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Rice Women’s Basketball beats ODU to clinch C-USA Regular Season Title

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Rice women’s basketball clinched the 2020 Conference USA Regular Season Title with a thrilling win over Old Dominion at Tudor Fieldhouse.

In a game that had all the makings of an instant classic, Rice women’s basketball emerged with a conference title-clinching victory. Neither team ever held a lead greater than eight points in a contest with 18 lead changes that came down to the final seconds.

Both teams came out firing. Rice shot 53.6 percent from the field in the first half, but only found themselves up by four points at the break. That was due, in large part, to an incredible game from Old Dominion’s Victoria Morris. The junior finished with a season-high 29 points, 12 of which came before halftime.

The big game by Morris was countered by one of the Owls’ most complete team showings of the season. Senior guard Erica Ogwumike battled foul trouble but still finished with an impactful 20 points and five rebounds in her final game at Tudor Fieldhouse. She was one of five Owls that finished in double figure points.

Rice got key contributions from their bench, something they lacked in their loss to Old Dominion earlier in the season. That included a season-high 11 points from Katelyn Crosthwait off the bench and important minutes from Destiny Jackson as well.

Once their 30-game conference winning streak was over, Rice seemed vulnerable in C-USA for the first time in two years. Beating Old Dominion gave Rice a win over every C-USA team this season. In a sense, it restored some of the Owls’ swagger.

Rice had already secured at least a share of the title with their win over UTEP on Thursday. Saturday’s triumph put the Owls’ alone atop C-USA. More importantly, it locked up the No. 1 overall seed for Rice in the Conference USA Basketball Tournament, set to begin on Wednesday, March 11.

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Rice Women’s Basketball clinches share of 2020 regular season C-USA title

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It was another banner night for Rice Women’s Basketball, which defended their spot atop Conference USA, clinching a share of the regular season title.

Rice Women’s Basketball clinched a share of the Conference USA Women’s Basketball regular season title with a Thursday night win over UTEP. The Miners kept things close early before Rice used their seemingly inevitable third quarter surge to put things out of reach and lock down the win at home.

The victory clinched a fourth consecutive season of at least 20 wins for Rice women’s basketball. That’s a testament to the incredible work done by head coach Tina Langley, who earlier this season became the fastest coach in program history to reach 100 wins.

Langley and the Owls aren’t done yet, though. The win over UTEP came in parallel with an Old Dominion loss to UAB in overtime. For the moment, Rice (15-2) holds sole possession of first place in Conference USA and the right to the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament. That sets the stage for a winner-take-all contest this weekend between the Owls and the Monarchs.

Old Dominion (14-3) would leapfrog Rice with a win at Tudor Fieldhouse on Saturday by nature of the head-to-head tiebreaker. Even with a loss, Rice could fall no further than the No. 2 seed. Since the top four teams in C-USA get byes in the first round and the middle-tier of the conference is fairly robust, the difference between the No. 1 seed and the No. 2 seed might not matter much this year. Still, the optics of being No. 1 carry some relevance.

This season has been flush with highs (Erica Ogwumike’s 2000-point, 1000-rebound plateau, 30th consecutive C-USA win) and lows (Injuries to Ogwumike and Nancy Mulkey, back-to-back C-USA losses, bad start to nonconference play). In the midst of all of the noise, Rice women’s basketball has proved to be resilient. Now it’s time to win when it counts — in March.

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BREAKING: Chris Monfiletto and Sanders Davis named to Rice Football staff

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Rice football has two new coaches on the offensive side of the ball, both of which were promoted from within the program by head coach Mike Bloomgren.

Finding the right culture fit has been extremely important for Mike Bloomgren when he’s made staffing decisions for Rice football. Last year he replaced one assistant — Pete Lembo — promoting Mike Kershaw from within the organization and reassigning roles to fill the spot. When given the choice between starting fresh and finding someone capable within, Bloomgren has made his preferences clear.

This offseason has seen similar changes. Rice looked internally to replace offensive line coach Joe Ashfield and tight ends coach Bill Best. The result of those discussions were the promotion of two coaches already on the Rice football staff. Offensive quality control coach Chris Monfiletto will be named the tight ends coach. Offensive graduate assistant Sanders Davis will be named the offensive line coach.

Davis joined the Rice staff in 2019 after serving as the offensive line coach and the run game coordinator for Catholic High School in Baton Rouge, LA. Prior to that, he played his college ball at Dartmouth as a center from 2010 to 2013. Monfiletto also joined Rice in 2019. Prior to his work as a quality control assistant, he served as the head coach at Kenyon College from 2012 to 2018. Both men did well in off-field roles, earning their respective shots at on-field roles in 2020.

The addition of those two brings the Rice staff back to full strength, rounding out their assistant staff at 10. Monfiletto has already been on the road, joining the staff on their late-January recruiting push along with Rice Football Director of Recruiting Alex Brown.

Now with a complete staff, Rice football returns to the field. Spring ball is underway and the new coaches will be a part of the festivities.

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Rice Basketball clinches C-USA Tourney bid with win over Southern Miss

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Rice basketball punched its ticket to Frisco, securing a spot in the Conference USA Basketball Tournament with their win over Southern Miss.

Rice basketball did not play their best game in their first trip of the season to Reed Green Coliseum. A narrow halftime deficit turned into a blowout after the Golden Eagles caught fire in the second half, outscoring Rice 47-38 the rest of the way for a 81-68 win.

There were no signs of a repeat performance from either team on Wednesday. Neither team shot the ball particularly well, but Rice made the shots that mattered. Rice hit 13 three-pointers compared to six by Southern Miss. The Owls’ suddenly stingy defense forced 18 turnovers, paving the way for extra opportunities and an early double-digit lead.

Leading 32-22 at halftime, Rice did not make it through the second half with ease. Southern Miss hit four consecutive three point shots to erase the double-digit advantage and take a three-point lead. Rice battled back, answering the streaky Southern Miss shooting with steady defense, holding on for the win.

Final Stats

Player of the Game – Drew Peterson

Peterson had 16 points and led the Owls in rebounds (eight) and assists (four). He made four of his nine shots from distance, leading his by example through all the highs and lows of this back and forth contest. He became the first player in Rice history with 300 points, 200 rebounds and 100 assists in a season.  Peterson’s growth during the season has been remarkable. Wednesday was another testament to that development.

Up Next

By virtue of their win over Southern Miss, Rice basketball has clinched a spot in the Conference USA Basketball Tournament. No matter what happens in their final regular season game, the Owls will play at least one game in Frisco. Before that, the Owls close out bonus play on Saturday at home against UTEP. That game will tip off at 1:00 p.m. and air on CUSATV.

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Rice Baseball: Owls’ unraveled by errors in loss to Louisiana

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Fresh off their first series win of the season, Rice baseball dropped its midweek contest to Louisiana that was close through four innings.

Trei Cruz and Austin Bulman opened up the game with back-to-back doubles in the first inning, tying the score at one apiece after starter Ryan Rickett allowed a run in the first inning. That would become the extent of the Owls’ offensive production on the night.

Rice would manage to pull together five hits, paling in comparison to the 13 hits Louisiana accrued in their 10-run win. A game this lopsided has become all-too common this season, but it was the first time an opponent tallied 10 runs at Reckling Park this year.

Here are three takeaways from the game.

Foreboding first innings

Rice has allowed at least one run in the first inning in seven of their 11 games this season. Their opponents are sending their best bats to the plate in the first inning. But that’s no reason for the Owls’ starting pitching to be this porous so early in games. Like Rickett tonight, who settled in for his short start after the one-run first inning, Rice starting pitching has been mostly adequate. If they can cruise through the second and third inning, getting three outs to start the game shouldn’t be too much to ask.

Owls can’t afford to be this sloppy

By the time the conference tournament came around, Rice baseball had become one of the better fielding teams in Conference USA. That level of play had held steady since. Entering Tuesday night, Rice had committed one error or less in eight of their 10 games. A pair two-error games were the exceptions.

Rice committed four errors against Louisiana, three of which came in the fifth inning. Three reliable infielders — Cruz, Bulman and Cade Edwards — all allowed free bases to the Cajuns who made the Owls pay. The seven-run fifth inning crushed what had been a promising start.

No rest for the weary

The schedule doesn’t ease up. Rice gets crosstown rival Houston on Wednesday night. Following that they draw Texas Tech for a three-game series on the road and return home for a midweek game against Texas A&M before starting conference play against Marshall.

The road looked tenuous before the Owls’ started playing games. The early results have been hard to process. How much of blame does Rice deserve? How much credit is due to the quality of the competition? As usual, the answer is probably a little bit of both.

Up Next | Houston (Wed), Texas Tech (Fri-Sun)

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