The source for Rice sports news

Rice Basketball 2020 Game Preview: Men vs UTEP | Women vs Old Dominion

By

Rice basketball wraps up the regular season on Saturday at Tudor Fieldhouse. Here’s a preview of the men against UTEP and women against Old Dominion.

Rice Basketball

Time: Mar. 7 at 1:00 p.m. CT
Venue: Tudor Fieldhouse
Radio: Stretch Internet Portal
TV: CUSATV

UTEP 16-14 (7-10), Last 5 (3-2)

  • 67-62 (L) vs WKU
  • 71-61 (L) vs Marshall
  • 68-62 (W) vs Rice
  • 75-56 (W) vs Southern Miss
  • 60-56 (W) at Middle Tennessee

Rice 15-15 (7-10), Last 5 (3-2)

  • 73-70 (L) vs Old Dominion
  • 70-54 (W) vs Charlotte
  • 68-62 (L) at UTEP
  • 77-66 (W) vs Middle Tennessee
  • 72-57 (W) at Southern Miss

UTEP statistical leaders

  • Scoring | Bryson Williams – 17.9 per game
  • Rebounds | Bryson Williams- 7.0 per game
  • Assists | Jordan Lathon – 2.9 per game
  • Steals | Jordan Lathon – 1.1 per game
  • Blocks | Bryson Williams – 0.8 per game

Rice statistical leaders

  • Scoring | Trey Murphy – 13.5 per game
  • Rebounds | Drew Peterson – 6.7 per game
  • Assists | Drew Peterson – 3.5 per game
  • Steals | Drew Peterson – 1.0 per game
  • Blocks | Trey Murphy – 0.6 per game

Rice keys to victory

UTEP beat Rice in each of the previous meetings between the teams this season, but neither came in dominant fashion. The Miners won 72-64 in Houston and 68-62 at home. The common theme in both contests was clutch play down the stretch from UTEP. Both of these were one-possession games with five minutes to play. By the time the clock had ticked down to the final seconds, Rice had resorted to fouling to extend the game.

Rice didn’t shoot particularly well from three in either game, particularly in the waning moments when they need the shots most. It’s hard to beat any team three times and Rice has played well enough to hang with UTEP so far. Buckling down and playing a cliched “full 40 minutes” should help Rice clinch the No. 11 seed in the Conference USA Basketball Tournament.

Rice Women's Basketball

Time: Mar. 7 at 3:30 p.m. CT
Venue: Tudor Fieldhouse
TV: CUSATV

Old Dominion 24-5 (14-3), Last 5 (3-2)

  • 71-66 (W) vs North Texas
  • 63-59 (L) at Charlotte
  • 64-54 (W) at Marshall
  • 60-49 (W) vs FAU
  • 64-61 OT (L) vs UAB

Rice 20-8 (15-2), Last 5 (4-1)

  • 62-51 (L) at Charlotte
  • 69-66 (W) vs North Texas
  • 74-65 (W) at UAB
  • 73-60 OT (W) at Louisiana Tech
  • 82-59 (W) vs UTEP

Old Dominion statistical leaders

  • Scoring | Taylor Edwards – 11.9 per game
  • Rebounds | Amari Young – 5.3 per game
  • Assists | Taylor Edwards – 3.4 per game
  • Steals | Amari Young – 2.2 per game
  • Blocks | Marie Reichert – 1.3 per game

Rice statistical leaders

  • Scoring | Erica Ogwumike – 19.0 per game
  • Rebounds | Erica Ogwumike – 7.8 per game
  • Assists | Jasmine Smith – 3.0 per game
  • Steals | Sydne Wiggins – 1.8 per game
  • Blocks | Nancy Mulkey – 3.1 per game

Rice keys to victory

Not much went right when Rice women’s basketball lost to Old Dominion earlier this season. The loss snapped a historic 30-game conference winning streak. Rice fell behind early, had Sydne Wiggins foul out down the stretch and turned the ball over 14 times. Even with their miscues, Rice managed to rally from a six-point fourth quarter deficit to force overtime.

Keeping the core starters out of foul trouble and locking down on defense will make this rematch even more tantalizing. The winner of Saturday’s game clinches the No. 1 seed in the Conference USA Basketball Tournament.

Subscribe on Patreon for exclusive Rice football recruiting updates, practice notes and more.

Recent Posts

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

By

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.

Subscribe on Patreon for exclusive Rice football recruiting updates, practice notes and more.

Recent Posts

Rice Women’s Basketball 2020 Game Preview: Owls vs LA Tech

By

Rice women’s basketball is back on a winning streak and has their eyes set on C-USA’s top seed. A win over Louisiana Tech would get them one step closer.

Rice Women's Basketball

Time: Feb. 29 at 2:00 p.m. CT
Venue: Thomas Assembly Center
TV: CUSATV

LA Tech 13-13 (5-10), Last 5 (3-2)

  • 60-50 (W) vs Marshall
  • 68-44 (W) at FIU
  • 77-75 (L) at FAU
  • 63-61 (L) vs Southern Miss
  • 62-52 (W) vs FIU

Rice 18-8 (13-2), Last 5 (3-2)

  • 77-60 (W) vs MTSU
  • 66-59 OT (L) at Old Dominion
  • 62-51 (L) at Charlotte
  • 69-66 (W) vs North Texas
  • 74-65 (W) at UAB

LA Tech statistical leaders

  • Scoring | Amber Dixon – 12.0 per game
  • Rebounds | Anna Larr Roberson – 5.4 per game
  • Assists | Rzizel Guinto – 2.9 per game
  • Steals | Amber Dixon – 1.7 per game
  • Blocks | Grayson Bright – 0.7 per game

Rice statistical leaders

  • Scoring | Erica Ogwumike – 18.9 per game
  • Rebounds | Erica Ogwumike – 10.3 per game
  • Assists | Jasmine Smith – 3.0 per game
  • Steals | Sydne Wiggins – 1.7 per game
  • Blocks | Nancy Mulkey – 3.3 per game

Rice keys to victory

Rice women’s basketball used their suffocating defense to overcome Louisiana Tech in the first meeting of these two squads this season. That came back in mid-January. Both teams have come a long way since.

Louisiana Tech has won three-of-five games for the first time in conference play. Rice is recovering from their first C-USA losing streak since 2018, winning their last two games.

The Rice offense has been up and down. The defense has remained firm. Rice maintains the second-best field goal defense in Conference USA. Louisiana Tech is 12th in the same metric. The Owls have learned to rely on their depth more often in recent weeks. Combing their tenacity with a few bright spots from their younger playmakers will keep Rice alive in the conference race.

Standings Check

Old Dominion and Rice sit atop the Conference USA standings with three games remaining in the regular season for both squads. The Monarchs hold the tiebreaker — for now. A rematch on March 7 could decide who claims the No. 1 seed between these two 13-2 teams. The Monarchs have additional games remaining between FAU and UAB.

Subscribe on Patreon for exclusive Rice football recruiting updates, practice notes and more.

Recent Posts

The Roost Podcast | Ep. 24 – Evan Kravetz and Clifton Douglass

By

Former Rice baseball pitcher Evan Kravetz and Conference USA Assitant Commissioner Clifton Douglass join us on the Roost Podcast this week.

There’s a lot going on in Conference USA. Baseball season is in its early days as the basketball seasons begin to wind down toward the conference tournament. In the midst of everything going on, we had the chance to sit down and chat with some folks plugged into both Conference USA and Rice baseball.

Former Owls’ pitcher Evan Kravetz joined us to talk about Rice on the diamond. Current Conference USA Assitant Commissioner Clifton Douglass came on the show to talk about the basketball season and more.

You can always find previous episodes on the podcast page. For now, Give a listen to Episode 24.

Episode 24 Notes

  • Housekeeping — Get notifications when new shows are posted and other updates by turning on push notifications when you follow The Roost Podcast on Twitter.
  • Evan Kravetz — Making his first appearance on the show, Kravetz caught Rice fans up on what his last year has been like since he was selected by the Cincinnati Reds in the MLB Draft. He told us all about minor league life, his perfect 0.00 ERA from his debut season in pro ball. Then he gave a few names to watch on the current Rice baseball roster.
  • Clifton Douglass —  Another first time guest, Douglass walked through the decision making process that led Conference USA to institute bonus play. Does he think it has had the intended results? We also hit on the conference tournament at The Star in Frisco and the success on the court by Rice women’s basketball, the North Texas men and more.

Where can you find us?

Download and subscribe to The Roost Podcast on any of your favorite podcast providers. The show is available on iTunes, GooglePlay, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, TuneIn and PodBean. Please consider leaving a review wherever you listen.

Subscribe on Patreon for exclusive Rice football recruiting updates, practice notes and more.

Recent Posts

Conference USA Basketball: Men’s and Women’s Bracketology (Feb. 26)

By

Conference USA Basketball hopes to extend its season into the NCAA Tournament. Here are the latest Bracketology projections for the men and women.

Men

13-Seed North Texas vs 4-Seed Oregon (West Region)

Pod play was meant to raise the profile of the conference, enabling the top teams to gain additional resume-building wins. We haven’t seen that ideal play out yet. As things currently stand, Conference USA looks to be a one-bid league once again.

Louisiana Tech and Western Kentucky are currently the two teams on the outside looking in. Tech owns the conference’s best record at 20-7 and sits at No. 73 in Kenpom’s ratings, two spots ahead of North Texas (No. 74th).

It’s conceivable that either North Texas or Louisiana Tech could run the rest of the table in the regular season before the other wins the conference tournament. Even then, it would take an exceedingly weak bubble to get two C-USA squads into the field this year.

Women

11-Seed Western Kentucky vs 6-Seed TCU (Fort Wayne Region)
11-Seed Old Dominion vs 6-Seed Kentucky (Greenville Region)

The women have a much better chance of getting multiple bids. Old Dominion and Western Kentucky are both projected to be in the field right now. They’ve each compiled an RPI in the Top 35, well within the range of an at-large selection should they fail to clinch an automatic bid.

Defending Conference USA Basketball Tournament Champion Rice is tied with Old Dominion atop the standings. Rice doesn’t have the resume to get in without winning the tournament, whereas both Old Dominion and Western Kentucky could secure a spot with a few more wins down the stretch.

It’s more likely the women get three teams into the NCAA Tournament than it is for the men to get two representatives. The Rice women would have to win the tournament with some bubble help for the other squads, but it’s starting to look like more of a legitimate possibility than anyone might have thought a few months ago.

Subscribe on Patreon for exclusive Rice football recruiting updates, practice notes and more.

Recent Posts