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Rice WBB: Poise, pressure and trying to move on

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Rice women’s basketball saw their season come to an end in heartbreaking fashion by way of an overtime loss to Marquette in the NCAA Tournament. The Owls look to learn and move on.

With 2:54 remaining on the fourth quarter clock Erica Ogwumike drained a three point shot that sent the largely pro-Rice crowd at Reed Arena into a frenzy. After going back and forth with Marquette, the Owls had seemingly broken things wide open. The nine-point lead was the largest margin by either side that day. Rice could almost taste their first NCAA Tournament victory in nearly 20 years.

Unfortunately for coach Tina Langley’s young squad, they’ll have to wait at least one more year. The veteran-laden Golden Eagles were not afraid of the moment, forcing overtime and going on to win by a final score of 58-54. It was Ogwumike herself who seemed to take the loss the hardest after the game. “I think a lot of the things that we messed up were in our hands,” she said, “poise was the thing we were missing toward the end.”

RECAP: Rice women’s basketball drops overtime slugfest to Marquette in NCAA Tournament

Poise. An easy self-possessed assurance of manner according to Merriam Webster. More specifically, the overflowing of the only thing this team was missing entering the NCAA Tournament for their first times — experience. Rice had practiced the situational drills. They knew what to do in every situation. But when Ogwumike hit that fourth quarter three, their collective poise dissipated at the worst possible time.

Credit the Owls with this. They didn’t lose their poise for long. It less than two minutes of game time the 9-0 Marquette run was over. Rice had the basketball with enough time to take the potential game-winning shot. It ricocheted out. The Owls would go on to lose in overtime, an extra period which they probably could have avoided had it not been for the brief lack of composure that allowed Marquette to tie the game.

Learning the hard way

“Any time you have experience, you’re going to learn from it. And we will learn from this game” Langley said in her postgame comments. Those two minutes of uncertainty will stick with this team all offseason and into 2020. They will learn from it, and Langley remains as confident as ever they’re on the right track. “I think the future is very bright,” she added, this is a very young team and really talented team. So we know that we can continue to compete at this level for a long time.”

In overtime, the shots fell for Marquette and not for Rice. The Owls had a few hurried looks, but even their best drawn up possessions ended in layups that bounced off the suddenly miniature basket. Poise or not, a more fortunate bounce here or there could have swung the outcome of this game.

That’s part of what makes this loss so frustrating. Even with the miscues, Rice could have won. “I think it also gives you a little bit of hunger when you’ve had the chance to be there,” Langley explained,” We talked about this in the locker room, how we went from a team that had no post‑season to WBI champions to being in the NIT and NCAA. It is just hard to skip steps in life.”

Perhaps for Rice, this really will be an unskippable, character building step on the journey to something more. The underdog who went toe-to-toe with the Big East regular season champs came up feeling scorned. Like they should be moving on in the Tournament, not going home emptyhanded.

The floor has been raised

Call it a lack of poise. Call it bad luck. Either way, it’s safe to say this season did not end the way Rice had hoped it would, largely because of the stratospheric expectations this program had engendered over the last five months.

Rice set a myriad of program bests, going a perfect 16-0 in conference play, winning 21 games in a row and finishing the season perfect at Tudor Fieldhouse. Ogwumike was named CUSA Player of the Year. Nancy Mulkey was named CUSA Tournament MVP. Lauren Grigsby was named CUSA Sixth Person of the Year.

The reason this team is disappointed in a loss to a Top 20 team is partly because Rice ended the season ranked No. 21 in the AP Poll, the highest rank in school history. A feat in itself considering being ranked in the first place was also a first, achieved by this year’s squad.

The future is bright

The potential of this group of women is astronomical. They proved it all season long, and now they’ll go into the offseason with new experience and an even greater drive. Grigsby, Shani Rainey and Nicole Iademarco will be moving on, but Rice has plenty of pieces to make another run in 2020. And that’s exactly what they plan to do.

“Sometimes you can have a special group of people that can take you a little farther than you anticipate,” Langley said as she wrapped up her postgame thoughts. She wasn’t referring directly to next year’s team, but the undercurrent theme of rising about expectations syncs perfectly with this team’s experience. They did go further than most anticipated. And they’re ready to take the next steps. It’ll just have to wait until 2020.

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WBB: Owls drop NCAA slugfest vs Marquette in OT

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Rice women’s basketball went toe-to-toe with the Big East regular season champion Marquette but came up just short in their first NCAA Tournament game since 2005.

At 1:oo p.m. on Friday afternoon the pregame festivities came to a close and the lights turned on, shining brighter on Rice women’s basketball than they had all year. A scattered crowd of blues, maroons and trace amounts of gold filled Reed Arena in College Station, a host site for the first and second round of the Women’s NCAA Tournament. The ball was tipped, the pageantry was put aside, and Rice went back to what they know best — basketball.

Rice controlled the first tip and, despite being the lower-seeded team, looked every bit the equal of Marquette from the start. Eric Ogwumike opened the scoring with a corner three to give the Owls the lead which they maintained throughout the first 10 minutes of play. Marquette, who averaged 82.9 points per game this season, was held to eight points in the first quarter.

The Golden Eagles leveled the score in the second quarter before taking a one-point advantage into half. Trailing 20-19 at the break, Rice didn’t seem like much on an underdog.  Nancy Mulkey was patroling the paint. The Owls had a host of shooters who’d gotten off to slow starts and Rice looked like they belonged. They just needed to finish.

Down, but not out

For the third game in a row, Rice trailed at halftime. And for the third game in a row, coach Tina Langley’s team made adjustments and executed. Rice started the third quarter on a 6-0 run as both teams heated up from the field. Ogwumike, Mulkey and Sydne Wiggins made some big shots to hold the lead, setting the team up for an all-important fourth quarter.

Rice would extend the lead to as many as nine before Marquette clawed back. Each team had their chance to win the game in regulation. Mulkey blocked Marquette’s last shot in the fourth quarter. That set up an inbound play with less than a second to play. Shani Rainey would get a shot off at the buzzer but it bounced off the rim.

Maquette would take an early lead in overtime and the Rice offense stalled. Eight total points were scored after regulation. Rice made one basket. At the final buzzer, Rice had been outscored for the first time in 2019, 58-54.

An incredible season comes to an end 

Survive and advance is the steady drumbeat of the NCAA Tournament. 64 teams entered. By the end of the day on Saturday, only 32 will be going home. After falling in the first round, the Owls’ season, too, has come to an end. Reaching the big dance is an accomplishment in itself — one that the previous 13 Rice women’s basketball teams had failed to achieve.

The “what if”s and “if only” questions will linger, but those won’t change the tremendous successes this group has accomplished. And they’re not done just yet. The core players on this team are underclassmen. Ogwumike and Mulkey, who combined for 40 points and 17 rebounds with both be back, ready to make another run at a championship in 2020.

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NCAA Women’s Tournament: Rice vs Marquette matchup preview

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Rice women’s basketball is headed to the NCAA Tournament and will take on 5-seed Marquette in College Station, Texas in the first round. Here’s everything you need to know.

Rice

After dropping their first two games of the season, Rice has won 28 of their last 29. Their long hiccup came in December against North Carolina on the road, a team which earned a 9-seed in the NCAA Tournament field. Rice’s two other losses came to 6-seed UCLA and 4-seed Texas A&M. Rice has won 21 consecutive games, a program record.

Head coach Tina Langley has reached the postseason for the third straight year, but 2019 marks her first trip to the NCAA Tournament following trips to the WBI and the WNIT.

This is the third trip to the NCAA Tournament for Rice, who last advanced to the Big Dance in 2005 after winning the WAC. The Owls lost to Georgia in the first round. Their only other appearance came in 2000 where Rice upset 4-seed UC Santa Barbara, the Owls lone NCAA Tournament victory in program history.

Rice ranks 13th in the nation in effective field goal percentage (53.5 percent) and shoots an impressive 35.9 percent from three as a team. The defense has been even better. Rice ranks sixth in opponents points per game (52.8) and allows .84 points per scoring attempt, the seventh-best mark in the nation. Scoring doesn’t come easy against the Owls.

Projected starting lineup and rotation

  • Sydne Wiggins (So) — 6.9 points, 2.4 rebounds, 2.4 assists
  • Jasmine Smith (Fr) — 6.2 points, 2.3 rebounds, 2.2 assists
  • Nicole Iademarco (Sr) — 9.2 points, 4.7 rebounds, 2.4 assists
  • Erica Ogwumike (Jr) — 16.3 points, 10.6 rebounds, 2.8 assists
  • Nancy Mulkey (So) — 13.7 points, 5.6 rebounds, 3.9 blocks

One of the tallest women’s basketball players in the nation, Nancy Mulkey is the rock of the Rice team. Named the CUSA Tournament MVP, she compliments the scoring and rebounding ability of CUSA Player of the Year Erica Ogwumike extremely well.

After Ogwumike and Mulkey, a host of different players could see action on any given game depending on the game script and the opponent. Reigning CUSA Sixth Player of the Year Lauren Grigsby averages a hefty 21 minutes per game contributing 7.5 points and 3.2 rebounds per game off the bench. Grigsby is a three point threat, knocking down 44 percent of her long range attempts. Chrisman will serve to give Mulkey rest, particularly on the front end and back end of quarters.

Marquette

The Golden Eagles under the direction of fifth-year head coach Carolyn Kieger have turned into a contender in the Big East. Marquette has made the NCAA Tournament in each of the past two years, seeing mixed results. In 2017 they earned a 5-seed but were upset by 12-seed Quinnipiac in the first round. Last year they were an 8-seed, beating 9-seed Dayton in the first round before following to 1-seed Louisville.

The end of the regular season wasn’t kind to Marquette in 2019. The Golden Eagles won just five of their last nine games, losing most recently in the Big East Championship Game to DePaul on a free throw with five seconds left in the fourth quarter. The Big East ranks sixth in conference RPI making Marquette 26-7 finish more than respectable. The majority of their losses have been close, including a five-point loss to 1-Seed Mississippi State much earlier in the season.

Marquette makes their hay on the offensive side of the ball. They rank in the top 20 nationally in field goal percentage (15th, 46.6 percent), points per play (10th, .95) and scoring (4th, 82.9 points per game). The defensive side of the glass is a different story. They allow 61.6 points per game but rank 174th in average defensive efficiency.

Projected starting lineup and rotation

  • Danielle King (Sr) — 12.0 points, 4.0 rebounds, 3.7 assists
  • Natisha Hiedeman (Sr) — 17.8 points, 6.1 rebounds, 4.5 assists
  • Allazia Blockton (Sr) — 14.4 points, 4.5 rebounds, 2.4 assists
  • Amani Wilborn (Sr) — 11.7 points, 4.1 rebounds, 3.3 assists
  • Selena Lott (So) — 7.2 points, 3.1 rebounds, 1.4 assists

For Marquette, it’s the glaring omission of senior post player Erika Davenport that could pose the biggest concern. Davenport was injured in the team’s loss to Butler in February and ruled out for the season. Sophomore Lauren Van Kleunen has seen a bump up in minutes in her stead, but the team has seen a noticeable dip in production. Their scoring average per game has declined from 85.8 points to 74.0 points with Davenport sidelined.

Lott brings something Davenport lacked, a three point presence. She’s connected on 46.2 percent of her shots from beyond the arc, the best mark on the team by far. She’s not alone though, Hiedeman  (40.2 percent), Blockton (39.4 percent) and junior Isabelle Spingola (38.8 percent) are all dangerous from that range. All in all, this is a veteran team that’s gotten better each year.

What they’re saying

Upon doing a google search to find the Rice athletics website, the first link I got was for the WBB roster page, which led me to find that Rice has a 6’9” woman named Nancy Mulkey on the roster. She plays 26 minutes a game and averages 13.7 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 3.9 blocks per game. This is the only thing I know about Rice women’s basketball right now, and I am already deathly afraid of them, given Marquette’s problems defending the interior anyway.Brewtown Andy
Not only will the Golden Eagles have to deal with a nationally ranked foe, but Rice’s campus is just under 100 miles from Texas A&M, making the trip easy for Owls fans. Marquette fans will be sparse, especially considering the Marquette men could draw some travel-inclined fans to Hartford, Connecticut, for their games in the men’s tourney on the same weekend.JR Radcliffe
Marquette vs. Rice could be fun. One of the more intriguing first round matchups is in the Chicago Region, where No. 5 Marquette will face No. 12 Rice in the first round in College Station, Texas. This battle will feature the nation’s fourth best offense against the nation’s sixth best defense. Marquette scores 82.9 points per game, but Rice only allows 52.8 points per game. Marquette was 18th in the latest AP Top 25 Poll, while Rice was voted 21st. Mitchell Northam

How to watch

Tip off is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. CT on Friday, March 22. The game will be televised on ESPN2 and available on the WatchESPN streaming service.

Odds

Rice is the underdog in Friday’s battle of Top 25 teams. FiveThirtyEight gives Rice a 14 percent chance of winning. 5Dimes listed the Owls as 10.5 underdogs. The AP Poll has these two squads three spots apart, Marquette at No. 18 and Rice at No. 21.

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WBB: Quirky Selection Monday doesn’t temper excitement

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Rice women’s basketball learned of their NCAA Tournament fates in an unconventional way, but that doesn’t change their level of excitement.

Monday’s midafternoon Twitter frenzy altered what was meant to be a historic Selection Monday for Rice Women’s Basketball. History was still cemented — Rice saw their name on an NCAA Tournament Bracket — it just didn’t unfold quite like anyone thought it would.

ESPN accidentally leaked the women’s bracket just before 3 p.m. local time, forcing a frenzy of activity which included a two-hour jump in the planned reveal time. A 6 p.m. watch party with fans and staff turned into a rushed, 4 p.m. event with minimal pomp and circumstance.

In many ways, the lost gusto was disappointing. Star center Nancy Mulkey called finding out through Twitter “devastating” while athletic director Joe Karlgaard admitted the error was “unfortunate”, but even in the midst of unconventional circumstances, the smiles reverberated around the semi-full media room at the Patterson Center.

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After admitting some of her frustration, Mulkey started to grin. “It’s a once in a lifetime experience,” she said. “It’s a blessing and we’re grateful…. to have the opportunity to play in Texas, right down the road is a benefit to us that we have our fans, our friends. It’s going to be fun.”

This will be Rice’s first trip to the NCAA Tournament since 2005. Regardless of if the news was broke on Twitter or by carrier pigeon, the landmark event will be a building block of this program for years to come.

“It doesn’t matter what time of day it is or anything about the circumstances, there’s nothing like seeing your name pop up for the NCAA Tournament” head coach Tina Langley declared with passion. Her Owls had defied the odds, completed a perfect season in Conference USA and clinched a trip to the NCAA Tournament.

Who cares about how the news broke. Rice is going dancing, and that’s worth celebrating.

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Rice Women’s Basketball earns 12-Seed in NCAA Tournament

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The Rice Women’ Basketball team has learned their NCAA Tournament fate. The Owls are a 12-Seed and open up against 5-Seed Marquette in the first round.

In the aftermath of Rice’s NCAA Tournament clinching victory over Middle Tennessee, coach Tina Langley quoted Clemson Tiger headman Dabo Swinney. “The next game is the biggest game of the year.”

It’s that mantra which has carried the Owls through the most impressive season in school history. As they make their way to the Big Dance, Rice leaves history behind them as the only team in CUSA history to obtain perfection in both the regular season and the conference tournament.

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Now they’ll take that mantel onto the NCAA Tournament. Rice was awarded a 12-Seed in the Chicago Region. Their first round game will be on Friday against 5-Seed Marquette. If the Owls win, they’ll face the winner of 4-seed Texas A&M and 13-seed Wright State in the Round of 32 for the right to play in the program’s first Sweet 16.

Rice has made two previous Women’s NCAA Tournament appearances. Last appearing in 2005, 11-Seed Rice fell to Georgia in the first round. In their only other appearances, 2000, the 13-Seed Owls knocked off 4-Seed UC Santa Barbara in the first round before losing to 5-Seed North Carolina in the Round of 32.

The Owls know they’ll be the underdogs, but they’re playing with a level of confidence and poise right now which suggests they won’t be intimidated. No matter the draw, this team was always going to ready to battle for a full 40 minutes.

It’s true, their next test will be their toughest yet. But as Swinney says, it’s the biggest game of the year. You can be sure this group will be ready. Look out, March Madness has only just begun.

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