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Rice Women’s Basketball falls to MTSU in first loss of season

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Rice women’s basketball falls for the first time this season, running out of time in their conference opener against Middle Tennessee.

After posting a sterling 9-0 record through non-conference play, Rice women’s basketball was thrown a tough test in their first Conference USA matchup of the season. The Owls squared off with the 7-2 Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders on Tuesday afternoon with the winner set to climb to the top of the young conference standings.

While neither team came out of the gates shooting particularly well, Middle Tennessee was able to take an early advantage in the first quarter, leading by as many as give points before Rice battled back and finished the first frame up three thanks to a three-pointer by India Bellamy.

Dominque Ennis pushed the Owls’ advantage further in the second, making back-t0-back threes of her own to put Rice up seven before MTSU fought to close the gap to five at halftime. Rice would lead by as many as eight in the third until Middle Tennessee found its shooting stroke. They chipped into the Rice lead through the first before an 11-0 run put Rice firmly in comeback mode in the fourth quarter.

Following a four-minute scoring drought, Rice slowly began to climb back into contention. Ashlee Austin hit a jumper followed soon afterward by eight consecutive makes from the charity stripe as the Owls tied the game with 1:35 to play. Ultimately a Middle Tennesee three followed by a costly Rice turnover would be the difference as Rice found the loss column for the first time this season.

“Wins and losses do definitely happen,” head coach Lindsay Edmonds said after the game. “It’s how we respond to this. Do we lay down? Or do we punch back at our next game and say, this is who rice women’s basketball is?”

Rice will play Middle Tennesee again in January, getting another crack at the Blue Raiders in the not-too-distant future.

Spotlight | Malia Fisher

Fisher has developed a knack for being in the right place at the right time. Whether it was a key rebound or a decisive play to the basket, Fisher was everywhere down the stretch, scoring 11 of her team-leading 18 points in the fourth quarter. She also added six rebounds and two assists. This was the third time this season Fisher reached 18 points.

Final Box | MTSU 74 – Rice 68

Up Next | Full Schedule

Rice women’s basketball will take a brief holiday break over the course of the next week before they return to conference play towards the end of the year. They’ll host games against Western Kentucky (Thur, Dec. 29), and UTEP (Sat, Dec. 31).

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Rice Women’s Basketball handles Houston in 2OT

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Rice women’s basketball edged out crosstown rival Houston in a double-overtime thriller, moving to 8-0 on the season and 4-0 at home.

After victories over TCU and Texas A&M, Rice women’s basketball entered Saturday’s contest against Houston with eyes on a non-conference Lone Star sweep. It wouldn’t be easy, but the Owls would eventually prevail, taking down Houston in double overtime.

Rice would be tested from the start. Hoston scored first and opened up a seven-point lead in the first five minutes of play. Both teams would exchange baskets through the remainder of the first quarter as the Owls cut their deficit down to one point near the beginning of the second frame. That was when Houston made their run.

The Cougars went on a 9-0 sprint, opening up a 10-point lead, the largest by either team in the game. Rice went into halftime trailing by double-digits and in need of a spark to maintain their perfect record.

That second-half spark came in the form of Destiny Jackson. The senior guard exploded down the stretch, scoring 12 points in the third and fourth quarters. She knocked each of her four shots from the field in that time and was perfect on four free throw attempts.

Rice trimmed their 10-point deficit down to two in the third quarter and took the lead for the very first time with 5:14 remaining in the fourth quarter. The Owls would have a chance to win the game at the buzzer, but a Malia Fisher runner in the lane bounced off the irons and the game went to overtime.

Emotions were rampant in the extra minutes. Rice had three players foul out (Malia Fisher, Katelyn Crosthwait and Trinity Gooden). Houston lost two to fouls (Tatyana Hill and Kamryn Jones). All that would matter though, was how the team finished on the court.

An Austin three-pointer followed by a pair of free throws from Jackson gave Rice an 8-point lead in the second overtime. That proved to be a large enough advantage as Rice thwarted one final attempt at the buzzer to secure the win, the first overtime victory of head coach Lindsay Edmon’s career.

“Every win is a great win. Overtime wins are great because that gives you the confidence that, if we’re in this position again, we can say, ‘hey we’ve done this before,” Edmonds said. “Every win is a great man. I’m really excited about us protecting home court again and just taking care of business.”

Spotlight | Destiny Jackson

Jackson scored a season-high 33 points on Saturday, leading all scorers in the game. Through much of the game, it felt like she couldn’t miss, converting on 12-of-14 shots, her highest shooting percentage in a game in which she took more than two shots this season.

“Her teammates believe in her. I believe in her and she believes in herself. And I think that is just an unbelievable thing to have. As a point guard at her size, her ability to score the basketball but also find her teammates when she needs to. I thought she did a tremendous job,” Edmonds said.

“She’s a really hard matchup at point guard and when she has her mindset that she can get to the rim, she can get to the rim as much as she wants.”

Regulation would have been enough to reach her season-best, but her contributions in overtime were massive. She also added seven rebounds and five assists, the latter of which led the team.

Final Box | Rice 91 – Houston 88 (2OT)

Up Next | Full Schedule

Rice women’s basketball has a string of home games coming up that runs through the end of the year. They’ll host Sam Houston on Friday, Dec. 16 in their final non-conference game before entering conference play with games against Middle Tennessee (Tues, Dec. 20), Western Kentucky (Thur, Dec. 29), and UTEP (Sat, Dec. 31).

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Rice Volleyball: Owls drop NCAA heatbreaker to Baylor, 3-2

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Rice Volleyball rallied to force a fifth set, but saw their NCAA Tournament trip come to an end in Waco, TX, falling to Baylor 3-2 in the Second Round.

Another historic Rice volleyball season ends in a crushing NCAA defeat, this time at the hands of Baylor in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. It was the Owls’ third trip to the second round in program history and following a 3-1 victory over Colorado on Thursday, the first time in program history the Owls have won an NCAA match in back-to-back seasons.

Rice volleyball fought to the fifth and final set on Friday in Waco, TX, but was unable to add any other line items to that historic run. The Owls fell 3-2 (25-16, 22-25, 23-25, 25-14, 15-11).

In the games they won, Rice was dominant, but they weren’t able to mount a comeback in the final frame after falling behind 4-0 out of the gate.

Rice hit .289, edging Baylor who managed just .243. Anota Adekunle led all players with 22 kills, tying the record for kills in an NCAA Tournament match, also reached the day prior to Sahara Maruska against Colorado. Carly Graham led all players with 56 assists. Adekunle led all players with 22.5 points.

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Rice Women’s Basketball staves off TCU, stays perfect

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Rice women’s basketball continues its early-season success, staving off a late rally from TCU to move to 7-0 on the year.

Rice women’s basketball couldn’t have gotten off to a much better start on Friday night against TCU. The Owls shot a blazing 58.3 percent from the floor, jumping out to a 17-8 lead. Ashlee Austin led the way with an austere 4-for-4 start and a team-high nine points, setting the tone for the team moving forward.

TCU got their feet underneath them in the second quarter, but Rice continued to hold them at bay. The Frogs trimmed their deficit to five points to start the frame before the Owls’ rocketed their advantage back to 10.

The margin wiggled a little bit to each side throughout the period, but Rice always seemed to have an answer for every TCU basket, never allowing more than two consecutive scores without a response.

Things really wouldn’t escalate until the final minutes of the fourth quarter when TCU made a late run. Austin had just put Rice up by 11 when TCU mounted a 7-0 run, culminating in a three-pointer with 49 seconds on the clock to cut the Owls’ lead to four. Rice would tighten up, make their free throws and pull away, maintaining their perfect start and moving to 7-0 on the young season.

The 7-0 start is the best in program history, with that standard being raised further with each successive victory.

“I think this year can just be amazing, but we’ll take it one game at a time and the next one’s the most important [one] and we can’t get ahead of ourselves and we can’t think that we’ve arrived,” head coach Lindsay Edmonds said.

“We got to keep fighting every single day and know now that that target is on our back even more than it already was. I’m really proud of that. Pressure is a privilege and they’ve worked really hard to have that target on their back and now we got to work even harder to keep it there.”

Spotlight | Team Depth

Five different players had four or more points in the fourth quarter, by far the most potent and diverse frame of the evening for the Owls in the most pressure-packed situation. Coach Edmonds mentioned that’s exactly how she wants this team to operate.

“[On] a different night, a different person can step up and when we are so balanced, it’s hard for opponents to scout against us. It’s hard to know who we’re going to go through. We have plays for everybody that we want to take advantage of. I think that’s our best attribute, how deep we are and how balanced we are,” she said.

Three starters finished in double figures and eight different players had at least three points with 10 Owls seeing the court in the 40-minute contest. Rice women’s basketball has depth and they continue to use it to their advantage.

Final Box | Rice 68 – TCU 58

Up Next | Full Schedule

Rice women’s basketball has another important home game against a Lone Star State foe. After posting victories over Texas A&M and TCU, Rice hosts crosstown rival Houston on Saturday, Dec. 10. Tip-off for that game is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. on ESPN+.

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Rice Volleyball heads to Waco, opens vs Colorado in NCAA Tournament

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Officially NCAA Tournament bound, Rice women’s basketball heard their name called in the NCAA Volleyball selection show on Sunday night.

Rice Volleyball (26-3) ends its impressive regular season with a spot in the NCAA Tournament. The Owls will head to Waco Texas to play Colorado (20-10) on Thursday, Dec. 1 at 4:00 p.m. Should they win, they’d play the winner of a matchup between Baylor and Stephen F. Austin on Friday at 7:00 p.m.

The Conference USA Champions, Rice avenged its only regular season conference loss in the conference championship game, toppling Western Kentucky to secure the auto-bid to the dance. Rice had fallen to Western Kentucky just nine days prior on the Hilltoppers’ own court but came back in the match that mattered most to punch their ticket and snap WKU’s three-year run as tournament champs.

The Owls were in the running for a host opportunity in the lead-up to the announcement. Ultimately, they weren’t given the opportunity but won’t have to travel far for their fifth straight NCAA Tournament appearance under head coach Gena Volpe.

The complete bracket looks like this:

Should Rice volleyball advance out of Waco, they’d face the winner of the quartet including 1-Seed Louisville, Samford, Tennessee and 8-Seed Purdue. First things first, Rice will focus their attention on Colorado.

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