Malia Fisher to the court. Fisher had yet to appear in a game for the Owls so far this season after suffering a wrist injury in the offseason. The hope was always to have her back by conference play.

Fisher did not start, but saw 19 minutes of court time on Wednesday, leading all scorers with 17 points and collecting six rebounds. The cameo certainly points towards a closer-to-100-percent version of the Owls’ preseason all-conference player by the time AAC play arrives on December 29. That might just be the best Christmas gift this program could have asked for.

Up Next: at Louisiana (Sat, 12/7)

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Rice Basketball goes 2-1 at Nassau Championship

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Rice Basketball went 2-1 in their three-game set at the Nassau Championship in the Bahamas, falling to Hofstra before beating Arkansas State and Iona.

Hofstra 68, Rice 63

The Story

Hofstra jumped out to an early 18-9 lead, staying at least a couple of buckets ahead of Rice for the duration of the first half. It was in the second frame that Rice made its run, forcing one of 11 lead changes in the contest which eventually went to overtime which was also tied with a minute remaining in that period. Hofstra would score the final five points to hold on in a hard-fought contest.

Rice 75, Arkansas State 67

The Story

Arkansas State got on the board first and maintained a narrow advantage over Rice throughout much of the first half before a Jacob Dar three, his first as an Owl, put Rice in front going into halftime. Arkansas State would retake the lead early in the second half on a 7-0 run, but clutch free throw shooting — the Owls had a season-high 39 foul shots — and strong defense helped propel Rice back in front for good.

Rice 70, Iona 66

The Story

The largest lead for either side in this game was seven. Despite those tight margins, Rice felt like it had every chance to run away with the game early. Two 5-0 runs a 6-0 run and a 7-0 run in the first half were mitigated by Rice turnovers and a lackluster day on the boards. Iona continued to fight back, getting with one point with 2:23 to play. Rice scored six of the final nine points of the game, putting things away with four free throws from Trae Broadnax in the final seconds.

What We Learned

For those who might have pushed it out of their minds, Rice basketball was picked to finish dead last in the American Conference Preseason Coaches Poll. So much about the program was unknown given the coaching change and the reworked roster.

Rice played well in their early slate, starting the season 6-1, falling only to Florida State (Kenpom 58). This week’s Nassau Championship offered another measuring stick — three games against programs all picked to finish in the top four in their respective leagues. The Owls passed with high marks.

Arkansas State (116) was the preseason favorite in the Sun Belt. Rice beat them. The also beat Iona (252), picked third in the MAAC and took Hofstra (163), a top four pick in the CAA, to overtime. At the very least, the Owls proved they belong in that top 150ish conversation. Indeed, they check in at 164 in Kenpom after the conclusion of the tournament.

By Kenpom, Rice ranks ninth in the AAC. They’re a far cry from the top of the ladder — Memphis (31) and North Texas (66) are clearly in a different class right now — but they’re squarely in the mix. Roughly one month into Rob Lanier’s first season on campus, it’s hard to ask for much more than this.

“We just played with some resolve and found a way to win a game,” Lanier said following the Arkansas State win. “We played with a level of desperation, and I’m proud of the guys that we were able to overcome that.”

The team is playing cohesively with a clear defensive identity. The offense has shown flashes. The free throw struggles of the early portions of the season weren’t a problem in clutch moments in the Bahamas. And we still haven’t seen this team truly turn in a dominant offensive performance which the sum of these parts suggest is coming, at some point.

A good week or two might have been easier to right off. We’ve reached the one month mark of consistent quality basketball from Lanier’s bunch. This team looks to have some staying power. And with conference play looming, it’s reasonable to continue adjusting those preseason expectations ever so slightly upward as the season presses onward.

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