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Rice Women’s Basketball dominates FAU in get-right win

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Rice Women’s Basketball bounced back with a dominant defensive performance, holding FAU to a program conference-best 18.2 percent shooting from the floor.

It seemed as if neither side could find the hoop in the opening minutes of FAU’s visit to play Rice women’s basketball on Tuesday night. FAU opened 2-for-11 from the floor. Rice was worse, hitting just one of its first 11 shots. While FAU continued to see intermittent success at best from the floor, Rice used that lull as a launching point.

“We needed that one. We needed that in one in that fashion,” head coach Lindsay Edmonds said. “We challenged them in the first media [timeout] and they responded and after that, we just kind of took off.”

Trailing 8-2 at that point, Rice would hit seven consecutive shots, turning a six point deficit into a six point advantage in the span of five minutes of court time spanning the end of the first quarter and the start of the second. Rice would go into break up by 14, what felt like a commanding advantage considering FAU’s paltry 16 total points across 20 minutes of action.

More: Rice Football: 2025 Recruiting Class Analysis — Defense

The third quarter brought more of the same, Rice defensive dominance and a steady trickle of made shots from the home team. If there was any doubt remaining in the outcome of this contest it was put to rest with a backbreaking three pointer by Dominique Ennis that put Rice in front by 19, a 44-21 margin, with 4:25 remaining in the third quarter.

That massive advantage made the fourth quarter a breeze. The Owls held serve in the final 10 minutes, limiting FAU to a meager 39 total points to secure a much-needed victory. The win brings Rice to 13-13 overall and 6-8 in AAC play.

Final Box | Rice 72, FAU 39

Key takeaway | Defensive intensity

The offense has been an odyssey for Rice women’s basketball all season long. With the regular season being measured in days rather than months, it’s hard to see those issues correcting themselves to a significant degree. So while the offense has it’s spurts and starts, the burden has fallen to the defense to set the tone.

“I couldn’t ask for anything better,” Edmonds said of the Owls’ dominant defensive showing. “That’s what we have the capabilities of doing and now that we’ve shown it we’ve got to bring it a little bit more. That’s exactly how I know that we can defend. That’s how I expect us to defend.”

To put into context just how atypical the Owls’ defensive dominance was in this game one has to dive nearly exhaust the record books. Only once in the past 20 seasons — that’s as far back game-by-game shooting data data was available at this time — has Rice held and opponent below 20 percent shooting from the field.

Rice held UTEP to 18.9 percent from the field on Feb. 1, 2007. On Tuesday night they limited FAU to 18.2 percent from the floor. That’s a mark that goes back hundreds of games, a slew of coaching staffs and beyond the renovations made to Tudor Fieldhouse in 2008. It’s the best defensive field goal percentage Rice has allowed in program history against a conference opponent.”

“I kept saying we were going to right the ship and I feel this is the first part of that, right? We want to make sure that we are going into March being as confident as we can,” Edmonds said. “We’ve got four games that are coming up that are going to be big for us and we’ve got to take them one at a time, but we took care of the first one and that was tonight.”

Up Next: vs UTSA (Sat, 2/22)

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Rice Women’s Basketball stumbles at Wichita State

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Rice Women’s Basketball came out strong but faltered late in another disappointing road loss to a team at the bottom of the AAC standings.

A pair of threes from Dominique Ennis and a stout presence inside from Sussy Ngulefac got Rice women’s basketball out to a strong start on the road against Wichita State on Saturday afternoon. The visiting Owls seemed to be in control of the contest before the offense evaporated in the second quarter.

Rice had been leading by six to that point but Wichita State would open the frame on a dominant 17-4 run, seizing the advantage and putting the Owls on notice that the hosting Shockers wouldn’t be going down without a fight.

More: Rice Football: 2025 Recruiting Class Analysis — Defense

The teams traded jabs in the third quarter and the early portions of the fourth before finding themselves all tied up at 50 points apiece with 2:07 to go. Wichita State would seize the moment, scoring twice in a row to put Rice on their heels.

The Owls would manage to cut the deficit to one on a three from Dominque Ennis with five seconds to play but went to the rim with one second left, running out of time and dropping their fourth game in a row.

Final Box | Wichita State 60, Rice 57

Key takeaway | Avoiding a repeat spring swoon

The enduring memory from the 2023-2024 Rice women’s basketball season will forever be a dominant run through the AAC Tournament and the NCAA Tournament berth that run subsequently earned. But that great March masked a terrible ending to the regular season with five consecutive conference losses that saw the Owls plummet in the standings.

One year late, Rice finds itself on a four-game losing streak, including defeats against Florida Atlantic and Wichita State, the current bottom dwellers in the league’s standings. The 2025 Owls have five more games, which—optimistically—could suggest a chance to right the ship. However, the current iteration of this team finds itself in a rut with not clear answers.

Wins are the most surefire cure. Starting that next Tuesday when they return to Tudor Fieldhouse for a three-game homestand is an absolute must if they want any chance of avoiding a repeat fall down the conference ranks.

Up Next: vs Florida Atlantic (Tues, 2/18)

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Rice Women’s Basketball falls to USF in 3OT

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Rice Women’s Basketball led for more than 40 minutes but couldn’t close out the game, eventually falling to South Florida on the road.

Aniah Alexis didn’t play the first time Rice women’s basketball met USF on the hardwood this season. The freshman guard has become a fixture in the Owls’ rotation in the games since, starting the last five games and setting the tone for the Owls on the road against the Bulls on Wednesday.

Alexis scored 10 of the Owls’ first 11 points firing at a perfect 5-for-5 mark from the field in the first half as she paced the team to a halftime advantage against one of the top teams in the AAC. She kept those efforts rolling into the third quarter, helping Rice build a double-digit lead on the road.

More: Rice Football: 2025 Recruiting Class Analysis — Defense

South Florida would fire back slowly working their deficit to three points then one point with two minutes to play in regulation. The game appeared won when Rice stymied South Florida on a final possession but a failed inbounds pass with 2.4 seconds to go resulted in a turnover. South Florida would hit a three at the buzzer to force overtime.

Each side had their chance to steal the win in extra. South Florida settled for a long three to end the first overtime which was off the mark. Rice drew up a better luck for Sussy Ngulefac who couldn’t get it to roll in at the buzzer. Finally, South Florida drained a long three in triple overtime that Rice couldn’t answer. Rice falls to 12-12 on the season with the loss.

Final Box | USF 82, Rice 77 (3OT)

Key takeaway | A third option emerges

For much of this season the offense has lived and died on the efforts of Malia Fisher and Dominique Ennis. On nights when that tandem was firing on all cylinders the Owls were hard to beat. When either had a mortal evening, the offense started to crumble.

Sussy Ngulefac and Shelby Hayes have flashed at times, Victoria Flores has had some exception outings, but Rice women’s basketball hasn’t truly found someone who can be that dominant third scorer. Could Alexis be the one they’ve been waiting for all this time?

In addition to Wednesday’s banner night — Alexis finished with 20 points, 6 boards — the freshman had already spiked with a 12-point game against North Carolina A&T and 13 points against East Carolina. She’s shown the ability to score in bunches previously. Can she become a more consistent scoring option as she continues to develop in her first year on campus?

If she can, there might be hope for this offense to take another step down the stretch. The Owls certainly need someone to step up and Alexis made a very loud case to be that person with this kind of performance at USF.

Up Next: vs Wichita State (Sat, 2/15)

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Rice Women’s Basketball runs out of stream vs Tulane

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Rice Women’s Basketball dipped back below .500 in AAC play, running out of stream late against Tulane at home.

Tulane struck first in a Wednesday night tilt at Tudor Fieldhouse but Rice women’s basketball would quickly fire back. Victoria Flores sparked a quick Rice rally with an 11-point first quarter, turning a deficit into a nine-point advantage for the home team which would prove difficult for the Owls to maintain.

By the end of the first quarter Tulane had pulled within one. The Green Wave led by 12 at halftime and survived a brief push by the Owls in the third, still maintaining a double-digit advantage by the time the fourth quarter arrived. That’s when the Owls’ offense finally ran out of stream.

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

Already staked to a significant lead, Tulane opened the final frame on a 12-2 run, taking a commanding 21 point lead midway through the quarter. Not even a banner day from a career-best showing from Malia Fisher (32 points, 6rebounds) would be enough to get the Owls back within striking range. Flores would finish with 11 points, all scored in that first with Ennis the only other Rice players in double figures — she scored her 11th point at the buzzer.

The loss marks a staggered stretch of back-and-forth for Rice women’s basketball in the win column. The Owls haven’t won more than two games in a row since November 7 through November 17, posting four straight wins over NC A&T, South Alabama, Houston and Sam Houston, respectively

Final Box | Tulane 78, Rice 67

Key takeaway | Offensive identity

Dominique Ennis had taken zero three point attempts at halftime. She finished with four shots from long range in a game the Owls were down by a large margin for the duration of the second half. That tally is well below her average of 6.5 three-point attempts per game. She took 12 threes last time out against FAU.

How many threes Ennis or anyone else attempts in a single game isn’t going to make or break this team in the long run, but Ennis’ inconsistent usage underscores a nagging issue Rice women’s basketball has had all season: a lack of true offensive identity.

Up until this game, the plan probably could have been described as an inside-out approach in which the Owls’ bigs win in the paint to provide open shots from distance for the likes of Ennis and others. That’s not what happened here.

It feels as if the Owls are banking on Malia Fisher to carry the load while banking on someone else to provide a meaningful supporting role. Sometimes that’s been Ennis. Other times Victoria Flores. But more often than not, it’s been a sluggish result on that side of the court that’s hampered this team’s upside.

Up Next: at USF (Wed, 2/12)

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Rice Women’s Basketball stumbles at FAU

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Rice Women’s Basketball saw another fourth quarter go sideways on the road, losing to an FAU squad that entered the game at the bottom of the AAC standings.

Things certainly got off on the right foot for Rice women’s basketball on Saturday afternoon. Dominque Ennis connected on three three-pointers in the first quarter to give the Owls a lead on the road against Florida Atlantic. Buoyed by some timely baskets from Sussy Ngulefac, Rice kept pace with FAU in what turned into a physical, low-scoring affair.

FAU took its first lead in the second quarter and led for the third, but every time it looked as if the lead might get away from Rice, someone came through with a clutch bucket to will the game back within reach. That was true up until a 7-point FAU run to close the frame that put the home team up by eight and threw Rice onto the ropes.

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

Rice never led again after that point, ceding a 10-0 run early in the fourth quarter that effectively put the game on ice. Rice would answer with an 8-0 run of their own, but the clock was not on their side. Rice would love by five in another game that got away from them late.

Final Box | FAU 66, Rice 61

Key takeaway | Consistently inconsistent

It’s hard to say exactly which version of Rice women’s basketball will hit the court next. At their best, they’ve contended with some quality teams. When things go poorly, games like this happen. FAU entered this game 1-8 in league play and four games below .500. Any way you slice it, this is one of the worst teams in the conference. But they just beat Rice.

And yet the game followed what is now a maddening, consistent formula. Rice battled an opponent tight for three quarters — it was a one-point game with 4:02 left in the third — only to faulter in the fourth and hang another loss on their ledger.

We’ve started to assemble a material body of work on this season and until otherwise, this might just be what this team is. When the three doesn’t fall — Rice shot 30.8 percent from deep — this offense is lethargic, at best, and their chances of winning plummet.

Up Next: at FAU (Sat, 2/1)

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