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Rice runner Grace Forbes is ready for the next step in her racing career

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Grace Forbes has come a long way since arriving at Rice. No matter the stage, she continues to show up and impress.

When Grace Forbes lines up for the 5000m at the 2021 NCAA Indoor Championships on Friday night in Fayetteville, Ar. she’ll already have accomplished reached a milestone that runners across the nation could only dream of achieving. But after taking home conference titles in the mile and the 3000m races last season, she’ll arrive as a bonafide contender on one of the sports’ biggest stages.

For Forbes, it’s part of a process and a legacy that has permeated her family for generations. Her Grandpa was an 800m runner. She wears one of his sweatshirts as for good luck before every event she runs. Her dog is named Pheidippides, a nod to the soldier who ran 25 miles from Marathon, Greece to Athens, thus inspiring the name for the sport she loves.

A runner deep in her bones, Forbes hasn’t gotten caught up in the moment. “I’m not putting too much pressure on myself,” she said in the week leading up to the meet. “I just want to go out there and do the best I can, try and make Rice proud and my parents proud.”

Podcast: Former Rice football star Christian Covington talks football, Marvel

A freshman by classification, Forbes has outpaced even her own expectations. Thanks to the extra year of eligibility granted by the NCAA, she has the chance to be a national qualifier five times, a feat few will ever be able to duplicate.

Still, Forbes works with diligence and focus. “I hadn’t really expected these times,” she admitted. “But I’ve been putting in a lot of hard work, trying to do everything the right way. And as time progressed my times got better.”

After competing in the NCAA Indoor Championships on Friday, she’ll travel to Stillwater, OK for the 2021 Cross Country Championships where she’ll run the 6K. “I’m just trying to have some fun out there,” she said, taking in all that’s transpired in her racing career. No matter the result, Forbes certainly has been appreciative of the journey. And she’s just getting started.

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Rice Women’s Basketball 2021: Owls explode past FIU in CUSA Tourney

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Rice women’s basketball picked up where they left in Conference USA Tournament, roaring past FIU to advance to the semifinals.

What ended as another dominant conference win didn’t start that way. Rice women’s basketball found themselves trailing 23-14 at the end of the first quarter in their opening game of the Conference USA Tournament against FIU. The Panthers were fresh off a first-round win over Southern Miss and came out of the gates red-hot.

Head coach Tina Langley didn’t call a time out to settle her squad down. She didn’t hesitate to take Nancy Mulkey out of the game and cycle through the Owls’ rotation. Instead, she stuck to her guns and trusted her experienced team to figure things out.

Over the span of the next quarter and a half, Rice outscored FIU 45-14.

Read More: Rice Football spring practice notebook – Week 1

“Resiliency” was the word Langley used in the aftermath of the Owls’ fourth consecutive Conference USA Tournament win. This team doesn’t often get punched in the mouth, but when they do, they respond well. Lauren Schwartz exploded with a career-high 27-point performance. Jasmine Smith and Sydne Wiggins put on a clinic of their own, dishing out 11 of the Owls’ 26 assists, a tournament record.

Rice held FIU to seven points in the third quarter. By the time the Panthers had recovered, it was too late. After shooting 63 percent from the field in the first quarter, FIU would finish the game at a paltry 36 percent. They made 10 shots in the first quarter, but just nine shots in the second half. Once more, the Rice defense slammed the door.

Rice women’s basketball is scheduled to play Old Dominion at 5:30 p.m. Friday on Stadium. The Monarchs advanced to the quarterfinals following upsets of 3-Seed North Texas and 2-Seed Charlotte

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Rice Women’s Basketball splits with North Texas, wins C-USA west

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Rice women’s basketball clinched Conference USA West over the weekend. For the third consecutive year, the Owls finished the regular season with C-USA’s best record.

It’s always a battle when Rice women’s basketball squares off with North Texas. That proved true again this time around when the two teams battled for the best record in Conference USA West in the final weekend of the regular season, with Rice once more coming out ahead.

Rice took an early lead in the opener, but couldn’t fully contain an 18-9 North Texas run in the second corner. Trailing at halftime and after three quarters, the Owls came alive with a near-perfect fourth quarter. Rice hit 10-of-12 shots from the floor including a pair of three-pointers to put the game away late and clinch the divisional crown.

North Texas got the better of the Owls’ in the series finale, taking an early 16-9 first quarter lead and staying just a step ahead. A banner day for Quincy Noble plus some timely three point shooting propelled the Mean Green to an upset win.

Player Spotlight | Nancy Mulkey

Mulkey has become so automatic for this team. Regardless of whether or not her shots are falling, she impacts the game every trip down the court. She had seven blocked shots on Thursday, including two big ones in the fourth quarter. She also tallied yet another double-double. On Saturday she had 12 points and two more blocks.

It’s become easy to take having someone as impactful as Mulkey on the court, but what she can do as an athlete is remarkable. Rice fans should soak up every minute they can.

Stat Corner | Tusseling with turnovers

Rice women’s basketball has done so many things well over the last three seasons in which they’ve been nearly unbeatable in conference play. As impressive as the Owls have looked in that span, though, they’ve struggled to consistently take care of their basketball. Fortunately, when you have a defense as tenacious as theirs has been, those self-inflicted wounds are easier to overcome.

Rice has finished in the bottom five in Conference USA in turnover margin three years running. This year they average five more giveaways than takeaways. That’s five extra possessions per game that go for naught.

The Owls turned the ball over 15 times on Thursday and 16 times on Saturday. Now imagine how much more challenging of an out they’ll be in the postseason if they aren’t giving away free possessions. When this team protects the basketball, they’re lethal.

Up Next

Rice women’s basketball walked off the court at Tudor Fieldhouse on Saturday for the last time this season. The next time they take the hardwood will be in the Conference USA Tournament, where they’ll represent the West as the No. 1 seed which includes a bye. They’ll play the winner of Florida Atlantic and Southern Miss on Thursday at 11 a.m. The Rice men play on Tuesday against Southern Miss at 7 p.m.

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Rice Women’s Basketball Preview: Owls vs North Texas

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The Rice women’s basketball wraps up the regular season with a two-game set with North Texas. Here’s how the Owls stack up with the Mean Green.

Rice Women's Basketball

Time: Thursday, Mar. 4 at 7:00 p.m. CT and Saturday, Mar. 6 at 4:00 p.m.
Venue: Thursday – The Super Pit / Saturday – Tudor Fieldhouse
Radio: Stretch Internet Portal
TV: Thursday – CUSAtv / Saturday – CUSAtv

North Texas 12-5 (9-3), Last 5 (4-1)

  • 63-58 (W) at Louisiana Tech
  • 76-55 (W) vs Southern Miss
  • 72-64 (W) vs Southern Miss
  • 52-51 (W) vs Marshall
  • 56-55 (L) vs Marshall

North Texas statistical leaders

  • Scoring | Quincy Noble – 18.0 per game
  • Rebounds | Madison Townley – 8.2 per game
  • Assists | N’Yah Boyd – 3.6 per game
  • Steals | N’Yah Boyd – 1.5 per game
  • Blocks | Rochelle Lee – 0.6 per game

Rice 15-2 (11-1), Last 5 (4-1)

  • 77-74 (W) vs Western Kentucky
  • 54-48 (W) at Marshall
  • 56-68 (L) at Marshall
  • 73-50 (W) vs Louisiana Tech
  • 64-53 (W) vs Louisiana Tech

Rice statistical leaders

  • Scoring | Nancy Mulkey – 16.1 per game
  • Rebounds | Nancy Mulkey – 8.2 per game
  • Assists | Jasmine Smith – 4.1 per game
  • Steals | Jasmine Smith and Sydne Wiggins – 1.2 per game
  • Blocks | Nancy Mulkey – 2.9 per game

Whats’s at stake

Rice women’s basketball can clinch the best regular season record in Conference USA for the third straight season with a win over North Texas in either scheduled contest this weekend. The Owls were handed some extra breathing room when North Texas lost to Marshall last weekend. As things currently stand, Rice has a two-game lead in the West and can only lose the divisional race by dropping both games this weekend.

A closer look at the Mean Green

North Texas is one of the most well-rounded teams in Conference USA. They aren’t particularly elite in any single phase of the game, but they’re above average to great in just about every aspect. Their efficiency and poise stands out the most. North Texas is second in C-USA in turnover margin. They don’t give the ball away and they create extra opportunities consistently.

Rice is going to have to contain Quincy Noble and force the remainder of the North Texas roster to execute at a high level. On the other side of the court, the Mean Green will work to keep Rice out of a rhythm on offense, something Marshall was able to do to the Owls in their most recent defeat.

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Rice Women’s Basketball: Owls shoot circles around Louisiana Tech

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Rice women’s basketball rebounded from a challenging road trip with an emphatic home sweep of Louisiana Tech. The wins kept the Owls atop C-USA.

The lede up to the Marshall games was different for Rice women’s basketball. The team wasn’t able to practice like they’re used to before fleeing a thawing city in the midst of ever-present COVID-19 concerns. Win or lose, last week was hard.

So win Jasmine Smith launched a half-court heave in the third quarter of Friday’s win over Louisiana Tech, the bench exploded. “Everything is so heavy right now,” head coach Tina Langley recalled after the game. “You can’t even see each other smile hardly anymore. So to be able to see [Smith] celebrate and have some fun, I think really brought us all a lot [of joy].”

That infectious energy imbued Rice to a two-game sweep of Louisiana Tech this weekend. The Owls jumped out to an early lead in the opening game, but Louisiana Tech fought back and held the Rice accountable for their miscues.

Listen: The Roost Podcast Offseason Interview Series

A five-point halftime lead reflected what had been a fairly evenly contest to that point. Then the Rice women took a page out of the men’s playbook and began a barrage of three-pointers. Including the half-court bomb from Smith, Rice hit six threes in a row, blowing what had been a close game wide open. The Owls closed out the fourth quarter with a comfortable lead, capping off an emphatic bounce-back win.

Saturday was more of the same. The two teams traded blows early on, with Rice clinging to a two-point lead at halftime. Then came the third quarter and, once again, the three point barrage. Rice made three of their seven three pointers in the third quarter, extending the lead to double-digits to set up a relatively stress-free fourth quarter.

Player Spotlight | Nancy Mulkey

Mulkey notched her 1,000th career point with, what else, but a three pointer in the third quarter. She’s perfect from deep on her career, making all three of her attempts. As good as the Owls have been as a unit, Mulkey has been on another level.

As of the end of this series, the Owls’ center leads the team in field goal percentage, rebounding, blocks and points. She’s also the only member of the team to be shooting 1.000 from three.

Stat Corner | Going deep

This isn’t a team that takes a lot of three point shots. With Nancy Mulkey in the paint, there’s hardly much need to rely on volume from deep. It’s just never been part of head coach Tina Langley’s offensive philosophy. Until now?

“To be honest with you, we’ve been talking about [shooting more threes] for some time.”

Rice finished their Friday game with 14 made three-pointers, four more than they converted in their two-game set against Marshall last weekend and more than they’ve made in any game over the past three seasons. Four different players hit at least three three-pointers. The Owls 25 attempts were the most they’d taken since Feb. 14, 2019 in a win over FIU.

The volume was down Saturday, but the efficiency remained sky-high. Rice hit 50 percent of their deep balls, tied for their fourth-best shooting performance from three this season.

Up Next

While some programs have ended their regular season schedule, Rice women’s basketball has one more set of games lined up prior to the conference tournament. The Owls will make up previously scheduled games against North Texas. The Owls will play Thursday in Denton and finish the two-game set Saturday at Tudor Fieldhouse.

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