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After dropping their first two games of the season, Rice has won 28 of their last 29. Their long hiccup came in December against North Carolina on the road, a team which earned a 9-seed in the NCAA Tournament field. Rice’s two other losses came to 6-seed UCLA and 4-seed Texas A&M. Rice has won 21 consecutive games, a program record.
Head coach Tina Langley has reached the postseason for the third straight year, but 2019 marks her first trip to the NCAA Tournament following trips to the WBI and the WNIT.
This is the third trip to the NCAA Tournament for Rice, who last advanced to the Big Dance in 2005 after winning the WAC. The Owls lost to Georgia in the first round. Their only other appearance came in 2000 where Rice upset 4-seed UC Santa Barbara, the Owls lone NCAA Tournament victory in program history.
Rice ranks 13th in the nation in effective field goal percentage (53.5 percent) and shoots an impressive 35.9 percent from three as a team. The defense has been even better. Rice ranks sixth in opponents points per game (52.8) and allows .84 points per scoring attempt, the seventh-best mark in the nation. Scoring doesn’t come easy against the Owls.
One of the tallest women’s basketball players in the nation, Nancy Mulkey is the rock of the Rice team. Named the CUSA Tournament MVP, she compliments the scoring and rebounding ability of CUSA Player of the Year Erica Ogwumike extremely well.
After Ogwumike and Mulkey, a host of different players could see action on any given game depending on the game script and the opponent. Reigning CUSA Sixth Player of the Year Lauren Grigsby averages a hefty 21 minutes per game contributing 7.5 points and 3.2 rebounds per game off the bench. Grigsby is a three point threat, knocking down 44 percent of her long range attempts. Chrisman will serve to give Mulkey rest, particularly on the front end and back end of quarters.
The Golden Eagles under the direction of fifth-year head coach Carolyn Kieger have turned into a contender in the Big East. Marquette has made the NCAA Tournament in each of the past two years, seeing mixed results. In 2017 they earned a 5-seed but were upset by 12-seed Quinnipiac in the first round. Last year they were an 8-seed, beating 9-seed Dayton in the first round before following to 1-seed Louisville.
The end of the regular season wasn’t kind to Marquette in 2019. The Golden Eagles won just five of their last nine games, losing most recently in the Big East Championship Game to DePaul on a free throw with five seconds left in the fourth quarter. The Big East ranks sixth in conference RPI making Marquette 26-7 finish more than respectable. The majority of their losses have been close, including a five-point loss to 1-Seed Mississippi State much earlier in the season.
Marquette makes their hay on the offensive side of the ball. They rank in the top 20 nationally in field goal percentage (15th, 46.6 percent), points per play (10th, .95) and scoring (4th, 82.9 points per game). The defensive side of the glass is a different story. They allow 61.6 points per game but rank 174th in average defensive efficiency.
For Marquette, it’s the glaring omission of senior post player Erika Davenport that could pose the biggest concern. Davenport was injured in the team’s loss to Butler in February and ruled out for the season. Sophomore Lauren Van Kleunen has seen a bump up in minutes in her stead, but the team has seen a noticeable dip in production. Their scoring average per game has declined from 85.8 points to 74.0 points with Davenport sidelined.
Lott brings something Davenport lacked, a three point presence. She’s connected on 46.2 percent of her shots from beyond the arc, the best mark on the team by far. She’s not alone though, Hiedeman (40.2 percent), Blockton (39.4 percent) and junior Isabelle Spingola (38.8 percent) are all dangerous from that range. All in all, this is a veteran team that’s gotten better each year.
Tip off is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. CT on Friday, March 22. The game will be televised on ESPN2 and available on the WatchESPN streaming service.
Rice is the underdog in Friday’s battle of Top 25 teams. FiveThirtyEight gives Rice a 14 percent chance of winning. 5Dimes listed the Owls as 10.5 underdogs. The AP Poll has these two squads three spots apart, Marquette at No. 18 and Rice at No. 21.
Kel Bordwine got the start in Rice’s midweek bout with fellow lone star power Texas A&M. On a night when no pitcher went three innings for either side, Borwdine’s early exit proved to be troublesome. He left after 1.1 innings, allowing four runs on four hits with two walks. He wasn’t as locked in as he’d been in recent starts, putting Rice behind the eight ball on the road.
Rice would rally with a run in the third, but a three spot from Texas A&M in the fifth gave the Aggies a hefty 7-1 lead. An Andrew Dunlap two-run home run in the seventh was all the offense Rice had left, falling 8-3.
The Rice bullpen got off to a rough start, but perhaps no pitcher’s beginnings were more confusing than Gayle’s. The stuff was always good, but the command had seemingly vanished. Gayle walked seven batters over his first 7.2 innings. Since his appearance against Oklahoma, he’s now thrown 8.1 innings, walking just two and striking out eight.
He was almost perfect out of the pen against Texas A&M. On a night when the bullpen got a fair amount of work from different relievers, he was the only man to hold the Aggies hitless while striking out at least one batter.
Losing to a ranked team in a midweek game on the road isn’t going to spoil the season for Rice. Still, the woulda-coulda-shoulda factor of Tuesday’s defeat could have repercussions down the line. Rice owns wins over ranked programs TCU and Baylor. Adding Texas A&M to that list would have given Rice a trifecta of big wins over power programs to bolster their case for postseason play.
When it comes to building a resume, non-conference are important. Texas A&M was one of this squad’s last marquee games outside of Conference USA play. Dropping this game in the fashion they did has to be a bit disappointing.
It’s been a hot and cold season for Rice. Rice won two of three, then they dropped five of six. Then they picked up their big wins over Baylor and TCU and won for games in seven days. Now they’ve lost four out of their last five. In the obvious downswing of their streaky spring, can this team right the ship?
When it looked like this team might be headed down a forgettable path they bounced back with a pair of marquee wins. They don’t have a ranked team on their schedule for some time, so it’s time to get back to the basics and take care of business in conference play.
Monday’s midafternoon Twitter frenzy altered what was meant to be a historic Selection Monday for Rice Women’s Basketball. History was still cemented — Rice saw their name on an NCAA Tournament Bracket — it just didn’t unfold quite like anyone thought it would.
ESPN accidentally leaked the women’s bracket just before 3 p.m. local time, forcing a frenzy of activity which included a two-hour jump in the planned reveal time. A 6 p.m. watch party with fans and staff turned into a rushed, 4 p.m. event with minimal pomp and circumstance.
In many ways, the lost gusto was disappointing. Star center Nancy Mulkey called finding out through Twitter “devastating” while athletic director Joe Karlgaard admitted the error was “unfortunate”, but even in the midst of unconventional circumstances, the smiles reverberated around the semi-full media room at the Patterson Center.
After admitting some of her frustration, Mulkey started to grin. “It’s a once in a lifetime experience,” she said. “It’s a blessing and we’re grateful…. to have the opportunity to play in Texas, right down the road is a benefit to us that we have our fans, our friends. It’s going to be fun.”
This will be Rice’s first trip to the NCAA Tournament since 2005. Regardless of if the news was broke on Twitter or by carrier pigeon, the landmark event will be a building block of this program for years to come.
“It doesn’t matter what time of day it is or anything about the circumstances, there’s nothing like seeing your name pop up for the NCAA Tournament” head coach Tina Langley declared with passion. Her Owls had defied the odds, completed a perfect season in Conference USA and clinched a trip to the NCAA Tournament.
Who cares about how the news broke. Rice is going dancing, and that’s worth celebrating.
In the aftermath of Rice’s NCAA Tournament clinching victory over Middle Tennessee, coach Tina Langley quoted Clemson Tiger headman Dabo Swinney. “The next game is the biggest game of the year.”
It’s that mantra which has carried the Owls through the most impressive season in school history. As they make their way to the Big Dance, Rice leaves history behind them as the only team in CUSA history to obtain perfection in both the regular season and the conference tournament.
Now they’ll take that mantel onto the NCAA Tournament. Rice was awarded a 12-Seed in the Chicago Region. Their first round game will be on Friday against 5-Seed Marquette. If the Owls win, they’ll face the winner of 4-seed Texas A&M and 13-seed Wright State in the Round of 32 for the right to play in the program’s first Sweet 16.
Rice has made two previous Women’s NCAA Tournament appearances. Last appearing in 2005, 11-Seed Rice fell to Georgia in the first round. In their only other appearances, 2000, the 13-Seed Owls knocked off 4-Seed UC Santa Barbara in the first round before losing to 5-Seed North Carolina in the Round of 32.
The Owls know they’ll be the underdogs, but they’re playing with a level of confidence and poise right now which suggests they won’t be intimidated. No matter the draw, this team was always going to ready to battle for a full 40 minutes.
It’s true, their next test will be their toughest yet. But as Swinney says, it’s the biggest game of the year. You can be sure this group will be ready. Look out, March Madness has only just begun.