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Rice Women’s Basketball: 2025-2026 Midseason State of the Program

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Rice Women’s Basketball rebounded from a loss in their opening game to rack up 10 wins before Christmas. Here’s where the Owls stand as American Conference play begins.

Sitting at 10-3, Rice women’s basketball has had some impressive wins while generally showcasing themselves to be among the best the American Conference has to offer. Those aspirations will be tested when league play begins after the Holiday break. How will the Owls hold up?

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That’s one of a few pressing questions through the first month and a half of the season. Here’s where the Owls stand at (roughly) the halfway point, a few important milestones and notes from the journey and a recalibration of expectations for the rest of the way.

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Rice Women’s Basketball Pushes Past Houston Christian

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Rice women’s basketball had another down shooting day, but still managed to overcome Houston Christian thanks to a dominant defensive effort.

Shelby Hayes set the tone with 10 first quarter points as Rice women’s basketball found itself in a dogfight with the Houston Christian Huskies on Saturday afternoon. There were six ties and seven lead changes by the 4:27 mark of the second quarter. That was when the home team was finally able to generate some breathing room, going into the break up six points, spurred by back-to-back three pointers from Mylee Guinn.

Houston Christian got back within three points in the opening minutes of the third quarter before Rice seized control for good. The Owls engineered a 15-point run, shutting Houston Christian out for more than six minutes as they built what would prove to be an insurmountable 18-point advantage.

MORE: Rice Football Recruiting — 2025 Winter Transfer Portal Tracker

The teams would trade points in the fourth quarter, but by then Rice had emptied its bench and simply had to squeeze out the last few minutes of clock to secure another home victory. With the win, Rice women’s basketball improves to 10-3 on the season and 6-0 at Tudor Fieldhouse.

Final Box | Rice 62, Houston Christian 42

What They’re Saying

What a way to finish December. I am so proud of this group and the focus and intensity that they brought all non-conference. We protected home, we defended and held teams to season lows, and we did a lot of great things that we can build off of going into the new season which is conference play. I am excited for the players and the staff to have a few days to regroup before we get into the grind of the American Conference. – Rice Women’s Basketball head coach Lindsay Edmonds

Key takeaway | Defensive Domination

The Rice women’s basketball offense has garnered much the attention this season as it works to develop the level of consistency it will need to compete at a high level in the American Conference. However, the growing pains on that side of the ball shouldn’t take away from the string of successful outings the defense has put forth over the last several weeks.

Rice held Houston Christian to 28.8 percent shooting from the field and forced the Huskies to commit 21 turnovers. The Owls kept their opponents uncomfortable for 40 minutes, even though their own shots weren’t falling with any sort of consistency. The level of competition is only going to go up from here, but the defense has certainly been a bright spot as the Owls close out nonconference play.

Up Next: at South Florida (Tues. Dec. 30 at 6:00 pm)

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Rice Women’s Basketball Overcomes Slow Start to Top Grambling

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A tied game after the first quarter wouldn’t stay even for much longer as Rice women’s basketball got things rolling to post a comfortable road win over Grambling.

It came as no surprise when Rice women’s basketball posted a strong defensive start in their Wednesday afternoon road tilt against Grambling. The Owls held the Tigers to 21 percent shooting in the first quarter, yet somehow ended the frame tied. That deadlock wouldn’t last much longer.

The three-ball started to fall in the second quarter, with three different players helping Rice build a nine-point advantage which was quickly stretched to 17 points in the early minutes of the third quarter. Grambling was able to get back within nine on a brief 8-0 burst, but it proved to be a last-gasp effort as Rice seized control after that.

MORE: Rice Football Recruiting — 2025 Winter Transfer Portal Tracker

The Owls led by 15 points at the start of the fourth quarter, lengthening that edge to as many as 28 points before a couple of free throws and a layup in the final minute kept the game from turning into a true blowout. All in all, it ended up being a rather expeditious win for Rice, even with the inasuspicious beginnings.

With the win, Rice women’s basketball improves to 9-3 on the season and 4-3 away from Tudor Fieldhouse.

Final Box | Rice 71, Grambling 47

Key takeaway | Heating Up

Grambling is bad. Full stop. The 2-9 Tigers had no business being competitive with Rice women’s basketball on Wednesday and, for the most part, they weren’t. All of a sudden the Owls have won six of their last seven, with the lone loss coming to a Big 12 team by a single point. Their only losses on their resume came to a pair of very good teams (South Dakota State and Princeton).

Houston Christian is the only game remaining between Rice and a 10-3 start and a short reprieve over Christmas break begins with a highly-anticipated road trip to South Florida. After a shaky start, much like how this game against Grambling began, Rice women’s basketball is heating up.

Up Next: vs Houston Christian (Sat. Dec. 20 at 2:00 pm)

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Rice Women’s Basketball Surges Past UT-Arlington

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A close game at halftime turned into a blowout midway through the third quarter as Rice women’s basketball posted another home win, this time over UT-Arlington.

In front of stands of chattering youngsters at Tudor Fieldhouse on Friday morning, Rice women’s basketball notched yet another win. The Owls made things interesting in the early moments, missing their first six field goals and allowing UT-Arlington to go ahead 6-0, despite the Owls holding the Mavericks to a 3-for-17 start from the field.

That defense would pay off, though. Rice quickly retook the lead and kept the margin at a couple of possessions through the second quarter and into halftime. Aniah Alexis contributed 13 of the Owls’ first-half points, playing all 20 minutes as she paced the team on both ends of the court.

MORE: Scott Abell Inks Tremendous 2026 Rice Football Recruiting Class

When the second half arrived, Rice women’s basketball took over. Shelby Hayes helped spark a decisive Rice run to put the home team up by double-digits. The lead would only grow from there. A jumper from Hayes in the early moments of the fourth quarter put Rice up by 21, allowing the Owls to empty the benches and cruise to a comfortable victory.

With the win, Rice women’s basketball improves to 8-3 on the season and 5-0 at Tudor Fieldhouse.

Final Box | Rice 75, UT Arlington 54

Key takeaway | Toughness Wins

This isn’t the first runaway win Rice women’s basketball has posted this season, but each victory has had its own unique flavor. Against UT-Arlington, Rice was able to use its physicality to dictate the game, wearing their opponent down through the course of the game and getting to the line 30 times, just the third time this season they’ve had at least that many free throw attempts.

But it’s those extra foul shots combined with a double-digit advantage in the rebounding department that turned this game into a rout. Rice has only had a rebounding margin this large on one other instance this season, against Illinois State, a game they won.

So much focus has been given to the developing offense this year, and rightly so, but this team already has the tools to get to the line and win under the basket. Becoming even more consistent on that front could make this squad truly lethal on days the offense is firing on all cylindars, too.

Up Next: vs UT Arlington (Fri. Dec. 12 at 11:15 am)

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Rice Women’s Basketball Pummels UNLV at Home

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Dominique Ennis became the program’s leading three-point shooter as Rice women’s basketball rocketed past UNLV for a big home win.

Hailey Adams knocked down a jumper to open the scoring and then it sure looked as if Rice women’s basketball would be off to the races. The Owls scored the contest’s first seven points and opened the game on a 13-4 run only to watch that double-digit advantage dwindled in a matter of minutes in the second quarter.

UNLV would fight back, taking the lead with a 19-5 run of their own and daring Rice to recover. Dominique Ennis responded with a back-to-back threes. She would hit six during the game, officially becoming the program’s all-time leader in three-pointers made.

MORE: Scott Abell Inks Tremendous 2026 Rice Football Recruiting Class

Victoria Flores added a triple of her own to close out the half before Ennis opened the third quarter with another deep make. That’s when the Rebels’ resolve seemed to run out.

A barrage of threes and free throws quickly extended the Owls’ advantage. Rice would lead by 23 at the end of the third quarter, pulling in front by as many as 28 points in the fourth and final frame. The three ball kept UNLV at a distance and helped clinch another home victory.

With the win, Rice women’s basketball improves to 7-3 on the season and 4-0 at Tudor Fieldhouse.

Final Box | Rice 75, UNLV 50

What They’re Saying

What a game. What a 40 minutes by our young ladies. I am so proud of them. From start to finish we played a complete basketball game. We dominated on both ends of the floor. We had a different look in our eyes and were exactly the team that I knew we were capable of. So thankful that that group showed up today. This is a major win on our home court. We protected home, with Dom and Vic leading the way, along with others. It was just an awesome 40 minutes, and I am very proud. – Rice Women’s Basketball head coach Lindsay Edmonds

Key takeaway | Showing Up More

Following an impressive fourth quarter finish to pull away from Sam Houston on Wednesday, head coach Lindsay Edmonds made it clear that she was “Excited to see that team show up more.” While it wasn’t a flawless four quarters for Rice on Saturday — things got pretty hairy in the second — it was absolutely more of that high-quality version Rice women’s basketball than we saw over the first couple of weeks of the season.

One good quarter against Sam Houston turned into three good quarters against UNLV. That was enough to blow out the Rebels, who entered the game 5-3 with win over UTSA and Creighton as well a narrow loss to No. 7 Baylor. And Rice smoked them.

If Wednesday showed this version of the team exists, Saturday proved their is enough of it to rely on for more than sporadic high points. This team’s ceiling exists and they might just be starting to discover it.

Up Next: vs UT Arlington (Fri. Dec. 12 at 11:15 am)

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