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Rice Women’s Basketball topped by WKU, falls to 0-2 in CUSA

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Rice women’s basketball took an early lead but wasn’t able to close it out, falling at home to Western Kentucky for their second straight C-USA defeat.

After a program-best 9-0 start, Rice women’s basketball’s last game before Christmas was an uncharacteristic loss to Middle Tennesee. Afterward, head coach Lindsay Edmonds was adamant it would not be the new norm.

“I’m going to remember this feeling. I hope the players remember this feeling,” she said. “We’re ready to get back to work so that we don’t feel this feeling too often.”

Early on it seemed like the team was cognizant of that warning. The Owls were at their best from the jump, outscoring WKU 26-16 in the opening quarter, but it wouldn’t be quite that easy. WKU would cut the Rice lead to one at the half, setting up a tight ballgame down the stretch.

Katelyn Crosthwait tied the game with two minutes to go on a big three-point shot. No longer staked with a double-digit lead, Rice was going to have to up their execution if they wanted to walk out of Tudor Fieldhouse with a win. Unfortunately, turnovers and missed free throws will make Rice wait at least two more days to get that ugly taste of defeat out of their mouths.

The Owls were 5-of-10 from the free throw line in the fourth quarter, finishing 13-0f-21 (62 percent) at the line for the game. They turned the ball over 21 times, including twice in the final minute, marring a winnable game.

Spotlight | Kennedy Clifton

The depth of this roster continues to impress with relatively new faces emerging for big moments and big games at every turn. On Thursday night it was Kennedy Clifton’s turn to shine. She finished with 12 points on 5-of-11 shooting (2-of-6 from three) with one rebound and one assist. On a quiet night from some of the Owls’ typical scorers, Clifton’s contributions were crucial.

Final Box | WKU 79 – Rice 74

Up Next | Full Schedule

Rice women’s basketball will have one last home game to close out the year, hosting UTEP on New Year’s Eve. That’s scheduled to be a 2:00 p.m. tip-off at Tudor Fieldhouse. It will be broadcast on CUSAtv.

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Kings of the Hill: Rice Basketball knocks off WKU

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Rice basketball fell behind early, but caught fire when it mattered, upsetting Western Kentucky to earn a big road win.

A season ago, Rice basketball gave Western Kentucky a good half of a game at E.A. Diddle Arena in Bowling Green, KY. The second half, though, was all Hilltoppers, who seemed to have another gear the Owls just could not match. Rice got their road rematch with WKU on Thursday night and while it was indeed a tale of two halves, Rice made sure it was the second stanza that shouted the loudest.

It wouldn’t start pretty, though. Western Kentucky opened the game with a 10-0 explosion. With six minutes left in the first half, Rice trailed 29-16. The defense had held in key moments, but the offense hadn’t found its shooting stroke and was held without a field goal in the first 10 minutes of play. Nothing was falling… until it was.

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Trailing by 10 points at the break, Rice took off. The Owls shot a dismal 21.9 percent from the floor in the first half, making just five of 19 from three. “You’re not going to beat anyone shooting 21 percent,” head coach Scott Pera quipped post game, noting one important caveat “[In] previous years when we didn’t shoot well, it affected our defense. This group is different.”

Still in the game because of that defense, Rice started to catch fire. In the second half, Rice shot 58.1 percent from the floor and made nine of 15 three-pointers, including a sequence in which Travis Evee, Quincy Olivari and Cameron Sheffield went back-to-back-to-back to put Rice in front by seven under six minutes to play.

Western Kentucky lost their leading scorer Dayvion McKnight, but managed to tie the game up with 90 seconds to go. Rice would go up by one before Travis Evee made the defensive play of the night, stealing back the basketball and knocking down a pair of three throws to take a three-point lead with under 10 seconds to play. Rice would hold on and clinch Pera’s first ever win over the Hilltoppers.

Player Spotlight | Travis Evee

Part of last season’s prolific scoring duo with Carl Pierre, Evee had taken somewhat of a secondary spot behind Quincy Olivari early on this season. Olivari had been hot and Evee had done his job, getting the ball in his hands. But it always felt like just a matter of time before Evee — who hadn’t reached the 20-point mark since November 21 — was going to go off again.

Evee led all scorers with 24 points and was a perfect 8-for-8 from the charity stripe, including a pair of game-sealing shots down the stretch. He also added six rebounds and five assists. It was his best performance of the season and the Owls wouldn’t have been able to do what they did without him on the court on Thursday night.

Final Box | Rice 81 – WKU 78

Up Next | Full Schedule

Rice basketball will finish 2022 with a New Year’s Eve tilt in the desert against UTEP, the second and final game of their current road trip. That game is scheduled for a 3:00 p.m. tip-off on CUSAtv.

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Rice Women’s Basketball falls to MTSU in first loss of season

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Rice women’s basketball falls for the first time this season, running out of time in their conference opener against Middle Tennessee.

After posting a sterling 9-0 record through non-conference play, Rice women’s basketball was thrown a tough test in their first Conference USA matchup of the season. The Owls squared off with the 7-2 Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders on Tuesday afternoon with the winner set to climb to the top of the young conference standings.

While neither team came out of the gates shooting particularly well, Middle Tennessee was able to take an early advantage in the first quarter, leading by as many as give points before Rice battled back and finished the first frame up three thanks to a three-pointer by India Bellamy.

Dominque Ennis pushed the Owls’ advantage further in the second, making back-t0-back threes of her own to put Rice up seven before MTSU fought to close the gap to five at halftime. Rice would lead by as many as eight in the third until Middle Tennessee found its shooting stroke. They chipped into the Rice lead through the first before an 11-0 run put Rice firmly in comeback mode in the fourth quarter.

Following a four-minute scoring drought, Rice slowly began to climb back into contention. Ashlee Austin hit a jumper followed soon afterward by eight consecutive makes from the charity stripe as the Owls tied the game with 1:35 to play. Ultimately a Middle Tennesee three followed by a costly Rice turnover would be the difference as Rice found the loss column for the first time this season.

“Wins and losses do definitely happen,” head coach Lindsay Edmonds said after the game. “It’s how we respond to this. Do we lay down? Or do we punch back at our next game and say, this is who rice women’s basketball is?”

Rice will play Middle Tennesee again in January, getting another crack at the Blue Raiders in the not-too-distant future.

Spotlight | Malia Fisher

Fisher has developed a knack for being in the right place at the right time. Whether it was a key rebound or a decisive play to the basket, Fisher was everywhere down the stretch, scoring 11 of her team-leading 18 points in the fourth quarter. She also added six rebounds and two assists. This was the third time this season Fisher reached 18 points.

Final Box | MTSU 74 – Rice 68

Up Next | Full Schedule

Rice women’s basketball will take a brief holiday break over the course of the next week before they return to conference play towards the end of the year. They’ll host games against Western Kentucky (Thur, Dec. 29), and UTEP (Sat, Dec. 31).

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Rice Basketball Roundup: Owls sweep three-game home slate

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It was a good weekend for Rice basketball, who swept their three-game slate over five days to stay undefeated at Tudor Fieldhouse.

  • Thursday | Rice 92 – North American 54
  • Saturday | Rice 110 – Northwestern State 73
  • Monday | Rice 100 – Jarvis Christian 64

Frankly, Rice basketball took care of business this weekend against teams they should have beaten soundly. To some extent, that’s par for the course, but it was encouraging to see just how quickly they dispatched these three, particularly their Saturday win over Northwestern State.

The Demons entered that game 8-2 with a road win over No. 15 TCU and over the Owls’ former C-USA foe Southern Miss under their belts. Yet Rice romped easily at home.

Quincy Olivari was unstoppable, topping 17 points in all three contests, and he would have had many more had he come close to his normal complement of minutes. Max Fiedler had a double-double against Jarvis Christian and a season-high 22 points against Northwestern State. Travis Evee even got back on track, going 4-for-6 from three on Monday evening, scoring 14 points.

The Owls opened the benches in all three games, getting valuable minutes for younger players who — if past seasons are any indication — might very well be called upon for expanded minutes down the stretch.

Up Next | Full Schedule

Then next time Rice basketball takes the court they’ll be in the thick of Conference USA play. The Owls have already played one conference game, a strange mid-November road tilt against Middle Tennessee, which they lost. Up next after Christmas are road against at Western Kentucky (Thr, Dec. 29) and at UTEP (Sat, Dec. 31).

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Rice Women’s Basketball pulls away from Sam Houston to stay perfect

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It was a close game at Tudor Fieldhouse until Rice women’s basketball pulled away in the fourth quarter to secure their ninth straight win.

Whether it was the early morning tip time or something else, Rice women’s basketball got off to a sluggish start in the first quarter in their final nonconference game. The Owls shot 28.6 percent from the floor in the opening frame but managed to keep the game close with their defense, trailing 15-10 when the second quarter began.

Sam Houston extended their lead to seven points on the first bucket of the second quarter, then Destiny Jackson took over for the Owls. She scored four consecutive buckets, vaporizing the deficit and turning it into the first Rice lead of the day.

While Rice was able to right the ship and make things interesting, Sam Houston wouldn’t go away. Neither team led by more than three points from the midpoint of Jackson’s second-quarter run (8:30 on the clock) til the 1:32-minute mark of the third quarter, a span of nearly 10 minutes of court time.

When the Owls’ shots started falling, though, they didn’t stop. A close game became a route in a matter of minutes. Rice hit four three-pointers to close out the third quarter, then did most of their fourth quarter damage inside, opening up a 13-point lead after the final media timeout and coasting to their ninth consecutive victory, completing a perfect run through non-conference play.

Spotlight | Katelyn Crosthwait

Crosthwait has become a reliable deep threat for Rice women’s basketball, making at least one three-pointer in eight of nine games and making three or more triples in six games so far. Altogether she’s shooting 41.4 percent from three, the best mark on the team.

It was Crosthwait’s third quarter contributions that helped open the game up and turned a close game into a multi-score advantage headed to the fourth quarter. In addition to her 14 points, which tied a season high, she also added four rebounds and an assist.

Final Box | Rice 68 – SHSU 57

Up Next | Full Schedule

The next time Rice women’s basketball hits the court they’ll be headed for conference play. After wrapping up its nonconference schedule, Rice will next play games against Middle Tennessee (Tues, Dec. 20), Western Kentucky (Thur, Dec. 29), and UTEP (Sat, Dec. 31).

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