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Conference USA Basketball Tournament: Men’s and Women’s Previews

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Both Rice basketball teams qualified for the Conference USA Basketball Tournament in Frisco, Tx. Here’s a preview of the action.

Men’s Tournament – The Bracket

The Favorite: Old Dominion

After taking down Western Kentucky and UTSA, the Monarchs faded in the final two games of pod play. Their losses to Southern Miss and UAB are certainly a concern, but there was a reason this team was the only CUSA squad to win more than 20 games.

Even after dropping their final two regular season games, Old Dominion still owns a 13-5 conference record. They also beat Southern Miss and UAB earlier in the season. Led by guards B.J. Smith and Ahmad Carver, they’re going to shoot well and score a lot of points.

The Sleeper: Marshall

Marshall was one of the few teams to beat Old Dominion in the regular and could be the hottest squad in the conference in March. The Herd have won five straight, sweeping comfortably through pod play.

Champions over Western Kentucky last season, the core of the Herd lineup remains intact. Jon Elmore and C.J. Burks are once again one and two in scoring. Freshman Taevion Kinsey has come on strong lately with strong shooting performances and double-digit points in all of the Herd’s pod play victories.

The case for Rice

Unlike in other years, there is no dominant force in Conference USA. The 12-seed, Middle Tennessee, and the 1-seed, Old Dominion, are separated by five games in the standings. Four different teams, including Rice, enter Frisco 8-10 in conference play. By and large, the standings are fairly tight outside of Charlotte and UTEP, who failed to make the tournament.

Rice has proven on multiple occasions this year their best is good enough to beat even the upper end teams in CUSA. The Owls own wins over both Marshall and Southern Miss, the highest seeds on their side of the bracket and they fell to 2-seed Western Kentucky in double overtime.

The Owls haven’t been able to string together 40-minutes of top-level basketball with much consistency this year, but they have had their moments. If this team gets it in gear, they’re capable of beating anyone in this tournament.

Women’s Tournament – The Bracket

The Favorite: Rice

They say there’s a reason the games are played on the court and not a computer, but it’s hard to envision any amount of variation knocking the Owls off their perch atop Conference USA. They didn’t slow down in the final weeks of the regular season, and perhaps got even better, posting dominant wins over everyone they’ve met in March to this point.

If the season ended today, there’s a strong argument Rice is deserving of an at-large bid in the NCAA Tournament. Two wins in Frisco should seal the deal, but these ladies have their eyes set on cutting down the nets for a reason.

The Sleeper: Old Dominion

Old Dominion was neck and neck with Rice early on in conference play before Rice beat them in their lone head to head pairing of the season. Still, it was the Monarchs who gave the Owls their closest scare.

The challenger turned the game into a defensive slugfest, matching the physicality of Rice and holding the home team to 28.3 percent shooting from the field. Rice would go on to win by six points, but failed to score 50 points for the only time this season. To win this tournament you’ll have to go through Rice. Old Dominion has the best shot, albeit a distant one.

The case for Rice

Ranked for the first time in school history, this Rice team is special. In good games and in bad games, they find a way to win. Their defense is extraordinary and tenacious and the offense continually gets the ball in the hands of their most reliable players.

Rice might not have been tested to the same degree as some of their opponents they’ll face in Frisco. Rarely did Rice find themselves in a single-digit game in the fourth quarter, but when they did they came out on top. The chalk pick by most every expert, Rice is the prohibitive favorite to cut down the nets.

Schedule – Men / Women

First Round

Rice Men: Wednesday, March 13 at 9 p.m. vs Marshall – ESPN+
Rice Women: Bye

Second Round

Rice Men: TBD
Rice Women: Thursday, March 14 at 11 a.m. – opponent TBD – Watch Stadium

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WBB: 2019 Regular season by the numbers

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It’s been a season to remember for Rice women’s basketball. Here are seven numbers that help tell the story of how impressive the Owls have been.

0

Losses against Conference USA opponents. Rice’s perfect run marks only the third time a women’s team has reached 16-0 in Conference USA, a feat most recently achieved by Houston in the 2010-2011 season. The only current CUSA squad to achieve perfection was UTEP who did it back in 2007-2008.

16

Double-doubles recorded by Owls’ leading scorer Erica Ogwumike. She’s averaging 16 points and 10 rebounds a game this season — a double-double. She’s been held under double-digit points just twice in conference play.

18

Consecutive victories for the Rice team, tied for the second longest streak in the nation. Already the longest such streak in school history, it could be extended with the conference tournament and other postseason games remaining.

19.2

Margin of victory for Rice in conference play. A perfect record would have been impressive by itself, but the level of dominance Rice has exhibited in their victories has been nothing short of incredible. One of the Owls’ 16 conference games has been decided by single digits and Rice has led by more than 40 points in conference games this season.

52.7

Points per game allowed by the Owls this season. Not only does that lead Conference USA, it ranks in the top 10 of the nation. Put in starker context, No. 1 Baylor averages 54.2 points per game allowed. Conference USA hasn’t seen a team this effective on the defensive side of the floor in this decade.

73

Blocks by center Nancy Mulkey who was the most terrifying defender in the paint in the conference. She had more blocks by herself than four different CUSA teams, edging out the next highest blocker, Marie Benson, by 34 blocks. Benson had 39.

93

Highest point total of the season for Rice. It came in a game against McNeese State in the early portion of non conference play. As elite of a defense group as this is, they can still light it up with strong shooting performances, too.

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WBB: Owls beat LaTech to cap off perfect home campaign

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Rice women’s basketball has secured an undefeated season at Tudor Fieldhouse, besting Louisiana Tech for their 13th consecutive home victory.

15-0 in conference play. 17 consecutive games won. It’s been a good year for Rice women’s basketball. In front of 2,606 onlookers, the largest home crowd in program history, Rice won their most recent game against Louisiana Tech, 78-42. The 36 point margin marked the largest victory of the season for No. 24 Rice, surpassing a 34-point win over UTEP.

The victory capped off a perfect 13-0 record at home this season which began with five wins in non-conference play before being followed by eight straight home wins against CUSA foes. It also marks more than a calendar year since Rice has fallen at home, last losing to this Louisiana Tech team on March 1, 2018.

Louisiana Tech had precious minutes to ponder the possibility of an upset, trailing Rice 5-4 early in the first quarter. The Owls would go on an 11-0 run to close the first frame, seizing a double-digit lead and never looking back. They held Louisiana Tech to 27.1 percent shooting from the field. None of their players reached double-digits in any statistical category.

Along with five assists, Erica Ogwumike recorded her 16th double-double of the season (18 points, 14 rebounds). Nicole Iademarco was lethal from deep once more, draining six of her eight three-point attempts for 18 points. Nancy Mulkey and Lauren Grigsby added 11 points and 12 points, respectively.

Rice held every conference opponent to fewer than 55 points at Tudor Fieldhouse this season. Saturday’s win over Louisiana Tech was the sixth consecutive game Rice has won by double-digits. In many ways, it was just another day in the office for this team, which has redefined the standard of excellence, both at South Main and beyond.

Up Next

All that stands between Rice and a perfect Conference USA campaign is a road game against UTSA on Thursday. The Owls defeated the Roadrunners at Tudor Fieldhouse 85-54 in mid-January. Rice will put their 17 game winning streak up against a team which has lost 10 of the last 11 prior to their Saturday game against Southern Miss.

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WBB: No. 25 Owls lock up regular season CUSA Title

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Rice women’s basketball turned a third quarter deficit into their 16th consecutive victory, coming from behind to defeat North Texas and clinch the regular season CUSA Title.

For the first time since joining Conference USA, Rice women’s basketball are regular season conference champions. The Owls last achieved a regular season title in 2005 while members of the WAC, the only other conference title in program history.

To do it, Rice needed to stage a comeback. Trailing by three at halftime, the deficit grew to as many as seven before Rice thundered back. Nancy Mulkey led the charge with 24 points and three blocks. Nicole Iademarco connected on three triples and Erica Ogwumike grabbed six rebounds, three on the offensive glass. It was another all-around team effort, something Rice has come accustom to in recent weeks. They’d win by a final margin of 59-47.

Winning the regular season conference title secures Rice the top seed throughout the conference tournament. The first round bye is a plus, but the path beyond that is less important; the Owls’ resume speaks for itself. If they’re able to cut through their first batch of postseason games like they’ve been able to cruise through conference play, they’ll secure an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Then the dance begins.

There are two kinds of teams the blue blood programs don’t want to face in the NCAA Tournament. Red-hot three-point shooting squads are scary — look at what 16-seed UMBC did to 1-seed Virginia on 12 made three-pointers while shooting 50 percent from deep. The second team is the defensive juggernaut: that’s Rice.

Defense travels. That’s the most intriguing, and at least to outsiders, the most terrifying aspect of this surging team. They’ve held every conference opponent but one, Marshall, to 51 points or fewer on their home court. That includes Western Kentucky (averaging 74 points per game), UAB (73.8) and most recently, North Texas (66.2). Rice is playing at an incredibly high level as the calendar approaches March. To this point, no other team in the conference has been able to keep up.

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History made! Women’s basketball ranked in Top 25 for first time ever

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Rice women’s basketball has made history, achieving a ranking in the AP Top 25 basketball poll for the first time in school history.

Expectations were high entering the 2018-2019 Rice women’s basketball season, and for good reason. The Owls finished 23-10 the season prior and were returning key pieces on the floor like Erica Ogwumike, Nancy Mulkey, Nicole Iademarco and others. This was supposed to be the caliber of team which contended, not only for a Conference USA Championship, but a spot in the NCAA Tournament.

The Owls haven’t secured either of those aspirations quite yet, but for the first time in school history Rice women’s basketball has been ranked in the AP Top 25. Following a pair of runaway victories against FIU and FAU over the weekend the Owls jumped into the rankings, currently as the No. 25 team in the nation.

The achievement marks the start of what the Owls hope will be a banner season in program history. The only real question is why it took so long for the nation to take notice of the incredible run under way at South Main.

Rice hasn’t lost a game since December 18, currently in the midst of a 15-game winning streak, the longest in school history. The Owls have played two games decided by fewer than 10 points in that stretch, the most recent coming in early February against a tough Old Dominion team on the road.

Other than that, Rice has blown the doors off of just about every opponent they’ve faced. Every time it looked like they might have peaked, they won again, and again, and again. Now sitting at 22-3, they don’t look to be slowing down any time soon.

Congratulations to the ladies and to head coach Tina Langley. Earning this designation is a tremendous accomplishment. May the best be yet to come.

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