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Rice Basketball Recruiting: C Stephen Giwa commits to Owls

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The first Transfer Portal addition of the incoming Rice basketball recruiting class is on board. Texas A&M Corpus Christi center Stephen Giwa has committed to the Owls.

Transfer Portal season is upon us, which means new faces for the incoming Rice basketball recruiting class. A few players have already announced their intentions to leave South Main, opening up spots for the program to bolster the roster for the upcoming year. The Owls kicked off this cycle with the addition of a nearby talent, landing a commitment from Corpus Christi center Stephen Giwa.

Giwa was born in Nigeria and moved to Houston at the age of 12, going to high school in the area before heading out of the city for school. Giwa told The Roost he considers himself a Houston native and is looking forward to returning home with his wife as they prepare to welcome their first child this summer.

Given the level of responsibilities Giwa already has on his plate, finding the right home for his final season of college ball was paramount. That’s where Rice entered the picture, making an impressive case to land his services.

“From the moment I met Coach Lanier and the staff, I could tell they genuinely cared, not just about me as a player but as a person,” Giwa said. “Meeting them made me want to be part of the family they’re building here. Our core values aligned in a way that felt natural.”

Giwa arrives after Rice following three productive seasons with Texas A&M Corpus Christi, growing into a full time starter over the last two seasons, most recently averaging 5.9 points and 5.1 rebounds per game a season ago while leading the Islanders with a .636 shooting percentage. For reference, that’s almost 50 points better than any Rice player over the same time period.

It’s not just the scoring ability that made this pairing a fit. Giwa prides himself on his defense and says he wants to grow, something he credits the Owls’ coaching staff for demonstrating along the way.

“What I liked most about the system is how much it values playing with physicality, purpose, and unselfishness,” Giwa said. “I look forward to being part of a program that plays with discipline and toughness, which is exactly how I like to play.”

More: Rice Basketball 2025 Roster Tracker

Giwa should step in and fill a role in the post, taking over for the departing Caden Powell and giving Rice basketball a presence in the interior. The 6-foot-9 big man will be leaned on heavily for his rebounding ability and should be a tremendous fit in the Owls’ system.

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Rice Women’s Basketball run ends in AAC Championship loss to USF

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Midnight finally came for No. 9 Seed Rice Women’s Basketball, who saw their incredible run end in a loss to USF in the AAC Tournament Championship Game.

Sussy Ngulefac was the stabilizing force that did everything she could to keep the 2024-2025 Rice Women’s Basketball season alive. Following a quieter set of games earlier in the AAC Tournament, Ngulefac scored eight of the Owls’ first 10 points in the Championship Game and was the only counterpunch Rice had early for an explosive South Florida attack.

South Florida knocked down a trio of threes in the first quarter — Rice wouldn’t hit a single three until the final minutes — to go in front by six after one quarter. They’d grow that lead to 11 at halftime and as many as 15 points midway through the third frame.

More: Rice Football: 2025 Recruiting Class Analysis — Defense

It was Malia Fisher who helped engineer the Owls’ comeback bid. Last season’s Championship Game MVP, Fisher scored 17 points and grabbed six boards, propelling Rice back into the game and cutting the deficit to five points midway through the fourth quarter. The Owls wouldn’t get closer than that, though.

Rice Women’s Basketball season comes to an end one game short of a second consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament at 17-17 overall and 7-11 in conference play

Final Box | USF 69, Rice 62

Highlights

What They’re Saying | Press Conference

Key takeaway | Evaluating an unexpected season

Properly remembering the 2024-2025 Rice women’s basketball season is going to come with its challenges. On one hand, the team drastically underperformed their preseason expectations from November through February.

Head coach Lindsay Edmonds and her team opened the year talking about NET rankings and improving upon their tournament seeding, only to tumble down the standings and finish as a No. 9 Seed in the conference tournament. Yes, a step above the No. 10 Seed line the Owls had when they cut down the nets a year ago, but a far cry from NCAA caliber… or was it?

If the Owls get a better start or avoid a season-worst shooting performance from three, that same underperforming team would be going back to the Big Dance. That’s quite a turnaround from where things began.

“I think it’s no secret we didn’t have the overall season that we wanted to have from the expectations of where we finished last season to how we wanted to start the season, how we wanted to start the conference play. But I think, again, it just matters of how much this team bought into we are here [at the AAC Tournament and] now it’s 0-0 and best team will win,” Edmonds said. “and we came out trying to do whatever it took to keep playing and to continue playing.

“It just goes to the grittiness and the toughness of our team. We let the losses fall away from January and February. We weren’t worried about those. We were just worried about the present. We were where our feet were and we were trying to be the best Rice women’s basketball team that we could be.”

That version of the Owls looked a lot like the preseason No. 2 team, which many expected to take the court this season. Edmonds’s job now is to determine why that team waited until crunch time to show up and how she can expedite that process without five departing seniors.

The reality is, this year was messy, but nearly came together in a storybook run. There is always plenty of good and bad in a season like this. Figuring out how to sort one from the other and move on is the difference between fun weeks in Fort Worth and a team set up for success in the long run. The Owls and Edmonds certainly hope to be back here a year from now as an established squad they believe they’re capable of growing into, not another Cinderella.

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Rice Basketball falls to Charlotte in AAC Tournament

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No. 12 Seed Rice Basketball took an early lead but couldn’t hang on, falling to No. 13 Seed Charlotte in the AAC Tournament.

The opening game of the AAC Tournament started out at a modest pace with Rice Basketball and Charlotte trading baskets in the early minutes of the first half. The 49ers held a modest lead before the Owls started scoring in earnest. Trailing by one midway just past the midpoint of the half, Rice would go on a 15-3 run jumping out to a big lead. They’d hold an 11 point advantage at the break and looked to be in control, but Charlotte wasn’t done just yet.

The 49ers came out of the break with furious intensity, getting the game back within three with a 10-2 burst to open the second half. Rice would hold the edge for some time past that, but the margin would never reach double digits again. Instead, Charlotte drew level, tying the game at 52 with 4:41 to play.

More: Rice Football: 2025 Recruiting Class Analysis — Offense

Once again, Rice basketball found itself with the game on the line in the final moments. Free throws were exchanged and Rice had the ball down by one with 13.3 remaining. A jumper from Trae Broadnax bounced off the rim, Charlotte grabbed the board and just like that the Owls’ season was effectively over.

Rice ends its season with a finale record of 13-19.

Final Box | Charlotte 64, Rice 61

Highlights

What They’re Saying | Press Conference

Key takeaway | Learning to close

This marks the 13th straight defeat for Rice basketball in games decided by six points or fewer. Bad luck plays into any such streak that disastrous in nature, but the clear inability to close out games is unmistakable. Credit is due to coach Rob Lanier, who addressed his team’s most glaring flaw head on.

“It’s kind of been the same story for us throughout the year. We’ve been in a lot of these close games and haven’t found a way to win it, Lanier said. “I told them that I’ll take responsibility for my part in that, and going forward the guys who come back, they have to share in that responsibility so we can grow and we can change the face of what this program is all about.”

Even though this kind of result isn’t new, the emotions post game were still very real.

“No, there’s no less pain,” Lanier said.

Likewise, guard Trae Broadnax opened up about the growing weight of the team’s struggles in those clutch situations this season. “I think when they don’t go the right way, I think there’s a lot of anxiety that rises up just because we haven’t got over the hump in so many of those close games down the stretch,” he said “You can turn the entire thing around in terms of results so that you can get that monkey off your back, but we never got to the point where we could do that.”

Broadnax has an additional year of eligibility remaining and indicated he’s looking forward to joining Lanier in rectifying the Owls’ biggest flaw. The 2024-2025 season is in the books. That work can start right now.

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Rice Women’s Basketball soars past Temple in AAC Tourney Semis

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No. 9 Seed Rice Women’s Basketball never looked like the underdog, blowing past No. 4 Seed Temple to advance to the AAC Tournament Championship Game.

Rice women’s basketball looked much more like the defending American Conference Tournament Champs than the Cinderella their seed suggested they should be. The No. 9 Seed Rice Owls absorbed the first blow from No. 4 Seed Temple, closing the first quarter on a 13-4 as they took the lead and started to grow it.

Rice held Temple to just four field goals in the second quarter, stretching their advantage to as many as 10 points in the first half. Temple did not hit a three in the first half — they were shutout from deep in the second half, as well — and lost the rebounding battle before break, a focal point for the underdog Rice all season long.

More: Rice Football: 2025 Recruiting Class Analysis — Defense

The onslaught continued after halftime. Rice opened the third quarter with seven straight points, catapulting the lead back to double-double digits, where it would stay for the remainder of the game. Temple trailed by 15 after three quarters and by as many as 20 points midway through the fourth. Temple was never able to claw back because they weren’t able to score.

Temple finished below 50 points for just the second time all season, the first coming in December against No. 15 West Virginia.

“Our defense was incredible. We hung our hat on our defense,” head coach Lindsay Edmonds said,.” [We] held them to 31 percent [shooting]. They’re a great team, but I think it just shows how great our defense was tonight.”

Malia Fisher, the MVP of the 2024 AAC Tournament, led all scorers with 18 points and had nine rebounds. Aniah Alexis continued her strong postseason performance with another double-digit scoring output, adding 14 points of her own to the cause.

Final Box | Rice 67, Temple 49

Highlights

What They’re Saying | Press Conference

Key takeaway | Saving Their Best for Last

Rice women’s basketball has won three straight games in the American Athletic Conference Tournament, defeating UAB, UTSA and Temple in successive days to improve to 7-0 in this tournament in program history.

Despite the Owls’ success in Fort Worth dating back to last year, this season’s squad never won more than two consecutive games against conference opponents in the regular season. To think they’ve be able to do this, and do it in such emphatic fashion, is extraordinary.

A season ago, Rice benefited from someone else defeating the No. 1 seed and beat then No. 3 Seed Temple by three. This time Rice took down the top seed and they followed it up by No. 4 Seed Temple by 18.

“I about how we’ve been here before and knowing that we’re very capable of doing what needs to be done,” Malia Fisher remarked, referencing how she and the team stay focused during such a strenuous run. “We just built off each other’s energy,” Aniah Alexis added.

This sets the Owls up for a winner-take-all game tomorrow with the chance to reach consecutive NCAA Tournaments for the first time in program history. The method has certainly been unconventional. This entered the season as a top pick in the conference standings before limping into March. Coach Edmonds certainly hopes they have one more win in them.

“I think we just keep doing what we’re doing right now. We are playing with a lot of energy. We’re playing with a lot of emotion. We’re playing like we’re not ready for it to be over with,” she said. “It’s great to get to the championship but now we have one more that we got to be able to get in order to be getting back into the big dance, and that’s obviously the goal.”

Up Next: AAC Championship vs Winner of No. 2-Seed North Texas vs No. 3-Seed South Florida

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2025 AAC Men’s Basketball Tournament Preview

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The 2025 AAC Men’s Basketball Tournament is slated to tip off in DFW this week. Here’s a preview of the action.

The Favorite: Memphis

At 16-2 in league play and 26-5 overall, Memphis is the front runner to cut down the nets this season, entering the conference tournament as the No. 2 scoring team in the league, thanks to PJ Haggerty and company with strong defensive metrics to go alongside it. The only AAC team in the top 50 of KenPom as of Monday, anything less that a tournament championship would be disappointing for this program.

The Contenders: North Texas, UAB

There are at least two squads capable of thwarting the Tigers’ aspirations. UAB is the only team in the league that averages more points per game than Memphis while North Texas allows nearly 13 points fewer per game than the Tigers. Neither has been as consistent as Memphis has been this season, but both boast NCAA Tournament history and enough talent to beat the Tigers head-to-head. The Mean Green came closest to doing that in the regular season, losing by four in Memphis.

The Dark Horse: FAU

Florida Atlantic is as battle tested as they come and despite an uninspiring 17-14 record. The Owls looked to be contenders for an top four seed at times this year, but a three game losing streak in late February, including losses to Memphis and North Texas, buffeted them down to the five spot. FAU can shoot it and has moments on defense to stay afloat on that side of the court.

The Wild Card: Temple

When in doubt, bet on the three ball to cause chaos in March. Temple is second in the conference behind Memphis in three point field goal percentage and is one of the teams most capable of getting hot behind the arc and knocking off someone they shouldn’t. Once that happens, it’s anyone’s guess how the rest of the tournament might play out.

The Bracket

The opening play-in game will take place on Wednesday, March 12, with first full day of action set for Thursday, March 13. Here is the slate for the first two days. The full schedule is available on the conference website. All early-round games can be streamed on ESPN+, with the championship on ESPNU.

First Round | Wednesday, March 12 (Super Pit in Denton, TX)

Game 1: No. 13 Charlotte vs. No. 1 Rice – 12 p.m. CT

Second Round | Thursday, March 13 (Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, TX)

Game 2: No. 9 South Florida vs. No. 8 Wichita State – 11:30 a.m. CT
Game 3: Game 1 winner vs. No. 5 FAU – 1:30 p.m. CT
Game 4: No. 10 Tulsa vs. No. 7 Temple – 6 p.m. CT
Game 5: No. 11 UTSA vs. No. 6 ECU – 8 p.m. CT

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