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Early turnovers doom Rice Women’s Basketball at Memphis

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Rice Women’s Basketball struggled early and was unable to complete a comeback, falling to Memphis on the road.

The shots were falling early for Rice women’s basketball, but they weren’t coming often enough. Slippery hands led to an astounding 14 turnovers in the first half, forcing the visiting Owls into an uphill battle against a Memphis squad that did not return the favor.

Midway through the second quarter, the Rice offense started to slow down and Memphis began to widen the gap. The Tigers led by as many as 10 points before a well-timed three from Kennedy Clifton cut the Owls’ deficit to eight heading into halftime. Despite their struggles, they had a chance to make it a ballgame in the second half.

The tide began to turn in the third quarter. Memphis turned the ball over more than Rice who got the margin back within five points as the fourth quarter arrived. Emily Klaczek gave the Owls their first lead of the second half, but a last second shot wouldn’t fall, sending the game to overtime without the services of Malia Fisher, who fouled out near the end of regulation.

Rice made just one field goal in extra time. Memphis made three, pulling back in front of the Owls to hand them a costly road loss.

Final Box | Memphis 79 – Rice 74

Key takeaway | Protect the basketball

Memphis had nine more shots than Rice on Tuesday night. The Tigers weren’t roughly as efficient as the Owls, shooting 45.5 percent from the floor to the Owls’ 47.4 percent, but what the home team lacked in efficiency they were able to make up for in volume. That’s because Rice gave the ball away way too many times, committing 22 turnovers on the night.

Even when accounting for the seven Memphis steals, the prevailing storyline was mental mistakes and unforced errors. That’s how a team like Rice, which entered the night tied for first in the win column among all AAC teams, found itself in comeback mode against a Memphis team near the bottom of the standings.

Rice is a better team than Memphis. They didn’t show that Tuesday and there are only a handful of games remaining before the wiggle room goes away. There are no mulligans in March.

Up Next: vs Temple (Sunday, Feb. 25)

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Rice basketball drops OT finish at Tulsa

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A back-and-forth battle ended with a lopsided overtime result as Rice basketball ran out of gas in extra minutes at Tulsa.

Not too far removed from a thriller that went down to the wire, Rice basketball and Tulsa produced another back-and-forth slugfest the second time around. Alem Huseinovic and Max Fiedler provided the offensive spark to get the Owls going early, but Tulsa seemed to have an answer for every Rice run.

Neither side led by more than six points in the first quarter and they were tied at the halftime buzzer. That theme continued after the break, this time with Travis Evee catching fire. He scored 16 of his team-high 21 points in the second half, but it was only enough to force extra basketball, not earn a victory.

Those final five minutes belonged solely to the Golden Hurricane. Tulsa opened the scoring in overtime with a 7-0 run. At that point, the result seemed all but decided. The loss was the Owls’ third straight defeat overall and snapped a three-game winning streak on the road in conference play.

Final Box | Tulsa 93 – Rice 82 (OT)

Key takeaway | Can’t teach clutch

Aside from the final score, there was a lot to like from the box score for Rice basketball on Saturday. They shot the ball reasonably well, got big games from Travis Evee and Max Fiedler and led Tulsa in rebounds and points in the paint. But games aren’t decided by box scores or by aggregate measures. They’re decided in key moments, in overtime sequences, with everything on the line.

The painful reality for this team right now is this: when the lights have shined the brightest, they haven’t risen to the challenge. That was the case on Saturday against Tulsa. In a winnable game that went to overtime, Rice wilted in extra minutes. Tulsa outscored Rice 14-3 in overtime.

Flip the results of a handful of clutch moments and this Rice team looks respectable against some potent AAC opponents. But that’s not how this works. The clutch gene has avoided the Owls and their record is a reflection of that. There are no points rewarded for almost.

Up Next: at UAB (Wednesday, Feb. 21)

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Rice Women’s Basketball falls to UAB on the road

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Rice Women’s Basketball saw a three-game winning streak snapped on Saturday, falling to UAB on the road.

Tied in the win column with North Texas entering the weekend, Rice women’s basketball was riding a hot streak to the top of the AAC standings. That momentum looked to continue at tip off against UAB with Malia Fisher back in the starting lineup and the scorer of the game’s first points.

Both sides traded baskets in the early going as the lead seesawed back and forth. Seven was the largest margin for either side held only briefly by the Blazers to start the second quarter. Not long after, Rice used a 12-3 run to erase the deficit completely, going in front in the final minute of the half. Fisher led the way with 10 points. She would go on to finish with a team-high 20.

Fisher got the scoring started again in the third quarter and later provided a big basket, punctuating a 10-0 Rice run to put the visiting Owls back in front once more. The eight points of the quarter would belong to UAB, though, providing an ominous foreshadowing for what would prove to be a disappointing fourth quarter for Rice. It would be the final of 17 lead changes in the contest.

UAB couldn’t miss in the final frame, shooting 73 percent from the field to the Owls’ 37 percent. That helped the home team outscore Rice by seven in those final 10 minutes. UAB ended the game on a 6-0 run, slamming the door on any hopes of a late comeback.

Final Box | UAB 87 – Rice 74

Key takeaway | Bench blocked

Following a streak of several huge performances from the Rice bench, the Owls’ reserves were limited to 26 points today. For most teams, that’s a solid showing, but the Rice bench hit 50 points last time out against ECU and was largely kept in check beyond a strong shooting performance from Jazzy Owens-Barnett.

The bench isn’t really a question mark for this squad at this point. We know they’re deep, capable and talented. The question now becomes can the stars of this team rise up and take over a game when they need to?

Malia Fisher (9-of-21), Destiny Jackson (5-of-9) and Dominque Ennis (2-for-11) each had really good moments today. But when push came to shove in the fourth quarter, the efficiency was not there in clutch moments. Nobody should overreact to one game, but it’s a fair reminder that as much as Rice needs its depth, it’s going to need its stars, too.

Up Next: at Memphis (Tuesday, Feb. 20)

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Rice Women’s Basketball thumps ECU

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Rice Women’s Basketball held serve for a quarter before turning on the gas and blasting past ECU, sweeping the Pirates on the season.

Some teams have an extra gear. That might be the best way to sum up what happened Wednesday night at Tudor Fieldhouse when Rice women’s basketball routed a good East Carolina team that entered the evening 7-3 in AAC play against non-Rice squads. For a full quarter, ECU looked up to the task. Then the Owls left the Pirates in the dust.

In the final minutes of the first frame, Rice and ECU were deadlocked at 13 points each. What came next, spanning the remainder of that quarter and the first six or so minutes of the next was a dominant defensive performance, enabling Rice to go on a 13-0 run bookended with points from Malia Fisher, coming off the bench. Fisher dazzled with 22 points and eight rebounds, playing the second most minutes on the team.

“It definitely feels good to be back,” Fisher said of her landmark performance. “But I couldn’t have done it without my team.”

Speaking of that team, Rice emptied the bench on Wednesday night, playing 14 different players and yet somehow only growing their advantage as they game progressed and the starters began to take a seat. That large second quarter run would set up a 19-point third quarter advantage that would prove to be insurmountable.

The fourth quarter was a breeze. The result was never in doubt. Once again, Rice women’s basketball dominated one of the top teams in the AAC standings. The Owls now stand in sole possession of second place.

“If we take care of business like that, I really like our chances of winning the day and winning the games and stacking days and priming ourselves for where we want to be in March, as far as standings go,” head coach Lindsay Edmonds said, praising the dominant performance.

Final Box | Rice 75 – ECU 57

What They’re Saying

“We can control our own destiny. We can control the controllables. We can come out and do the things that we know we’re capable of night in, night out, regardless of who we’re playing. I think every single one of our games coming up is a tough game, but we have to take care of business.” – Head coach Lindsay Edmonds

Key takeaway | At their best

Three of the Owls four losses came in a 10 day stretch with Malia Fisher sidelined and other meaningful players out of action for one game or another. Nobody is ever quite at full strength during this part of the calendar, but that span from the end of January until the first game of February represented the most depleted this roaster has been all season. The results echo that reality.

But what happened next should send shockwaves throughout the entire conference. Finally healthy with Fisher back in her rhythm, this team is dangerous. AAC teams must be weary, but at this rate, the Owls might not stop there. While the team will wisely take things one game at a time, it’s worth considering how far this team can go if performances like this are in their arsenal

The squad that took the court on Valentine’s night, sporting bold, pink uniforms with the strong game to match them, that team looked like an NCAA Tournament team. They have more work to do in the weeks ahead of they want to get there, but the groundwork is being laid right now. As Edmonds said, they need to keep stacking wins. There’s no telling how high this team can climb.

Up Next: at UAB (Saturday, Feb. 17)

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Rice Women’s Basketball leans on bench to blow past Tulsa

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Rice Women’s Basketball jumped out to an early lead against Tulsa, controlling the game in a convincing home victory.

Rice women’s basketball never led the first time they took the court against Tulsa this season. The Owls trailed for most of that game before mounting a late comeback in the final minutes to tie, but never surpass, the Golden Hurricane. This time around, the Owls were ready, jumping out to a 7-0 lead in a game they would control for the duration.

Tulsa didn’t go quietly into the night, taking a brief one-point lead at the end of the first quarter. It was at that point, though, Rice went to its bench and made good use of its deep roster. Jazzy Owens-Barnett delivered 10 straight points in the second quarter before giving way to Hailey Adams, who scored seven of the Owls’ next 10.

Emily Klaczek had a run of her own in the third quarter. It was as if the Owls were handing off a baton throughout the game, with each player doing their part and passing the task to another. Malia Fisher, Dominque Ennis and Destiny Jackson with a combined 13 points, but Rice held the line and kept the lead.

Tulsa whittled their deficit down to five at the start of the fourth quarter but would not get closer than that. Seemingly every Rice player made at least one basket in the final frame — seven different Owls scored in the fourth quarter — as Rice slammed the door with a 7-0 run punctuated with a run-away layup from Owens-Barnett to go ahead by 15.

“It’s super fun to be able to just know the person you’re throwing to is nine times out of ten going to hit that shot,” Owens-Barnett joked afterward. “It’s really fun,” Adams said. “There’s so many more reads you can make. There’s so many more things that can happen.”

The win propels Rice past Tulsa in the conference standings and ensures a split in the regular season series with the Golden Hurricanes. At 8-4, Rice now moves to third in the AAC standings.

Final Box | Rice 78 – Tulsa 66

What They’re Saying

“Winning is fun. I’m really proud of this team. I’m really proud of our effort, really proud of how locked in I thought we were from tip to finish. That’s a great basketball team. They’re going to win a lot of games, but I think we just showed today how talented we are, how deep we are, and how impressive we are. Our bench was tremendous for us, 41 points off the bench to their nine. I’ve been talking about it all year long, how deep this team is, and you can sub and there’s no drop off. I think today just showcases that even more. But winning is fun. That was a lot of fun.” – Head coach Lindsay Edmonds

Key takeaway | Making it hard for them

The record might not be pristine, but the focus of this team is to be at their best in March when every game matters that much more. Injuries and bad bounces have handed Rice women’s basketball their fair share of lumps thus far, but time and time again, they’ve responded with nights like tonight.

The last time these two teams met on the court, Delanie Crawford and Temira Poindexter combined for 48 points. This go around that dynamic scoring duo reached 44 points, but it required 35 shots to get there.

“They’re both tremendous players. They both get up a lot of shots. You have to be honed in to them at all times. You’re never going to be able to keep either of them scoreless because they’re that good,” Edmonds said. “We just wanted to make everything hard for them.”

Up Next: vs ECU (Wednesday, Feb. 14)

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