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Rice Women’s Basketball: Owls hit reset button entering 2021-2022 season

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The Rice women’s basketball team is going to look different this season. With the coaching transition comes an unusually high level of roster turnover.

Things are going to look different at Tudor Fieldhouse this season. The departure of former Rice women’s basketball head coach Tina Langley for Washington sent shockwaves through the Owls’ roster. Rice acted quickly, filling the vacated position with former NC State assistant Lindsay Edmonds, but at that point, the proverbial cats were out of their bags.

In the span of a few months, four of the Owls’ five starters left the program.

Thrust into a suddenly more strenuous position than originally expected, Edmonds summed it up rather succinctly, “it’s been a whirlwind.”

Transfers are common when coaching transitions happen in college athletics. Players, understandably, share a loyalty to the coach that recruited them. Others take the opportunity to look around at their alternatives, possible for the first time. Rice saw the ripple effects of both of those scenarios.

Edmonds did what she could to keep that talent from flocking away from South Main. “The roster turnover is definitely not something that I anticipated or wanted to happen,” she said. “I fought really hard to keep them.” Unfortunately for the Owls, several chose to move on.

On the way out

Nancy Mulkey, who was eligible for the WNBA Draft, pulled her name out at the last minute. Rather than go pro, she opted to follow Langley to Washington. Also joining her former coach at a later date was forward Lauren Schwartz. Unfortunately, there were more.

Sydne Wiggins and Jasmine Smith both decided to transfer to SMU. And just like that, Rice had lost their head coach and four of their five starting players in the span of a few short months. Katelyn Crosthwait is the lone starter who opted to remain at South Main along with Edmonds, now tasked with rebuilding a roster.

On the way in

Rice women’s basketball added one transfer to the mix, Alexis Stover, who transfers to Rice from Wright State. She averaged 2.1 points per game with the Raiders in her senior season and started 45 games across her two seasons there after beginning her career with one season at Ohio. Now one of the most veteran players on the roster, Edmonds is hopeful Stover’s experience will pay dividends for the Owls.

Joining the Owls from the high school ranks are Malia Fisher and Trinity Gooden. Both signed with Rice last winter and were recruited by Langley and her staff. Still, have the potential to play meaningful roles in the years to come.

The new-look roster

The losses were tough, but in time, seems to have reoriented herself to the new reality and her new roster. “The ones that are here and wanted to be here with us are here, and that’s what we’re gonna roll with,” she said rather resolutely.

Rounding out the rest of the roster are juniors Haylee Swayze and Arianna McCurry, sophomores India Bellamy, Ashlee Austin, Destiny Jackson and Crosthwait plus redshirt freshman Maya Bokunewicz. At this time, Edmonds says this is likely the roster they’ll go to battle this season.

The roster, as is, sits at 10 members, a thin collection in a typical season without potential COVID-19 challenges to wrestle with. The 2022 class should be a sizable one. But the Owls have to get there first.

Undeterred, Edmonds is eagerly embracing the task at hand. Her last several months have been spent building relationships, on and off the court, with current members of the team. For her, that’s brought a sense of normalcy back to the process.

“I’m really excited about the ones that are here,” she reiterated. “The numbers aren’t nearly as high as I would like them to be, but I think everyone that is on the roster can do something to help us this season.”

The reality is this team is going to look different, very different. But just like Langley inherited an unrefined product and turned it into an NCAA Tournament caliber team, Edmonds will have her own shot to build this roster. And it’ll happen from the ground up.

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2020-2021 Rice Women’s Basketball Season Preview

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The 2020-2021 Rice women’s basketball season is fast approaching. Here’s a rundown of the Owls’ squad aiming for a third-straight conference title.

It feels like so long ago since Tina Langley and the Rice women’s basketball team stood awkwardly on the court in Frisco, Tx prior to their Conference USA Conference Tournament game that never tipped off. The Owls had surged through the league for a second-consecutive regular-season title and were prepared to defend it, but the wave of COVID-19 cancelations stole that chance away.

Much has happened in the months that followed. Erica Ogwumike was selected in the WNBA Draft. And just this month, Rice signed a new class of freshmen. Finally, the longer than anticipated offseason is coming to an end.

The Coach – Tina Langley

There’s a reason Rice signed Tina Langley to a five-year contract extension prior to the beginning of last season. She’s built one of the most dominant programs across the breadth of Rice Athletics. She helped Rice earn its first-ever ranking in the AP Poll, led the team to an undefeated conference record two seasons ago continues to rewrite record books. As long as Langley is at South Main, this program is in good hands.

Last Season Snapshot

Rice saw a 30-game conference winning streak broken on the road against Old Dominion in overtime last February. The loss marked the first time the Owls had fallen to a conference opponent in longer than a calendar year.

Podcast: Erica Ogwumike talks Rice basketball career and abrupt ending

Undeterred, Rice would rally, setting up a winner-take-all matchup with those same Monarchs at Tudor Fieldhouse on the final day of the regular season. Rice beat Old Dominion that day, clinching the conference title and cutting down the nets on their home court. Rice finished the year 21-8 (16-2 C-USA).

Key Question

What does this team look like without Ogwumike? We saw a brief snippet of the team without their star guard on the floor last season and they faired well, but it’s one thing to make something work for a few games and another to be without such a potent scorer and ace rebounder for a full season. The sample we’ve seen suggests they’ll be just fine, but there could be an adjustment period as the team adapts.

The Schedule

Rice Women’s Basketball Marquee Games and Key Dates

Nov. 25, 2020 – Season opener vs Houston Baptist at Tudor Fieldhouse
Nov. 28, 2020 – First road game, at Little Rock
Dec. 20, 2020 – Owls visit Texas A&M at Reed Arena
Jan. 1, 2020 – Conference USA opener at UTSA
Jan. 8, 2020 – Conference USA home opener vs UTEP
Mar. 10, 2020 – Conference USA Tournament

You can find the complete 2020-2021 Rice women’s basketball schedule here.

Key Returners

Sydne Wiggins, Guard (Sr.)

Wiggins led Rice in minutes last season, starting all 29 games. She’s a dynamic shooter from the outside and a pesky defender. Her 1.7 steals per game ranked Top 10 in Conference USA. A senior, Wiggins will be a key leader for this team on and off the court, always playing with an infectious level of aggressiveness.

Jasmine Smith, Guard (Jr.)

Through two seasons, Smith has started every game of her Rice career. She’s a lockdown defender and a plus rebounder, frequently turning takeaways into easy opportunities for the Rice offense. Her enthusiasm and quickness on defense prevented even some of the conference’s best shooters from getting open looks from deep.

Nancy Mulkey, Center (Sr.)

When healthy, Mulkey is one of the most potent forces in women’s college basketball. When she’s on the court, she gives Rice an advantage that no other team in the conference can match. She’s improved on her touch inside and is really becoming a more well-rounded player as she enters her third season on South Main. She’s blocked 171 shots in 48 games in her Rice career.

Lauren Schwartz, Guard (So.)

Schwartz cracked the starting lineup for the Owls immediately upon her arrival at South Main last year. A member of the Conference USA All-Freshman team, her ability as a scorer and a facilitator on offense was crucial to the team’s success on that side of the court. She averaged 9.6 points and 4.0 rebounds per game. With Erica Ogwumike gone, Schwartz will be the primary ballhandler for Rice this season.

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Key names off the bench

Destiny Jackson, Guard (So.) – Saw the most playing time of the freshmen reserves last season. Shot .442 from the field and was a key contributed in the early parts of conference play.

Kendall Ellig, Center (Sr.) – Earned the backup center role and played well. She averaged 2.0 rebounds per game, playing at least 15 minutes in nine contests.

Haylee Swayze, Guard (Jr.) – Opened last season with 22 points off the bench against Nicholls St. Capable shooter off the bench that can rise to the occasion when her number is called.

Katelyn Crosthwait, Guard (So.) – Impactful interior scorer who helped Rice defeat Old Dominion with a season-high 21 minutes and 11 points. Trustworthy defender and rebounder.

More names to know

Sophomore forwards India Bellamy and Ashlee Austin saw a large portion of their action in non-conference play last season, but each had moments during the conference slate where they were asked to come off the bench and play roles here and there. They should be involved in similar situations again this season with room for their playing time to grow.

Arianna McCurry will see some run as a reserve behind Nancy Mulkey and Kendall Ellig at center. Newcomer Maya Bokunewicz can play multiple positions. The 6-foot freshman received rave reviews from coach Langley in the offseason and should see the floor in some capacity early on, especially given how committed the Owls were to getting a much larger freshman class playing experience last fall.

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Rice Women’s Basketball: Owls’ stocked with young talent

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Rice women’s basketball has a core of young players ready to make another run at a Conference USA title. The Owls’ five freshmen are the foundation for the Owls’ future.

It’s going to be surreal watching Rice Women’s Basketball take the court in the fall without Erica Ogwumike. The Owls’ leader on and off the court saw her college career come to a premature end before becoming a WNBA draft selection this spring. Rice will be tasked with fielding a starting five without her in the lineup.

As impossible as Ogwumike will be to replace, it won’t be an unprecedented task. She missed two conference games this past spring with injuries. Rice won both games, defeating Louisiana Tech and Southern Miss at home, each by double digits. Haylee Swayze got the start in the first game in place of Ogwumike. Destiny Jackson started the second.

If the average fan lost track of who was subbing in and out from the bench in the middle of conference play, head coach Tina Langley was well aware.

Jackson was one of five freshmen on the Rice roster. She and Lauren Schwartz were the only two to start at least one game. Schwartz was one of three players to start every game, averaging 9.6 points per game, third best on the team. All five — including India Bellamy, Ashlee Austin and Katelyn Crosthwait — played in more than half of the Owls’ games. Simply put, the Rice freshman made their mark.

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Bellamy led the team with a 45.5 percent success rate from three (5 of 11) and made all five of her free throws she attempted. Austin averaged one rebound every 4.5 minutes on the court, second only to Ogwumike. Crosthwait came up huge with a career-best 11 points in the regular-season finale, helping Rice clinch the conference title with a win over Old Dominion.

“I think where I’m proud of them is that all five of them contributed significantly,” Langley said, “It’s amazing to have such incredible young people coming into our program.”

Building that depth and giving them experience en route to back-to-back conference championships was, in many ways, the perfect scenario. Langley can trust each of them to step into bigger roles next season without missing a beat. And that’s what makes the outlook of this team so bright despite the loss of Ogwumike. Rice women’s basketball has so many players ready and able to contribute now.

“If you looked at our starting lineup from last season, we looked a little strange positionally at times,” Langley admitted,
“But we put a great group out there that could do a lot of different things well.” That’s the recipe for another run at a conference title in the fall. And as young as the Owls’ are, they might not be slowing down any time soon.

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Rice Women’s Basketball: Owls top LA Tech with Ogwumike sidelined

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Rice Women’s Basketball was without their star guard but still managed to blow past Louisiana Tech. The Owls are a perfect 5-0 in Conference USA play.

Rice women’s basketball had won in a variety of ways on their way to a C-USA leading 24-game winning streak. They’d blown out countless teams and played close contests with others. But they’d never won without their best player on the court — they hadn’t had to.

The white and blue-clad Owls showed no timidity when they took the court without Erica Ogwumike on Thursday night against Louisiana Tech. The senior guard had suffered an injury against FIU that kept her sidelined against Louisiana Tech. She did not dress for the game and has no official timetable on her return. However, the expectation remains she’ll be back sooner rather than later.

If that wasn’t enough, the team was hit with sickness during the week. Rice dressed a half dozen players for their first practice of the week and had to send coaches and players home to rest. “We were barely able to practice,” head coach Tina Langely said postgame, not as an excuse, but as a credit to the performance her shorthanded squad had put together against a conference foe.

With Ogwumike out, there were some jitters. Rice had a few shot clock violations and lost possessions early on, clearly impacted by the loss of their primary ballhandler. What never wavered was their defense. Rice has now held 15 of their last 24 (and three of their last five) C-USA opponents to 50 points or fewer. Louisiana Tech shot a season-low 26 percent from the field.

“I love the pride that they take on the defensive end of the floor. I think it speaks to the character of our team.” Langely said. “Defense is about your heart and your effort and you don’t usually get a lot of credit from the defensive end of the floor as individuals. And you see our team really comes together and gives all that they have to defend well.”

That defense turned into just enough offense. Rice scored 13 points on fast breaks, relying on Jasmine Smith and Destiny Jackson to push the team down the court. Once the team stretched the lead to double digits at halftime, Louisiana Tech never got closer than eight for the remainder of the game.

Final Stats

Player of the game – Sydne Wiggins

On a night in which only two Owls reached double-digit points, it was the defensive performers who stood out. Nancy Mulkey registered her 200th career block and a career-best 15 rebounds, but it was the furious play of Sydne Wiggins that stood out the most. She was relentless on that side of the court, registering one steal, two blocks and plenty of headaches for the Owls’ opponent. Langley praised her focus, “She plays with such poise,” Langely said, “[She] has a great IQ. She brings so much to the court for us.” With Ogwumike on the bench, Wiggins was a much-needed energizer.

Up Next

Saturday they host Southern Miss with tip-off scheduled for 2:00 p.m. Then the team gets a few days off before a Thursday/Friday road trip to play UTEP and UTSA.

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