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Rice Women’s Basketball: 2023-2024 New Year’s State of the Program

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Rice women’s basketball has battled through a rocky non-conference start. Here’s where the Owls stand with American Conference play ahead.

Unlike a season ago when Rice women’s basketball powered through nonconference play undefeated, the Owls have had to earn every win to start their 2023-2024 campaign. There’s been good, bad and everything in between and there isn’t any time to take a breather. The first AAC games in program history are right around the corner, whether Rice is ready for them or not.

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Rice women’s basketball entered this season with high expectations in league play. Can they still reach those? And what do they need to do, if anything to get back on track as conference play begins? Let’s dig in.

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Grab Bag: What’s going on around Rice Athletics? December Q&A

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Rather than drill down on one topic, subscribers had a variety of questions this month touching all areas of Rice Athletics. We hit on them all.

From expectations under a new AD to NIL to future athletic renovations, there was a lot of ground to cover in this month’s Q&A. Want to get your questions answered? Subscribe on Patreon for our monthly mailbag.

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Rice Basketball falls short against Louisiana

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Rice basketball dropped its final contest of 2023 to Louisiana and will enter AAC play 6-7 overall in the New Year.

Finally back to .500 at 6-6 following a tough start to the season, Rice basketball was hoping to finish off their final game before a lengthy holiday break with a win. Those dreams died rather quickly on Friday night, however, as Louisiana marched into Tudor Fieldhouse and dropped 10 first-half three-pointers on the Owls, knocking down seven of their first nine from distance.

Rice got off to a much slower start, making just 29.6 percent of their shots from the field in the first half. They attempted just nine threes as their normal leading scorer, Travis Evee, was held to just three points before halftime.

Trailing by 14 points at the break, Rice was able to trim the lead on a few separate occasions. The Owls had run of five consecutive baskets and two free throws early in the second half to get within six. They fell behind once more only for Evee and Alem Huseinovic to rain down several threes and get back within single digits. But that was always roughly the margin and never much closer.

Back within eight in the final three minutes, Louisiana would go on a 9-0 run to close it out sending Rice into their Christmas break 6-7.

Final Box | Louisiana 84 – Rice 67

Key takeaway | Time for a reset

It’s been an unforgiving schedule for Rice basketball to start the season. They wanted to be tested and give themselves an opportunity to pick up a marquee win or two. Not only did they not achieve the latter, but they’ll enter their conference slate below .500 on the season.

There’s a lot to unpack and there will be a midseason state of the program coming for our subscribers during the Owls’ long break from the court. The most important thing for this team right now is to exhale, take a deep breath and reset.

Conference play is coming. It’s going to be significantly tougher than it was a season ago in Conference USA. This iteration of Rice basketball has flashed moments of being up to the challenge, but it’s clear they need a break and some time for the coaching staff to make a few additional tweaks. How the season goes from here hangs in the balance.

Up Next: at Tulane – Jan. 3 (Wed.)

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Rice Women’s Basketball blasts PVAMU

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Trinity Gooden returned to the court and Rice women’s basketball rolled to a win, routing Prairie View A&M at home.

Rice women’s basketball was slow out of the gate in their last game against Gonzaga but turned things on in the second half. Even though they didn’t win that game, the Owls found a way to keep that intensity going into their next game against Prairie View A&M.

Buoyed by the return of Trinity Gooden to the lineup after a month’s absence, Rice quickly turned a minor three-point advantage into a double-digit lead. Gooden, Dominque Ennis and Maya Bokunewicz sparked that run with a three-pointer apiece. With the lead in place, the Owls would continue to add to it from that point onward.

That initial run would prove to be a harbinger of things to come as Rice women’s basketball delivered one of their most balanced attacks of the season thus far. Seven different players scored double-digit points as that 10-point lead grew to 20 and eventually to 33 points.

Final Box | Rice 85 – PVAMU 59

What they’re saying

“It feels good to get a win. It’s always good to get a win at home. I thought we played pretty well today. Again, coaches, we’re never happy, right, but I thought for three quarters, we really competed and played Rice women’s basketball [and then] we had a little bit of slippage in the fourth. What I am really proud of is that we had seven in double figures, so a well-balanced attack.

We took care of the basketball even against their pressure and only had 12 turnovers. I thought this was a good game after we had a week off for exams to get us back going and to get us in the win column and get us ready for the next one.” – Rice women’s basketball head coach Lindsay Edmonds

Key takeaway | Rounding into form

A healthy Trinity Gooden makes this team better. It also allows coach Edmonds to iron out rotations and roster combinations. Had this game been played in early November, the benches would probably have been emptied and we would have seen 15 players play in the blowout win. Instead, just 10 Owls saw action, with all of them seeing at least 10 minutes of court time apiece.

It’s clear a core group of starters and top bench pieces are forming. How players like Fatou Samb and Kennedy Clifton fit into those permutations is something this staff would prefer to figure out sooner rather than later. Saturday was a good start to those efforts.

Up Next: at Houston (Wed, Dec. 20)

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Rice Basketball coasts to road win over Northwestern St

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Rice basketball posted a second consecutive win, taking care of business on the road against Northwestern State.

Northwestern State scored the first five points on Saturday, holding Rice basketball scoreless for more than three minutes until Travis Evee got the visiting Owls on the board with a jumper, adding another point on an and-one opportunity as Rice began to vault themselves back into the game.

Rice tied the game at nine shortly afterward, then took a 15-13 lead on a three-pointer by Mekhi Mason. The shots would start falling from that point onward. Rice grew their lead to double digits in the first half with Mason delivering the final points of the frame to ensure Rice was in front by 10 at the break.

The second half was all Owls, which began with a 12-2 Rice run, stretching a sizable lead into a blowout. The game was never in doubt from that point onward a Rice utilized solid defense and just enough shooting success to post a third-consecutive victory.

Final Box | Rice 76 – Northwestern State 51

What they’re saying

“We’re really carrying things over right now from the game plan and in practice, on to the court defensively. This team has really taken a good turn defensively. They’re taking pride in it. They’re not wasting possessions. I was really proud of our overall effort and production defensively. Offensively, in the second half, we made layups that we missed in the first half. That was the difference. Any road win is a good win and I’m proud of the team.” – Rice basketball head coach Scott Pera

Key takeaway | Building blocks

Rice basketball has now held consecutive opponents to below 40 percent shooting from the field. The Owls only managed to do that once last season and Northwestern State was included in a three-game stretch of defensive prowess.

Last season serves as a subtle reminder that a good two-game run of defense does not necessarily mean that has become the norm within the program, but it’s a step that shows strong defense is in there somewhere.

On Saturday, Rice dominated the boards, outrebounding Northwestern State 45-29 and limiting shooting opportunities. When those chances did come up, Rice closed quickly and was generally able to impact shots. Northwestern State went 2-of-20 from three.

Up Next: vs Prairie View A&M – Dec. 20 (Wed.)

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