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Rice Women’s Basketball falls to UAB in OT

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Rice Women’s Basketball went blow for blow with the UAB Blazers through four quarters before the shooting slumped for good in overtime.

Malia Fisher was the best show in town on Wednesday night as Rice Women’s Basketball slugged out a low-scoring affair in Birmingham against the UAB Blazers. Fisher’s season high 24-point fell just short of half the Owls’ game total and kept the team in the fight when everything else wasn’t going according to plan.

The teams combined for just 19 points in the first quarter, collectively before UAB took a 24-17 lead into halftime. A smatter of threes and free throws in the third quarter seemed to spark the visiting Owls who rallied from a seven point deficit to a three-point advantage, eventually entering the fourth with a two-point advantage.

More: Rice Women’s Basketball 2024-2025 Midseason State of the Program

Neither side did much in the last frame of regulation with UAB outscoring Rice 11-9 to set the stage for a winner-take-all overtime session. Victoria Flores got things started with a bucket, but a 9-0 run from the Blazers put the Owls too far behind to mount a comeback.

Final Box | UAB 63, Rice 56

Key takeaway | Shooting struggles persist

The number of subpar shooting performances has started to snow pile. Rice women’s basketball had 45 minutes of hoops on Wednesday night but only managed to come away with 56 points. More often than not a total that low isn’t going to cut it and that was the case this time around.

Through seven AAC games, Rice ranks 11th in the conference in field goal percentage and 12th in scoring. The Owls’ inability to create on that side of the ball has been a weight dragging them down all season and costing them winnable games.

That they’ve managed to tread water around the .500 mark is a testament to a tremendous defensive effort — Rice ranks third in opponent field goal percentage and scoring per game — but it’s not translated to nearly as many wins as this team expected.

Winning with defense is possible and it’s something this program has done tremendously well in the not-so-distant past, but it’s going to take something more consistent on offense. For whatever the reason, this season’s team hasn’t cracked the code on that vital component just yet.

Up Next: at Charlotte (Sat, 1/25)

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Rice Basketball topped at FAU

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Rice Basketball couldn’t hang on to a 16-point second-half lead, succumbing to Florida Atlantic on the road.

It was an evenly matched game in the early goings of Rice basketball’s road tilt at Florida Atlantic on Sunday. Everything was close until the visiting Owls started to get going offensively, cranking up their effectiveness from three. Five different Owls made a triple in the half as a modest lead began to form.

Jacob Dar led the way, making the most of his first start of the season with a team-high 19 points, including a pair of threes to start the second half which helped Rice establish a double-digit lead and maintain it for the better part of the second half until FAU began to chip away in earnest around the 10 minute mark.

More: Rice Basketball 2024-2025 Midseason State of the Program

Dar would contribute a couple of threes down the stretch to help fend off the FAU rally, but the Rice shooting began to slump, collectively. FAU would close the game on a 17-5 run, holding Rice to two field goals in the final five minutes of play to pull out the come-from-behind win.

Final Box | FAU 75, Rice 73

Key takeaway | Clutch moments

After starting AAC play 2-0, Rice basketball has lost their last four conference games. Winning out was never a realistic expectation, but given how well this team had played in recent weeks, a prolonged losing streak didn’t seem likely to be in the cards either. A bludgeoning at the hands of a talented North Texas team aside, Rice could have very easily won the rest of these games.

The Owls were in one-possession games late against Temple, UTSA and FAU but weren’t able to close out any of them. It’s clear this team has another step to take when it comes to making plays in the final few minutes that prove differential in winning basketball games. Close games are going to happen in conference play and tend to become hallmarks of which teams are remembered in March.

This team has been remarkably ahead of expectations for much of this season and they’ve managed to play competitive basketball almost every time they’ve taken the court. This is their next test. Can they learn to win on the fly when the schedule starts to get tougher? Because the road doesn’t get easier from here.

Up Next: vs Tulane (Sat, Jan. 25)

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Rice Basketball comes up short against UTSA

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Rice Basketball battled for 40 minutes, but came up short, dropping a back-and-forth home contest to UTSA.

No lead was safe and nor long-lasting when Rice basketball played host to UTSA on Tuesday night. The Roadrunners scored first before the Owls rattled off a 12-2 run to take an early eight-point advantage in the first half. The score was level four minutes later. Then UTSA opened up a lead of their own, rocketing in front by as many as 17 points and putting Rice under the gun.

Alem Huseinovic scored seven straight to close the half and get the Owls back within 10. Rice would chip away at that margin throughout the second half, bringing the game even again with 10:00 minutes to go in regulation.

More: Rice Basketball 2024-2025 Midseason State of the Program

From there the ball bounced back in favor of the visitors, who answered the Rice rally with an 11-2 spurt to go back in front down the stretch. Rice would cut the deficit back to as few as four points, but never got closer than that, dropping the game and falling to 2-3 in AAC play.

Final Box | UTSA 90, Rice 84

Key takeaway | The little things

The wild swings aside, this winnable basketball game got away from the Owls late. Rice shot 53 percent from the floor, won the rebounding battle and had more assists and blocks than UTSA. Turnovers and near-misses rendered so many of those good things void.

Rice turned the ball over 16 times, tied for the third most turnovers in a game this season. That’s a big number, but it was exacerbated by a clean game from UTSA (six turnovers) and too many shooters to give extra possessions. Three different Roadrunners crossed the 20-point mark, a byproduct of extra opportunities handed them by the Owls. That trio also went 17-for-18 from the free throw line. Rice was 22-30.

It wasn’t a bad night from Rice, but it wasn’t their best night either. When you’re playing teams that can shoot like UTSA, it’s going to come back to bite you sooner or later. Rice has the talent and experience to win games like this. They just have to find ways to be more consistent.

Up Next: at Florida Atlantic (Sat, Jan. 19)

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Rice Women’s Basketball surges past Memphis

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Rice Women’s Basketball overcame a slow start to take down Memphis behind 10 blocks and a big double-double from Shelby Hayes.

The defensive effort was impressive from both sides of Sunday’s afternoon tilt between Rice Women’s basketball and Memphis, particularly in the first half. The two teams combined for 19 field goals before intermission, each shooting 30 percent from the floor and going a combined 2-for-18 from three.

It was Rice who dominated the glass from the start, but that advantage didn’t really start to create any separation until the third quarter when the Owls started to take charge. Rice shot 64 percent from the floor in the third quarter, effectively turning defense into offense with 10 blocks along the way, the most in a single game for the program since 2018.

More: Rice Women’s Basketball 2024-2025 Midseason State of the Program

That helped the Owls build their first double-digit lead of the game and it would only grow as the fourth quarter prolonged. A layup from Shelby Hayes, who recorded her second career double-double in this game, put Rice up by 17 as the game clock ticked under six minutes to play. That proved to be not nearly enough time for the Tigers, even though they tried their best to make things interesting.

“We just did everything that coach asked us to do and performed really well.” Hayes said.

The win brings Rice women’s basketball back to .500 in league play and two games above .500 overall.

Final Box | Rice 70, Memphis 59

Key takeaway | Beat bad teams

The Owls’ struggles to close out resume-building opportunities this season has been well documented, but no such resume booster was on the table against a 3-11 Memphis squad on Sunday. Instead, this was the sort of game Rice women’s basketball couldn’t afford to lose, especially give the limited cushion they’d allowed themselves with those other missed chances.

Things looked dicey early on, but the Owls found that extra gear they needed, weathering a series of three pointers that got their opponents back within seven before Rice slammed the door with a run of six late free throws to put the game out of reach.

A lot hasn’t come easy for this program in recent weeks, but getting back in the win column and not having to sweat out another closer-than-expected finish could go a long way to rebuilding confidence lost along the way.

Not every game is going to be against the Memphis’ of the world. But when it is, you need to beat them. So far, so good.

Up Next: at North Texas (Wed, 1/15)

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Rice Basketball rally comes up short against Temple

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Rice Basketball rallied late to take a one-point lead, but was unable to complete the comeback, falling at home to Temple.

Three consecutive baskets from the visitors put Rice basketball in an early 6-0 hole on Saturday afternoon at Tudor Fieldhouse. That deficit proved to be something that would stick around for the better portion of the contest as the hosting Owls played most of the game from behind.

Andrew Akuchie, who finished with his first career double-double, spurred the first Rice rally. He gave Rice its first lead roughly five minutes into the game, adding an emphatic dunk to steal back some early momentum. But as was the case for most of the afternoon, Temple was quick to answer, ripping off a 15-2 run soon afterward only to see Rice bring the game back to even a few minutes later.

More: Rice Basketball 2024-2025 Midseason State of the Program

Down by four at the break, the second half transformed into a much more level affair. Neither side led by double digits at any point with the game still hanging in the balance when the final moments arrived. Rice led by 1 with three minutes to play but would be forced to play catch up down the stretch as Temple made its foul shots to hang on for the win.

Final Box | Temple 73, Rice 70

What They’re Saying

“We were guarding (Temple) pretty good in the second half, but we missed maybe 10 layups right at the rim, over the course of the game. Meanwhile, we were working our tail off to stop (Jamal) Mashburn and (Quante) Berry from three. So, we’ve got to make the layups. We had a size advantage for a big portion of the game. We only turned the ball over 10 times. We have 14 offensive rebounds, and in a three-point game, you can’t miss that many layups.” — Rice Basketball head coach Rob Lanier

Key takeaway | Small Margins

Rice basketball came painfully close from winning this basketball game but finished just a play or two short of pulling out the victory. Head coach Rob Lanier lamented the missed layups, a easily identifiable culprit in a game in which Rice did so many things well.

The Owls had more steals and more assists, shot better from the floor and delivered season best totals for field goals made and second-chance points. The only measure Temple cleared outperformed Rice in was rebounds, edging the hosting Owls by 10 in that category.

This was truly the sort of game where one different bounce or one more made basket could have easily swayed the results. Playing competitive basketball game in and game out is an encouraging step for this program. The next plateau is finding ways to consistently when more of these games than not.

Up Next: vs UTSA (Tues, Jan. 14)

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