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Rice Women’s basketball upsets UTSA, on to AAC Semis

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Rice Women’s Basketball remains undefeated in AAC Tournament games, improving to 6-0 all time with an upset of 1-Seed UTSA.

After playing UTSA close in a pair of regular season contests, Rice women’s basketball entered their AAC Tournament quarterfinal with hopes that the third time would be the charm. While the Roadrunners led for most of the first quarter, the Owls rattled off a 9-0 run early in the second quarter to take a four-point lead into halftime.

Rice would maintain that advantage throughout the third quarter, leaning on a couple of well-timed threes from Dominque Ennis to keep UTSA at arm’s length. A free throw from Sussy Ngulefac pushed the Owls’ lead to nine, their largest of the afternoon to that point, in the closing moments of the third.

More: Rice Football: 2025 Recruiting Class Analysis — Defense

UTSA collected themselves in the changeover before the final frame began, opening the scoring with eight straight to claw back within a single point. Onlookers collectively drew in deep breaths, wondering if a fourth quarter collapse was looming or if the resilient March-tested version of Rice women’s basketball would emerge in a do-or-die moment. It was the latter.

A jumper from Aniah Alexis, sandwiched between a pair of threes from Victoria Flores turned a one-score game upside down. Up by nine points with 1:41 to play, the Owls were able to lean on their defense, knock down a few free throws, and walk away from the court with the biggest upset of the AAC Tournament thus far.

Final Box | Rice 62, UTSA 58

What They’re Saying | Post Game Press Conference

Key takeaway | Tournament Owls

Rice is undefeated in AAC Tournament games. That streak will end at some point, probably. UConn managed never to lose an AAC Tournament game, but barring historic dominance, a loss in the AAC Tournament will come. Rice is just hoping that eventual defeat holds off a while longer.

“There was a different aura about us, a different walk about us, a different talk about us,” head coach Lindsay Edmonds said, reflecting on her program’s ability to flip a switch and play their best basketball in these do-or-die moments. “So “maybe it is a thing. Whatever it is, I want to bottle it up and I want to keep going for two more.”

Or, more succinctly in the words of an assistant coach to the team this week, “The Tournament Owls are back.

The version of Rice women’s basketball that took the court against UTSA on Monday afternoon sure looked like the one that was promised months ago. The team that talked about seedings and NCAA Tournament expectations had the talent and the swagger to take down a team that was receiving votes in the NCAA Top 25. But for whatever the reason, that team hasn’t shown up very often this season. Not until now.

“I think winning [the conference tournament- last year, we’ve taken a lot of that mentality. We know how to win. We know what it takes to come from the bottom and finish on the top,” she said. “We’re trying to bottle up that experience and take it with us now and finish with a ring.”

It might have been easy to look past the version of Rice women’s basketball that struggled through January and February. However, nobody is looking past the Owls right now who stand two wins away from an improbable return to the Big Dance.

Up Next: AAC Tournament Winner of 12-Seed Charlotte vs 4-Seed Temple

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Rice Women’s Basketball surges past UAB at AAC Tournament

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Rice Women’s Basketball finished off an early lead with a dominant fourth quarter run to extend their season and defeat UAB in the American Conference Tournament.

UAB got out of the gates in a hurry in the first game of a full four-game Sunday slate at Dickies Arena, the hosting venue for the bulk of the 2025 American Conference Tournament. The eight-seed Blazers took a 10-3 over Rice Women’s Basketball as the Owls struggled to get their shots to fall in the opening minutes of the contest.

Rice would close the quarter on a 7-0 run to bring the score even at 15 apiece before building themselves a modest lead at halftime, furthered by a buzzer-beating three from Malia Fisher as the clock expired before the break. Fisher’s three put Rice up by eight and while UAB would inch closer in the third quarter, Rice was able to maintain a healthy lead and enter the final frame up by nine.

More: Rice Football: 2025 Recruiting Class Analysis — Defense

UTSA scored the first four points in the fourth quarter to get back within five but that was the moment Rice women’s basketball seized control and never looked back. Rice scored 12 unanswered points, turning a close game into a relatively comfortable win to survive an advance to the next round of the American Conference Tournament.

Final Box | Rice 76, UAB 63

What They’re Saying

I’m just incredibly proud of our group. Grateful for the opportunity to compete in the Conference Tournament. Grateful to get the first win. I thought we had a very well balanced attack and it was everything that we needed to make sure that we get this first win. – Rice women’s Basketball head coach Lindsay Edmonds

Key takeaway | Finding that fourth quarter fight

Closing out games has been the Achilles heel for Rice women’s basketball this season. So many fourth quarter leads have evaporated in the matter of minutes dropping the Owls down the standings all the way to the No. 9 seed.

There was a moment on Sunday afternoon when it felt like that nagging pain would resurface for one final, fateful time. UAB opened the fourth quarter on a quick 4-0 run, cutting a nine-point deficit down to five to get back within striking distance with a full quarter remaining.

Rather than fold, Rice rallied. The Owls rattled off 12 unanswered points, catapulting themselves to a 17-point lead, their largest of the game. That furious rally is what this team has been missing all too often this season. If they can showcase that fight just a few more times they’ll have a real chance to keep their season alive a few more days and replicate last year’s historic run.

“We start the year saying that are season is three seasons, non-conference, conference and then the conference tournament is our third season. It was 0-0 before today, the wins and the losses didn’t matter. We wanted to come out and be the best team that we could be today and get the first win. We talked about last year. We talked about the run that we had,” Edmonds said.

“Last year was incredible and we want to feel that again, but nobody is going to hand it to us. We got to make sure that we go and take it every single day. We need to be hungry for the wins that we need here.”

The task doesn’t get any easier, though. Rice draws No. 1 Seed UTSA in their next game. The Roadrunners edged the Owls’ 57-55 a few weeks ago on Senior Day.

Up Next: AAC Tournament (vs 1-Seed UTSA | Monday, March 10 at 12:00 PM CT)

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Rice Basketball loses to Wichita State on Senior Day

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As has been the case for much of the season, Rice Basketball took another team down to the wire, this time falling to Wichita State.

A swarming Rice basketball defense set the tone for what would become a grind of a game at Tudor Fieldhouse on Senior Night. The Owls forced three Wichita State turnovers in the first two minutes, jumping out quickly to an 8-2 advantage. They’d hold a small lead for the better portion of the first half before things began to unravel.

Wichita State went on a thunderous 12-0 run to go in front by seven, taking advantage of six Rice turnovers in that span. Despite an ice-cold stretch in which Rice missed 11-of-12 shots from the field and fell behind by 10, the Owls were able to rally and get back within three points at halftime.

More: Rice Football: 2025 Recruiting Class Analysis — Offense

After a bit of shooting lull to open the second half, Rice finally started to heat up from the field. Four consecutive field goals, two from Andrew Akuchie inside and a pair of threes from Alem Huseinovic brought the game back within one possession. That razor thin margin would linger for the rest of the game.

Emory Lanier his a layup to bring Rice within four with 6:57 to play. Neither side would make a field goal for more than six minutes until Wichita State finally got a jumper to go, snapping a stretch of 12 missed shots in a row. Unfortunately for Rice, their seven consecutive misses prevented them from closing the gap and resulted in yet another deflating, close loss.

Final Box | Wichita State 63, Rice 59

What They’re Saying

Key takeaway | Onto Denton, then Fort Worth?

The final standings won’t be determined until after the weekend, but Rice basketball will be playing at the Super Pit next Wednesday. By virtue of the Owls’ loss on Thursday, they won’t catch Tulsa in the standings and will most likely be playing Charlotte in the play-in game. The seeding, whether Rice will be the No. 12 or No. 13, is yet to be determined.

If Rice can win that game, set to be played at the Super Pit in Denton, then they’ll join the rest of the conference at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth for the rest of the tournament.

Up Next: AAC Tournament

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Rice Women’s Basketball drops home finale to North Texas

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Rice Women’s Basketball rallied from a large deficit in the first half but couldn’t replicate the feat in the second half, falling to North Texas at home.

Rice women’s basketball may not have had a worse first quarter against a conference opponent this season than they experienced on Tuesday night against North Texas. The Owls were outscored 14-0 before they got on the board, barely clawing back to a 10-point deficit before the end of the frame.

The second quarter was an entirely different story. Rice came out the aggressor, scoring 15 of the first 18 points to take a two-point lead over the Mean Green and make this game interesting once more. North Texas would counterpunch, ending the half on a 9-0 run to take a seven-point lead into the break.

More: Rice Football: 2025 Recruiting Class Analysis — Defense

North Texas would hold serve in the second half, keeping Rice women’s basketball at arm’s length and answering every volley with one of their own. Rice made consecutive field goals just once in the third quarter before unraveling in earnest in the fourth.

After a layup from Sussy Ngulefac opened the scoring, North Texas outscored Rice 10-2 in the next four minutes, turning a comfortable lead into a one-sided advantage with haste. Rice women’s basketball falls to 14-16 on the season and 7-11 in conference play.

Final Box | North Texas 68, Rice 56

Key takeaway | Can Lightning Strike Twice?

If things hold, Rice women’s basketball should be the No. 8 seed in the American Conference Tournament this weekend, a far cry from where this squad expected to be. However, this program proved a season ago that an up-and-down regular season could be pushed aside in March in favor of an electric run to a tournament championship.

Rice didn’t want to bank on another miracle to reach a second consecutive NCAA Tournament, but that’s what the Owls will need to reach those lofty goals. For better or worse, it’s a series of one-game seasons from this point onward with an eye on the horizon looking for another bolt of inspiration.

Up Next: AAC Tournament

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Rice Basketball runs out of steam at UTSA

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Rice Basketball traded punches with UTSA in the first half but couldn’t keep pace with the Roadrunners’ offense which ran away with the game in the second half.

What began as a defensive slugfest on Sunday night between Rice basketball and UTSA at the Convocation Center in San Antonio, TX was a far cry from the offensive firefight between these same teams that happened at Tudor Fieldhouse in mid-January. Both teams were held below 40 percent in the first half this time around, trading meager leads throughout the opening portion of the contest.

UTSA was the first to amass a two-score lead when Marcus Millender hit the fourth three-pointer of the evening with a little less than three minutes remaining before the halftime buzzer. The Roadrunners snagged the first meaningful a few minutes later, scoring 12 of the final 14 points from the field in the first half to take an eight point advantage into halftime.

More: Rice Football: 2025 Recruiting Class Analysis — Offense

Rice would keep things relatively close for the opening portions of the second half until UTSA started to connect from long range. The Roadrunners’ Primo Spears knocked down a trio of consecutive three pointers to get their advantage to double-digits for the first time. Rice, which had only made 1-of-14 threes to that point, found itself in a sizable hole.

The lead only ballooned from there. Shortly thereafter UTSA took charge in earnest with an emphatic 16-3 run, rendering signs of life from three-point range largely moot. Rice basketball has now lost six of its last seven games.

Final Box | UTSA 84, Rice 56

Key takeaway | Scouting the Standings

March is officially here and the conference tournament is right around the corner. With the shrinking calendar and the mounting losses, Rice basketball is running out of time to avoid a potential first round game pitting the bottom two teams in the conference standings.

Rice (4-13) and Charlotte (3-13) hold those positions at this point. The Owls had been just above the line, but this loss to UTSA, which moves the Roadrunners just above them in the standings. Rice has one game remaining against Wichita State, capping the Owls’ conference win total at a maximum of five.

If Rice win that game and Tulsa loses to Temple and Wichita State, Rice would escape the opening round game, but the Owls have reached the point of the season where they need help after failing to help themselves often enough during the year.

Up Next: vs Wichita State (Thr, Mar. 6)

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