The source for Rice sports news

Rice Women’s Basketball stays perfect, wins CUSA Title

By

Rice women’s basketball stayed perfect, rallying in Frisco to win the Conference USA Tournament and clinch a spot in the NCAA Tournament field.

A 30 game season came down to 40 minutes on a Saturday night in Frisco. Rice needed a win in the Conference USA Basketball Tournament to secure a trip to the NCAA Tournament. They got it, but it took every ounce of grit and competitiveness they had left.

Middle Tennessee made it clear from the opening possession they would not go quietly. The Lady Raiders were the clear aggressor through the first half, making active passes to set up four three-pointers in the first quarter and an early eight-point lead.

With the Rice offense struggling out of the gate, MTSU extended their lead to as many as 10 — the same margin Rice trailed by against Western Kentucky in the semis. It wouldn’t last.

Nancy Mulkey was the most consistent player for the Owls on both sides of the ball in the first half, scoring 13 points as she racked five blocks on the other end of the floor. She would finish with 24 points, eight blocks and five rebounds. Mulkey was named CUSA Tournament MVP for her efforts.

Digging deep when it counted

Nicole Iademarco jumpstarted the offense in the second half, hitting two big threes to spur a 7-0 run for the Owls. As Iademarco keyed in from long range, Mulkey’s confidence continued to grow on the interior. She turned around and took some semi-contested shots from the edge of the paint to help spark the Rice rally.

Syden Wiggins drained a floater in the key to take the lead in the third quarter. Rice relinquished it. Middle Tennessee threatened but was never able to regain a lead they’d held for the majority of the contest despite Conference USA Player of the Year Erica Ogwumike spending a considerable amount of time on the bench with foul trouble.

Ogwumike would return to the game with four fouls at the 4-minute mark of the fourth quarter. She promptly knocked down two free throws and drained a deep three, taking over when the team needed her most to secure the Owls’ first Conference USA Tournament Championship.

Survive and advance

As the confetti falls, the team can exhale and reminisce. Rice women’s basketball won an almost unbelievable amount of games this season. The 28 victories mark a program high — one of the countless records broken this season by a team which has already cemented themselves among the best in school history.

Winners of 21-straight and a perfect 19-0 against Conference USA opponents, Rice has blown past lofty preseason expectations and secured a spot in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2005. For one day, they’ll enjoy the moment. On Monday they’ll discover who their next opponent will be. Then it’s back to business as they seek to build upon an already historic run.

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

Recent Posts

Rice Women’s Basketball: Owls come from behind to clinch CUSA Title Game berth

By

Rice women’s basketball clinched a berth in the Conference USA Tournament Championship Game, coming from behind to beat Western Kentucky.

Few teams have tested Rice like Western Kentucky did on Friday night. The 1-seed had just dispatched North Texas by 19 the day before, but looked almost mortal through the first half of the semifinal against the Hilltoppers. The Owls watched their opponents go on a 15-0 run, erasing a 5-point advantage and putting the tournament favorites in a 10-point hole.

Rice could have stumbled through the rest of that arduous second quarter. Instead they rallied, cutting the deficit to five points by the halftime buzzer. Back within reach, the second half was an entirely different story.

Conference USA Player of the Year Erica Ogwumike took over. Jasmine Smith drilled a three to give Rice the lead on the final shot of the third quarter, then it really was all Owls.

Rice went on an 11-0 run, pulling away down the stretch. At one point, Ogwumike had made 10 straight points for the Owls who kept a two score margin through the fourth quarter. Western Kentucky tried to extend the game with free throws, but the result was never in doubt with Rice winning by a final score of 64-57.

Ogwumike finished with 22 points and 12 rebounds, including a perfect 8-for-8 from the charity stripe. Sydne Wiggins was next in scoring with 11. Although she was held without a bucket, Nicole Iademarco came through with eight rebounds.

Up Next (Bracket)

Rice will play the winner of Friday’s late tip between Middle Tennesse and UAB on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. in the Conference USA Tournament Championship Game. The winner will receive an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

Rice beat Middle Tennesse 60-47 on the road earlier this season. Two days later they traveled to Birmingham and topped UAB 55-43.

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

Recent Posts

Rice Baseball: Previewing the FAU series

By

Rice baseball opens conference play on the road against FAU after an up and down non-conference slate. Here’s what to expect from the other Owls.

Listen online // Watch Friday (CUSA TV) // Watch Saturday (CUSA TV) // Watch Sunday (CUSA TV)

Just like the Rice Owls, the FAU Owls have had a bit of an erratic start. FAU won their first three, lost the next six and has since won eight of their last nine. Prior to opening up conference play on Friday, FAU topped Quinnipiac in a pair of midweek games.

This content is for registered users only. Please login.

Let’s take a look at how the 2019 squad stacks up.

Projected Pitching Matchups

Friday – 5:30 pm: Matt Canterino (1-2, 1.50) vs Blake Sanderson (3-0, 3.33)
Saturday – 3:00 pm: Evan Kravetz (1-1, 4.35) vs  Ryan Sandberg (0-1, 2.20)
Sunday – 11:00 am: Jackson Parthasarathy (2-2, 2.05) vs  Mike Ruff (2-0, 6.75)

FAU Pitching

The FAU pitching staff is one of the most hittable units in Conference USA and they haven’t exactly faced the high caliber opponents Rice has in their nonconference games. Opposing batters are hitting .278 against FAU through 18 games against a staff which holds an uninspiring 4.22 ERA.

Their starting pitching has been serviceable. Ace Blake Sanderson has a 1.04 WHIP with 25 strikeouts in 27 innings pitched. Home runs have been his vex, though. He’s already given up four long balls on the season, the most on the team.

After him, Ryan Sandberg and  Mike Ruff have both been solid. Sanberg hasn’t allowed more than two earned runs in any of his limited appearances this season. Ruff has allowed five runs over his last two starts, going seven innings in both games with 14 strikeouts and one walk allowed.

Then there’s the bullpen. Quite like Rice they have a few pieces they trust in high leverage situations and plenty of “hold your breath and cross your fingers”-type relievers. Jon Jon Kostantis (0.84 ERA over 10.2 innings) and Zach Sneider (15K in 14.2 innings with four saves) have emerged as the biggest pieces in their pen. Michael Schuler (2.08 ERA) and Vince Coletti (2.33 ERA, 1.10 WHIP) should also see some time over the weekend.

FAU Hitting

The offensive side of the ball is where FAU hopes to make their living this season. Francisco Urbaez is crushing the ball right now, smacking home runs in each of the team’s midweek games this week to raise his slugging percentage to a hefty .768 (for reference, Trei Cruz is slugging .584).

Urbaez isn’t the only deep threat in the FAU lineup. Eric Rivera and Gunnar Lambert have each blasted four dingers apiece, part of 22 collective home runs which are by far the most by and CUSA squad. Rivera’s 29 hits ranks second in the conference to Rice’s Bradley Gneiting who has 33.

Six players in the FAU lineup have double-digit RBI and only one of those six has struck out more than 13 times. This is a team that hits for average, packs some pop, and makes clutch hits. The Rice pitching staff is going to be tested.

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

Recent Posts

Conference USA Tournament Day 2 Recap

By

The Conference USA Basketball Tournament is underway at the Star in Frisco, Tx. Here’s how the second day of action played out.

And then there were eight. The quarterfinals have come to a close in Frisco and, for the most part, it’s been nearly all chalk up to this point. We’ll see if anyone can upset the status quo on Friday.

Conference USA Men’s Basketball Tournament

Wednesday Scores

1. Old Dominion def 8. Louisiana Tech, 57-56
5. UAB def 4. UTSA, 85-76
2. Western Kentucky def 10. North Texas, 67-51
3. Southern Miss def 6. Marshall, 82-73

Wrapping up Day 3

It literally took a full 40 minutes for 1-Seed Old Dominion to survive an advance, knocking off 8-Seed Louisiana Tech on a last-second three to pull ahead. The Monarchs haven’t advanced to the finals of the conference tournament as a top four seed yet, despite being the 3-seed in 2015 and 2017 and the 2-seed in 2018. 1-Seed haven’t fared well in this tournament recently, making Thursday’s scare all the more real.

Thursday Schedule

1. Old Dominion vs 5. UAB – 12:30 pm on CBS Sports Network
2. Western Kentuck vs 3. Southern Miss – 3 pm on CBS Sports Network

Conference USA Women’s Basketball Tournament

Wednesday Scores

1. Rice def 9. North Texas, 61-43
4. Western Kentucky def 5. Old Dominion, 74-60
2. UAB  def 7. Charlotte, 70-55
3. MTSU def 11. UTEP, 66-44

Wrapping up Day 3

On the heels of a double-overtime game on Wednesday, the women’s bracket produced minimal excitement in the quarterfinals. All four top seed advanced, winning by double-digits.

Rice allowed North Texas to stick around for a half before pulling away late to win by a comfortable margin while MTSU took a 43-21 lead into halftime and never looked back. The action should be much closer when the conference’s best teams meet on the hardwood on Friday.

Thursday Schedule

4. Western Kentucky vs 1. Rice – 5:30 pm on Stadium
3. MTSU vs 2. UAB – 8:00 pm on Stadium

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

Recent Posts

WBB: Owls run away from North Texas in CUSA Tournament opener

By

Rice Women’s basketball continued their undefeated conference march, pulling away from North Texas in the second round of the Conference USA Tournament.

A week removed from their final game of the regular season, Rice came out a bit rusty in their CUSA Tournament Second Round game. North Texas hung around for the first half, but the outcome was never really in doubt as the 1-Seed Rice held serve in their first game of the CUSA Tournament.

Any thoughts of an upset by the 9-Seed North Texas were rooted in eight first half turnovers from Rice. Those eight giveaways led to eight points for North Texas and were a large reason the 30-22 halftime advantage wasn’t weighted more heavily in the Owls’ favor.

As the offense slowly clicked into gear the physical presence of Nancy Mulkey on both sides of the court kept the Owls’ opponents from getting into any semblance of a rhythm. She led the Owls with 20 points and six blocks, knocking down all six of her free throws. When she was on the court, North Texas didn’t have an answer.

CUSA Player of the Year Erica Ogwumike commanded the offense efficiently. She had 15 points, highlighted by a few bold cuts to the basket for quick points. Her 10 rebounds netted her another double-double, her eighth in the Owls’ last 10 games.

Rice stretched an eight-point halftime lead to as many as 21, edging North Texas in all four quarters on their way to a 61-43 victory. This was the sixth consecutive game in which Rice held their opponents below 50 points.

It wasn’t the most inspiring game Rice has played to this point, but even with the slow start this team never looked fazed or worried. Defeating any one opponent three times in a single season is a chore. Rice answered the challenge with a quiet confidence. With the win, the Owls are one step closer to a CUSA Tournament Title and a spot in the NCAA Tournament.

Up Next (Bracket)

Next Rice will play Western Kentucky who beat Old 74-60 in Wednesday’s early game on Court B. Rice beat Western Kentucky comfortably on the road, winning 68-46.

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

Recent Posts