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Rice Women’s Basketball falls to USF in 3OT

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Rice Women’s Basketball led for more than 40 minutes but couldn’t close out the game, eventually falling to South Florida on the road.

Aniah Alexis didn’t play the first time Rice women’s basketball met USF on the hardwood this season. The freshman guard has become a fixture in the Owls’ rotation in the games since, starting the last five games and setting the tone for the Owls on the road against the Bulls on Wednesday.

Alexis scored 10 of the Owls’ first 11 points firing at a perfect 5-for-5 mark from the field in the first half as she paced the team to a halftime advantage against one of the top teams in the AAC. She kept those efforts rolling into the third quarter, helping Rice build a double-digit lead on the road.

More: Rice Football: 2025 Recruiting Class Analysis — Defense

South Florida would fire back slowly working their deficit to three points then one point with two minutes to play in regulation. The game appeared won when Rice stymied South Florida on a final possession but a failed inbounds pass with 2.4 seconds to go resulted in a turnover. South Florida would hit a three at the buzzer to force overtime.

Each side had their chance to steal the win in extra. South Florida settled for a long three to end the first overtime which was off the mark. Rice drew up a better luck for Sussy Ngulefac who couldn’t get it to roll in at the buzzer. Finally, South Florida drained a long three in triple overtime that Rice couldn’t answer. Rice falls to 12-12 on the season with the loss.

Final Box | USF 82, Rice 77 (3OT)

Key takeaway | A third option emerges

For much of this season the offense has lived and died on the efforts of Malia Fisher and Dominique Ennis. On nights when that tandem was firing on all cylinders the Owls were hard to beat. When either had a mortal evening, the offense started to crumble.

Sussy Ngulefac and Shelby Hayes have flashed at times, Victoria Flores has had some exception outings, but Rice women’s basketball hasn’t truly found someone who can be that dominant third scorer. Could Alexis be the one they’ve been waiting for all this time?

In addition to Wednesday’s banner night — Alexis finished with 20 points, 6 boards — the freshman had already spiked with a 12-point game against North Carolina A&T and 13 points against East Carolina. She’s shown the ability to score in bunches previously. Can she become a more consistent scoring option as she continues to develop in her first year on campus?

If she can, there might be hope for this offense to take another step down the stretch. The Owls certainly need someone to step up and Alexis made a very loud case to be that person with this kind of performance at USF.

Up Next: vs Wichita State (Sat, 2/15)

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Comeback comes up short for Rice Basketball against UNT

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Rice Basketball rallied from a double-digit second half deficit to tie the game late against North Texas but came up short in the final minutes.

North Texas jumped out to an early lead at Tudor Fieldhouse on Tuesday evening, this time though, Rice basketball was ready to respond. The Owls overcame the quick early deficit with a pair of threes from Denver Anglin to net the score at seven. Unlike the last time these two met — a North Texas blowout — Rice was poised to trade blows with one of the AAC’s frontrunners.

Despite their rally, Rice found themselves playing from behind, but never by a margin that seemed insurmountable. Incredible effort from Jacob Dar and strong play in the paint from Caden Powell paced the scoring while the defensive effort was a few rebounds away from heroic.

More: Rice Football: 2025 Recruiting Class Analysis — Offense

The North Texas lead would grow to as many as 11 but the Owls’ never let things get out of hand because of that defense. Which responded to that big lead by forcing North Texas to miss 10 of its next 11 shots from the field, opening the door just wide enough for Rice to get back into the game.

Trae Broadnax hit a layup with 1:15 to play, bring the teams level for the first time since the opening moments of the game but that would be the end of the Owls’ points for the evening. The Mean Green closed things out on a 6-0 run, surviving with the win.

Final Box | UNT 67, Rice 61

What They’re Saying

“This was a game that, without question, the engagement and competitive spirit was there throughout the game. If we continue to play the way we’re playing, it’s just about learning how to finish. There is a trajectory there that is pleasing. Now, from there, how do we get better? You can’t take anything for granted, but sometimes, when you’re not getting the outcome, you can still get better, and I do feel that way about this group. I’ve said to these guys that if we were going to break, we would have been broken by now. So, that is off the table. Now, it’s just a matter of finding that breakthrough.” – Rice Basketball head coach Rob Lanier

Key takeaway | In progress

It’s been a long time since Rice basketball faced off with North Texas on the hardwood. That game was a Mean Green onslaught, a 22-point victory that was never really close. That defeat kicked off an extended losing streak that stretched to seven consecutive defeats before Rice finally got back in the win column against East Carolina.

That ECU win put Rice basketball beyond the win total from a season ago, but even in the span of losses that surrounded it, this version of the program couldn’t be more different from the one that struggled through the 2023-2024 season.

The average margin of defeat against conference opponents in the regular season a year ago was 12.5 points. Yes, the average loss was by double-digits. The median mark was 11 points, so it’s not as if a few blowouts were skewing that number.

This year the average margin of defeat in AAC losses is 5.4 points, half last year’s total. The median margin is three points. Nobody likes to lose, but it’s unmistakable these losses are representative of a team making progress. The next step is converting that progress into wins.

Up Next: at Tulane (Sat, Feb. 15)

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Rice Basketball comes up short at Charlotte

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Rice Basketball jumped out to a sizable early lead but couldn’t sustain it, faltering late in a damaging road loss to Charlotte.

Fresh off a much-needed conference win over ECU, Rice basketball came out hot in Saturday’s road tilt against Charlotte. Denver Anglin got the Owls started with consecutive threes then Jacob Dar contributed the next seven points as the Owls raced out to an 11-point lead in the span of five minutes of game time.

The Owls’ breakneck scoring pace would push that advantage to as many as 16 points in the first half before Charlotte started to find their rhythm offensively. The 49ers cut their deficit to six points at the half and engineered a 10-0 run early in the second period and the game was on.

More: Rice Football: 2025 Recruiting Class Analysis — Offense

Charlotte would lead by as many as seven in the second half, but never more as both sides swapped smalls spurts of scoring. Every time the 49ers tried to pull away, Rice had an answer, primarily driven by the aggressive ballhandling and scoring ability of guard Trae Broadnax with timely threes from Alem Huseinovic mixed in.

Rice kept the game within two possessions for most of the final few minutes but Charlotte won the battle of free throws late, holding on to win by three and send the Owls’ back to the loss column.

Final Box | Rice 71, ECU 60

Key takeaway | Out-executed

Rice basketball did a lot of things well against Charlotte on Saturday, shooting better than 50 percent from three and outshooting Charlotte from the field. They didn’t turn the ball over very often and largely stayed out of foul trouble. But they lost.

Rice made one three-point shot in the final nine minutes. Charlotte made four.

Rice missed four free throws in the final 21 seconds. Charlotte missed one.

In a single possession game, those small variances make all the difference. Ultimately the Owls’ unraveling at the end of the first quarter essentially eliminated their margin for error. To some degree, that encapsulates the rough last month this team has had. It hasn’t been a slog of completely bad basketball — there’s been a lot of good — but that good hasn’t shown through in those make or break moments.

Charlotte entered Saturday in dead-last in the AAC standings. To only be a game ahead of this team is now a frustrating reality for a Rice basketball squad that will soon have to begin to worry about the possibility of a play-in game in the conference tournament.

Up Next: vs North Texas (Tues, Feb. 11)

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Rice Women’s Basketball runs out of stream vs Tulane

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Rice Women’s Basketball dipped back below .500 in AAC play, running out of stream late against Tulane at home.

Tulane struck first in a Wednesday night tilt at Tudor Fieldhouse but Rice women’s basketball would quickly fire back. Victoria Flores sparked a quick Rice rally with an 11-point first quarter, turning a deficit into a nine-point advantage for the home team which would prove difficult for the Owls to maintain.

By the end of the first quarter Tulane had pulled within one. The Green Wave led by 12 at halftime and survived a brief push by the Owls in the third, still maintaining a double-digit advantage by the time the fourth quarter arrived. That’s when the Owls’ offense finally ran out of stream.

More: Rice Women’s Basketball 2024-2025 Midseason State of the Program

Already staked to a significant lead, Tulane opened the final frame on a 12-2 run, taking a commanding 21 point lead midway through the quarter. Not even a banner day from a career-best showing from Malia Fisher (32 points, 6rebounds) would be enough to get the Owls back within striking range. Flores would finish with 11 points, all scored in that first with Ennis the only other Rice players in double figures — she scored her 11th point at the buzzer.

The loss marks a staggered stretch of back-and-forth for Rice women’s basketball in the win column. The Owls haven’t won more than two games in a row since November 7 through November 17, posting four straight wins over NC A&T, South Alabama, Houston and Sam Houston, respectively

Final Box | Tulane 78, Rice 67

Key takeaway | Offensive identity

Dominique Ennis had taken zero three point attempts at halftime. She finished with four shots from long range in a game the Owls were down by a large margin for the duration of the second half. That tally is well below her average of 6.5 three-point attempts per game. She took 12 threes last time out against FAU.

How many threes Ennis or anyone else attempts in a single game isn’t going to make or break this team in the long run, but Ennis’ inconsistent usage underscores a nagging issue Rice women’s basketball has had all season: a lack of true offensive identity.

Up until this game, the plan probably could have been described as an inside-out approach in which the Owls’ bigs win in the paint to provide open shots from distance for the likes of Ennis and others. That’s not what happened here.

It feels as if the Owls are banking on Malia Fisher to carry the load while banking on someone else to provide a meaningful supporting role. Sometimes that’s been Ennis. Other times Victoria Flores. But more often than not, it’s been a sluggish result on that side of the court that’s hampered this team’s upside.

Up Next: at USF (Wed, 2/12)

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Rice Basketball thunders past ECU

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Rice Basketball snapped their losing streak in emphatic fashion on Wednesday night, posting a convincing victory over East Carolina on the road.

Days removed from a heart breaking loss to Memphis at home, their seventh consecutive conference defeat, Rice basketball came out with that same fire still burning. The Owls opened the game on a 7-0 run, waded through an up-and-down next few minutes before closing the half on a 6-0 run to take an eight point advantage.

Another stout defensive effort had limited ECU to just 25 points in the first half and kept their pair of talented scorers, C.J. Walker and RJ Felton, from dictating the game. That tandem did score — accounting for a combined 37 points throughout the night — but Rice clamped down on the remainder of the roster, a reality that was magnified as the game progressed.

More: Rice Basketball 2024-2025 Midseason State of the Program

After ECU had drawn within six, Rice rattled off a 23-5 run, combining that suffocating defense with powerful work inside from Cade Powell, who scored a career-high 18 points, and timely three-point shooting from Alem Huseinovic and Emory Lanier. Before the Pirates could catch their collective breath they were trailing by 23 points.

All that was left to do at that point was to play out the string. The torrential outburst of Rice points drowned any real chances of an ECU comeback and notched the Owls a much-needed AAC win.

Final Box | Rice 71, ECU 60

Key takeaway | At Last

A somber attitude would have been perfectly reasonable in the midst of an extended losing streak like Rice basketball has endured over the past month. Yet somehow point guard Trae Broadnax made sure to slip a quiet, but powerful edict into his postgame comments following Sunday’s loss to Memphis.

“The ball is going to swing back in our favor eventually, at the right time,” Broadnax declared, as if willing the positives he’d seen in his team over a series of game to coalesce into one, cohesive performance.

Wednesday’s decisive win over East Carolina wasn’t perfect but it was one of the most comprehensively solid performances this team has authored in weeks. Rice won the rebounding battle, didn’t turn the ball over too much and held their own from the free throw line. They played well. And when this team plays well in multiple phases, it should be good enough to win some games. That finally came to fruition on Wednesday.

“Most teams break during that kind of stretch, instead we’ve gotten better,” head coach Rob Lanier told Rice Owls Voice JP Heath after the game. “We’re getting better in the midst of our struggles. That’s a sign of connection, togetherness, and growing toughness. And it was on display tonight. And we can get better.”

It’s a long climb from 3-7 to where this team wants to be — .500 would be a good starter — but the version of Rice basketball that took the court against ECU is certainly one capable of beating a lot of teams in the AAC. They just need to find a way to replicate that effort again.

The silver lining? Even with this tough stretch, Rice surpassed last season’s win total with their victory over ECU.

Up Next: vs Charlotte (Sat, Feb. 8)

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