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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 Football: 2021 Spring Practice Depth Chart takeaways

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The first Rice football practices are in the books. This is the first of several updates of how the Owls are looking on the grass.

Rice football announced its spring roster in mid-February. Two new coaches, including new offensive coordinator Marques Tuiasosopo, were introduced on Tuesday. In between those events, the Owls kicked off spring practice.

The 15 sessions are scheduled to run throughout the month of March with the spring game set for April 2. Last year’s practices were halted abrupted when COVID-19 restrictions thrust all sports into an unexpected halt. With precautions in place, Rice expects to not only finish but continue to improve during this year’s spring practices.

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2021 Rice Football initial spring depth chart

Rice Football

There’s a lot to unpack here. How those players look on the field and what sort of movement we could see over the next few weeks will be covered in the next post. On this occasion, we’ll dive into the most important takeaways from the initial layout of the depth chart.

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Rice Baseball: 2021 Shriner’s Classic Preview

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Teams from across Texas will flock to Houston for the Shriners Hospitals for Children College Classic. Here’s an overview of the path for Rice baseball.

Rice baseball enters the third weekend of its regular season at 3-4 with a series win over Houston Baptist, a sweep at the hands of Louisiana and a midweek rout of Prairie View A&M. Now they return to Minute Maid Park for the Shriners Hospitals for Children College Classic.

The Owls faired well in their last appearance in the Shriner’s Classic in 2019. After dropping their Friday opener to Texas State 1-0, Rice beat Baylor 6-3 and run-ruled TCU 12-2 in seven innings on Sunday. First baseman Dominic DiCaprio and outfielder Andrew Dunlap were named to the all-tournament team.

Weekend Notes

Times: Friday 11:00 a.m. | Saturday 11:00 a.m. | Sunday 7:00 p.m.
Venue: Reckling Park
Radio: Stretch Internet Portal

Projected Rice Baseball Starters

Friday | Blake Brogdon (0-1, 7.27 ERA)
Saturday | Roel Garcia (0-0, 0.00 ERA)
Sunday | TBD

Sam Houston (Friday)

Sam Houston had their opening weekend series against Oklahoma State canceled. They’ve only played five games thus far and sit at 1-4. Their schedule to date includes midweek losses to Texas State and Baylor and a series loss to UTSA.

The game they did win came on Friday night with Tyler Davis on the mound, who Rice might very well see this week. Their lineup includes three All-Conference picks led by outfielder Jack Rogers who enters the weekend with an absurd .444 average.

Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (Saturday)

Texas A&M Corpus Christi swept Central Michigan to start the year before winning one of their next four against Houston and falling to Texas in a midweek game.

Henry Bird, who started both of the second games in their first two series was fine the first time out before getting pummeled by Houston, allowing seven runs and nine hits in three innings. Catcher Josh Caraway is only hitting .231, but leads the team with five extra-base hits and a 1.025 OPS.

Texas State (Sunday)

Sitting at 4-6, Texas State has played more baseball than any of the Owls’ opponents thus far. They split a four-game series with BYU and won midweek games against Sam Houston State and New Mexico State and. They were also swept by Sacramento State and defeated by Texas on Wednesday night.

Presumptive starter Zeke Wood has walked nine and hit two batters in 9.2 innings. He also has nine strikeouts. Third baseman Justin Thompson has provided the punch at the plate. He’s reached base safely in all 10 games and leads the team with 13 RBI and a .907 OPS.

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Rice Baseball: Owls pound Prairie View A&M in get-right game

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Rice baseball pummeled Prairie View A&M on Wednesday. The Owls improved their record to 3-4 entering the Shriner’s Classic this weekend.

There weren’t any runs scored in the first two innings from either side on Wednesday night. But when Rice baseball struck in the third with its first trickle of offensive success, the dam broke almost immediately. The deluge of runs that followed was swift and decisive.

Rice scored six in the third, headlined by a three-run home run by Bradley Gneiting. Rice added another run in the fifth, another in the sixth and two in the seventh. By the time the Owls and Panthers were on their way to the eighth inning all nine members of the Rice lineup had at least one hit and at least one run. Rice would go on to win by a final score of 10-0.

Things went almost as well for the Owls on the mound as they did in the batter’s box. Mitchell Holcomb rebounded from a pair of middle-of-the-road Friday night outings, posting 3.1 scoreless innings. He did allow four hits, but struck out five. A combination of Brandon Deskins, Alex DeLeon and Dillon Janac kept Prairie View at bay through the remainder of the contest.

What it means

The last time these two teams met, Rice routed Praire View A&M 25-5. The Owls are the more talented team in every respect and should be able to take care of business at home in these matchups. On Wednesday night, that’s exactly what they did. Raising some averages and dropping some ERAs and rebounding from a tough weekend sweep in the process was a bonus.

ON DECK | Shriner’s College Classic at Minute Maid Park

Rice baseball returns to Minute Maid Park this weekend for the Shriner’s College Classic. They’ll play three in-state foes: Sam Houston (Fri), Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (Sat), Texas State (Sun).

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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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