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Rice Women’s Basketball Crushes Charlotte

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Rice women’s basketball completed a sweep in the Sunshine State, taking down Florida Atlantic a few days after knocking off South Florida on the road.

Rice women’s basketball has won a lot of games this year, but few of them were less eventful than the contest they played against Charlotte on Wednesday night. Even though Rice trailed by as many as six points in the early moments of the second quarter the red-hot shooting of Louanne Battiston made it clear the home team wouldn’t be behind for long.

When Rice finally regained the lead midway through the second quarter they were off to the races. An 11-point halftime lead snowballed to 27 as the third quarter began to wind down. By the time the fourth arrived, both sides knew the game way over.

MORE: Rice Women’s Basketball Midseason State of the Program

Most of the starters were off the floor by the final media timeout, save for Battiston who earned the right to finish the game after her tremendous 20-point outburst, which included four three-pointers plus a block and a steal.

With the victory, Rice women’s basketball improves to 13-3 on the season and 7-0 at Tudor Fieldhouse.

Final Box | Rice 84, Charlotte 59

Key takeaway | The Best Kind of Boring

Rice women’s basketball did not win a single game by double digits in their first six games. Granted, there were some tough opponents in that stretch, but even the games the Owls’ controlled were closer calls than they might have liked. That switch flipped in Puerto Rico, though.

Even with a one point loss to UCF accounted for, Rice has won seven of their last 10 games by 16 or more points, leading up to Wednesday’s 25-point blowout. They’ve won nine of 10 and look to be in cruise control for the first time this season.

Good teams find ways to win. Great teams never let the other team have a chance. The Owls are looking to prove they’re in the latter group. More wins like this will help that cause.

Up Next: vs UAB (Wed. Jan. 14 at 7:00 pm)

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Rice Basketball Hangs On to Beat Wichita State

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Rice Basketball never trailed in the second half, fending off a late rally to defeat Wichita State in the Owls’ first true road win of the season.

A flurry of threes put Wichita State in the driver’s seat early on in their game against Rice basketball on Wednesday. The Owls trailed for the first 15 minutes of the contest before they hit their first three of the night from Jalen Smith, tying the game at 19 apiece.

From there, Rice would prove to be the aggressor. The Owls took a three point lead into halftime and grew their advantage in the second half, doing most of their damage in the paint, using the long ball as an occasional exclamation point. Cam Carroll’s three with just over 11 minutes to go stretched the Rice lead to 13, the largest by either team.

MORE: Rice Basketball Midseason State of the Program

As has been the case in so many Rice games this year, the Owls’ opponents had a second half run in them. The Shockers rattled off a 12-2 burst to get right back in the game, eventually leveling the score at 56-all with 4:31 to play.

Even a seven point lead with 41 seconds to play wasn’t safe. Wichita State was able to get back within three, force a turnover and come dangerously close to a foul on a made three point shot. The officials ruled the foul on the court and Rice escaped with the win.

Final Box | Rice 66, Wichita State 64

Key takeaway | Finding a way on the Road

Entering Wednesday, Rice basketball was 1-6 away from Tudor Fieldhouse. It’s not as if they hadn’t played close games, but those games had too often slipped out of reach by the time the final buzzer sounded. Finishing has been a problem for this team all season and one, which made this rigorous 40-minute battle all the more important.

Veteran guard Trae Broadnax, who was limited to four points in the first half, came alive down the stretch, making several key shots late in the game to keep Wichita State at bay. The team was able to overcome Wichita State’s late rally, and while they did briefly lose the lead, Wichita State never led in the second half. Finally, Rice basketball had finished and just as important, proved that they can.

Up Next: vs Charlotte (Sun, Jan. 11 at 1:00 pm)

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Rice Basketball Comes Up Short Against Memphis

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Rice Basketball led Memphis at halftime but couldn’t close things out after the break, falling at home to the Tigers.

Memphis scored first, but it was Rice basketball that proved to be the aggressor in the early portions of the Owls’ showdown with the Tigers at Tudor Fieldhouse on Saturday afternoon. Back-to-back three pointers from Nick Anderson and Jalen Smith put Rice in front with a small lead, which would grow to as many as 13 points following a 15-2 run, roughly halfway through the first half.

Down but not out, Memphis would regroup and battle back, tying the game in the final minute before the break. A Trae Broadnax free throw put Rice in front by one, but the battle was officially on.

MORE: Rice Basketball Midseason State of the Program

Another volley of threes, this time from Smith and Cam Carroll, put Rice in front by seven just after halftime before Memphis surged in front. For the remainder of the contest, it was Rice chipping away at a modest Memphis lead, which never exceeded eight points.

The Owls got back within two with 2:04 to play, but couldn’t close the gap any further, missing out on what would have been a massive upset win for the program. Rice Basketball falls to 6-9 with the loss. The Owls are 5-3 at Tudor Fieldhouse this season.

Final Box | Memphis 76, Rice 70

Key takeaway | A Seasons Worth of Almosts

Had a few bounces gone another way, Rice basketball very well could have beaten Memphis on Saturday afternoon. They really were that close. Instead, it’s a close loss to a good team, a familiar refrain for a Rice program that has struggled to get over the hump this season.

Rice was not competitive after halftime against Tennessee or Tulsa. Other than that, they’ve been competitive against the best of the best teams on their schedule. They gave Oregon a scare, dropped a pair of overtime contests at Coconut Hoops to Kennesaw State and FGCU and had chances late in losses to SFA and Tarleton State. The common thread in all those games? Losses.

More often than not, this team plays competitive basketball but they haven’t finished against the better teams on their schedule. That’s a learned skill, but time is ticking on the season and there isn’t much more time to figure things out.

Up Next: at Wichita State (Wed, Jan. 7 at 6:30 pm)

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Rice Women’s Basketball Outlasts Florida Atlantic

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Rice women’s basketball completed a sweep in the Sunshine State, taking down Florida Atlantic a few days after knocking off South Florida on the road.

Shots were falling for both teams on Saturday as Rice Women’s Basketball made the trip to Boca Raton for a battle with one of the American Conference’s other Owls. The hosting Florida Atlantic Owls took an early lead, which would last for a matter of minutes before a three-pointer from Dominque Ennis put the visitors in front for the first time. Rice would never trail again.

A 10-0 run in the second quarter looked like it would give Rice the cushion to coast to the finish, but Florida Atlantic began the third quarter with a 7-0 run of their own to get their deficit back to one point. Try as they might, Rice was never able to build a lead that was truly comfortable until the final minutes of the contest.

MORE: Rice Women’s Basketball Midseason State of the Program

Already ahead by nine, Victoria Flores delivered the finishing blow with a layup (and one) and a three to put Rice ahead by 15 with a little less than two minutes to play. Florida Atlantic made one last push, but the home Owls had run out of time and Rice hung on to win.

With the victory, Rice women’s basketball improves to 12-3 on the season and 6-3 away from Tudor Fieldhouse.

Final Box | Rice 83, Florida Atlantic 75

Key takeaway | Taking Care of the Basketball

Both teams shot better than 49 percent from the floor on Saturday and made a combined 19 three-pointers. Scoring was a constant and defensive stops were few and far between. The difference was how well the Owl took care of the ball. Rice turned the rock over 13 times, the majority of which occurred during a sloppy stretch in the second quarter when they gave the ball away seven times.

Florida Atlantic committed 19 turnovers, proving to be a bit more slippery-handed than Rice. That six turnover delta proved significant. Rice outscored Florida Atlantic 21-11 off turnovers. They won the game by eight.

Up Next: vs Charlotte (Wed. Jan. 7 at 7:00 pm)

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Rice Football Falls to Texas State in Armed Forces Bowl

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Rice Football kept it close for a half before Texas State prevailed in the Armed Forces Bowl, riding explosive plays and turnovers to a lopsided final score.

More than a month removed from their final regular season game, Rice football came out of the gate with some gusto against Texas State. Without their starting quarterback, the Owls leaned on their defense, reaching halftime with three points of the traditionally high-scoring Bobcats. Turnovers pushed the game out of reach in the second half. Here are a few immediate reactions from the game:

Defense Bounces Back

It was a tough end to the regular season for the Rice football defense which saw a significant drop in effectiveness in the second half of the year. They were expected to have their hands full against a Texas State offense that was one of the most explosive units in the nation during the regular season and brought its full complement of skill players with it to the Armed Forces Bowl.

Rice pitched a first quarter shut out. Stonewalling the Bobcats on fourth down before Andrew Awe delivered a crucial third down sack to end the next drive. Texas State broke through on their third possession, which came following a Rice turnover. Even still, they needed a fourth down conversion and a defensive holding penalty in the redzone to make it to the endzone.

More: Top 10 Moments from Rice Athletics in 2025

Rather uncommon penalties for running into an official on the sideline and defensive blocking below the waist buoyed a Texas State field goal drive and a missed tackle resulting in a breakaway touchdown reception, but otherwise, it was tough sledding for the Texas State offense, at least for a half.

Texas State’s 144 first half yards were their second fewest in a first half this year, roughly half of the 267.3 yards they average in first halves this season. The Bobcats would finish with 436 yards, just below the 475.8 yards they averaged during the season. A handful of late breakaway touchdowns accounted for most of that second half bump.

The big touchdown plays still count, but down to down, the defense faired well, especially considering the short fields they were handed after turnovers and the lack of support from their counterparts on offense.

QB Debuts

Quarterback Chase Jenkins started every regular season game for Rice football in 2025 before opting out of the bowl game after Christmas break. That meant the Owls were going to have a new QB1 for the bowl game and, perhaps, longer.

Lucas Scheerhorn got the start and played two drives before ceding to Patrick Crayton Jr, who had his two drives before the ball rotated back to Scheerhorn. Neither quarterback had seen much action this season, with much of it coming in emergency relief in the blowout loss at UTSA.

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The offense remained stuck in neutral for much of the first half before Crayton helped jumpstart it with a 68-second scoring drive at the end of the second quarter, tossing this field-flipping deep ball to fellow freshman Payton Matthews:

Crayton would finish as the Owls’ leading passer with that heave, but no Rice passer tallied more than six completions. The passing game proved an afterthought after consecutive Rice drives ended in fumbles, with a few more balls put on the deck which the Owls managed to recover.

Although the product was messy, head coach Scott Abell said his team was still thankful for the opportunity, particularly so that those young quarterbacks could get that experience.

“I’d say yes again [to the bowl invite],” he said. “The three weeks off practice. “I can’t replicate that moment out there on the field today for Lucas [Scheerhorn] or PJ [Crayton], and that was part of the problem. You can’t replicate that in practice. When are you going to get that kind of look for young quarterbacks so you can help them grow whether its good, bad or indifferent.

Abell declined to offer a path forward at the position in his postgame remarks, but the Owls will undoubtedly exhaust all options to ensure they’re in the best position possible at that crucial quarterback position in 2026, whether that means turning to Scheerhorn, Crayton, or someone else.

Pushed Around Up Front

Given several weeks to prepare for the Owls’ unique offensive approach, the Texas State front was ready come game day, swarming the Rice line and closing running lanes with haste. Aaron Turner was able to get off tackle and burst ahead for a 30 yard gain in the first quarter, cutting back through the middle of the defense, but that was about it for Rice when it came to explosive plays on the ground.

Tyvonn Byars delivered a powerful run to move the chains on fourth and two, but that was about it when it came to big moments from the running game. There didn’t seem to be much running room for any of the Owls’ backs.

More: Stay Tuned for the Recap on The Roost Podcast

The same was true in the passing game. Rice quarterbacks were sacked three times on the game, not counting several plays with forced scrambles or misfired throws driven by a collapsing pocket. “We struggled to protect in any conventional pass set,” Abell said, bluntly.

The second series of the third quarter summed it up acutely. On second down, pressure off the edge forced a high pitch which was fumbled and recovered by Rice. On third down the pressure got to Crayton, knocking the ball out of his hands. Texas State recovered.

The line had its moments, finding enough success to get the offense up and down the field a handful of times, but if this team is going to have the consistency it desires, they’re going to half to be more productive in the trenches.

Searching for that Next Step in the Postseason

Friday’s appearance in the Armed Forces Bowl marked the second time in program history in which Rice had been to three bowl games in a four season span. That they managed to do so this year in the first year of a new coaching staff was notable, but the Owls’ most recent bowl run looks starkly different than the last time Rice was a regular in the postseason.

From 2012 to 2013, Rice went to three consecutive bowl games, finishing the season above .500 with two wins in those three extra contests. Those teams finished the regular season with momentum and carried it over into bowl victories, earning some hardware for the Brian Patterson Center foyer along the way.

Rice football is now riding a three-game losing streak in bowl games and has been largely uncompetitive in those contests. They snuck into two of those games as a five-win team, expected underdogs by oddsmakers. Altogether, that’s 11 consecutive seasons without a bowl win, a long time for a program with eyes on regular postseason attendance.

Taking that next step and turning what Abell would go on to call a “frustrating” season into a bright future remains the North Star for the Owls’ undaunted head coach and the program.

“It’s kind of what I’m built for. It’s what I’ve done in my career,” Abell said. “This is not foreign land to me. I’ve been here. This is why I was brought to Rice.”

That work begins immediately. The Transfer Portal opened at midnight before the Owls’ bowl game. Members of the coaching staff were already departing the stadium to catch flights back home to Houston to continue building for that future. The bowl result wasn’t what they wanted, but this staff remains confident they’re on the right track on South Main.

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