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Rice Women’s Basketball leans on bench to blow past Tulsa

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Rice Women’s Basketball jumped out to an early lead against Tulsa, controlling the game in a convincing home victory.

Rice women’s basketball never led the first time they took the court against Tulsa this season. The Owls trailed for most of that game before mounting a late comeback in the final minutes to tie, but never surpass, the Golden Hurricane. This time around, the Owls were ready, jumping out to a 7-0 lead in a game they would control for the duration.

Tulsa didn’t go quietly into the night, taking a brief one-point lead at the end of the first quarter. It was at that point, though, Rice went to its bench and made good use of its deep roster. Jazzy Owens-Barnett delivered 10 straight points in the second quarter before giving way to Hailey Adams, who scored seven of the Owls’ next 10.

Emily Klaczek had a run of her own in the third quarter. It was as if the Owls were handing off a baton throughout the game, with each player doing their part and passing the task to another. Malia Fisher, Dominque Ennis and Destiny Jackson with a combined 13 points, but Rice held the line and kept the lead.

Tulsa whittled their deficit down to five at the start of the fourth quarter but would not get closer than that. Seemingly every Rice player made at least one basket in the final frame — seven different Owls scored in the fourth quarter — as Rice slammed the door with a 7-0 run punctuated with a run-away layup from Owens-Barnett to go ahead by 15.

“It’s super fun to be able to just know the person you’re throwing to is nine times out of ten going to hit that shot,” Owens-Barnett joked afterward. “It’s really fun,” Adams said. “There’s so many more reads you can make. There’s so many more things that can happen.”

The win propels Rice past Tulsa in the conference standings and ensures a split in the regular season series with the Golden Hurricanes. At 8-4, Rice now moves to third in the AAC standings.

Final Box | Rice 78 – Tulsa 66

What They’re Saying

“Winning is fun. I’m really proud of this team. I’m really proud of our effort, really proud of how locked in I thought we were from tip to finish. That’s a great basketball team. They’re going to win a lot of games, but I think we just showed today how talented we are, how deep we are, and how impressive we are. Our bench was tremendous for us, 41 points off the bench to their nine. I’ve been talking about it all year long, how deep this team is, and you can sub and there’s no drop off. I think today just showcases that even more. But winning is fun. That was a lot of fun.” – Head coach Lindsay Edmonds

Key takeaway | Making it hard for them

The record might not be pristine, but the focus of this team is to be at their best in March when every game matters that much more. Injuries and bad bounces have handed Rice women’s basketball their fair share of lumps thus far, but time and time again, they’ve responded with nights like tonight.

The last time these two teams met on the court, Delanie Crawford and Temira Poindexter combined for 48 points. This go around that dynamic scoring duo reached 44 points, but it required 35 shots to get there.

“They’re both tremendous players. They both get up a lot of shots. You have to be honed in to them at all times. You’re never going to be able to keep either of them scoreless because they’re that good,” Edmonds said. “We just wanted to make everything hard for them.”

Up Next: vs ECU (Wednesday, Feb. 14)

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Rice Basketball falters late, falling to USF at home

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The roller coaster ride of this Rice Basketball continued on Saturday as the Owls climbed to a big lead before falling to South Florida at home.

Roller coasters and the current Rice basketball season have more in common than one might care to admit. Fresh off a blowout loss against SMU, Rice went found itself leading top-seeded South Florida by 13 at halftime. Travis Evee was in the zone. Max Fiedler was controlling the paint. Keanu Dawes delivered a myriad of clutch moments, coming off the bench for the first time this season.

But, as head coach Scott Pera would be the first to say, it’s a 40-minute game. And that roller coaster? For every up, it has a down. The drop coincided with the second half whistle. USF hit five of their first six threes after the break, erasing the Rice advantage and taking their first lead just minutes in the second frame.

USF’s 23-5 second half run quickly erased the Rice lead and turned the game into a dogfight down the stretch. Rice would tie it up at 65-65 with 2:36 remaining in the second half. USF hit one more three to go back in front. Rice was out of baskets. Despite leading for the entirety of the first half and never trailing by more than two possession, Rice fell, again.

“We need to find consistency. Our players have been a roller coaster in their individual performances and our team has been a rollercoaster because of it,” head coach Scott Pera said. “We cannot find a consistent performance across the board from all our guys. That’s been the story.”

Final Box | USF 69 – Rice 65

Key takeaway | Good, but not good enough

A visibly frustrated Scott Pera sat down for his postgame press conference following his Rice basketball’s drubbing at the hands of SMU. He said all the right things and made promises to do everything he could to get his team prepared for their upcoming game against league-leading South Florida.

And while Pera took full responsibility for that defeat, he made it clear this team wasn’t going anywhere if its leaders, specifically Max Fiedler and Travis Evee, didn’t play better. “We’re not winning in this league if Max and Travis aren’t playing well,” he declared.

For the most part, the Owls’ stars led the way. Fiedler scored three of the Owls’ first four field goals from the floor. Evee followed immediately afterward, scoring seven straight points on his own to give Rice a 10-point lead over the AAC’s top team.

Fiedler finished with 13 points, 13 rebounds and five assists. Evee scored a team-high 20 points. Statistically, it was night and day better from the SMU outing just days ago. But unfortunately for the Owls, the result didn’t change. It was a closer loss, but a loss all the same.

“We knew we had to play better. It didn’t really take anyone to tell us that,” Evee said. “I still don’t think we played our best ball today. We have to find a way to keep playing better.”

Up Next: at Tulsa (Saturday, Feb. 17)

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Alem Huseinovic’s huge night not enough as Rice Basketball falls to SMU

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Alem Huseinovic’s huge night was not enough to keep pace with a furious SMU attack as Rice basketball remains winless at home in AAC play.

SMU started the scoring at Tudor Fieldhouse and did not stop, shooting better than 50 percent in the first half against Rice basketball. With defense unable to keep the Mustangs at bay, the Owls turned to Alem Huseinvoic, who delivered a monster night including a series of big threes to keep pace with the visitors for as long as possible.

Huseinvoic helped push Rice to a nine-point advantage in the final minutes before halftime and scored the only Rice basket in the next eight minutes of court time spanning the final four 3:48 of the first half and the first 4:17 to the second frame. In between SMU outscored Rice by a staggering 29-4 margin.

“At 35-26, I thought, alright, this is going to be a ball game. We’re going to have a chance to win this thing. I could not have been more wrong.”

Things didn’t really get sideways until the opening minutes of the second half when a 15-0 SMU run sent Rice spiraling. Outside of Huseinovic, the Rice offense was spotty at best. Mekhi Mason, fresh off a career day against UTSA, was quiet, scoring just eight points. Travis Evee was 0-for-5 from three. As a result, the Rice deficit would only continue to balloon.

Pera was almost at a loss for words in the aftermath. “I wouldn’t be this upset if I didn’t know it was in there. If I didn’t know what this team is capable of. If I didn’t know how much these kids cared. If I didn’t know how much they really want to win then I wouldn’t be this upset.”

SMU led by as many as 29 points, closing out the game with ease and sending Rice to their seventh consecutive defeat at home in conference play. All three of the Owls’ AAC victories thus far have come on the road.

Final Box | SMU 95 – Rice 69

Key takeaway | Inconsistency from Top to Bottom

Travis Evee and Max Fiedler are the heart and soul of this basketball team. The veteran leaders combined to score 18 points and grab seven boards against SMU on Wednesday night. Either of them is capable of reaching those totals themself, and it wouldn’t require all that unusual of a performance to get there.

“We’re not winning in this league if Max and Travis aren’t playing well,” Pera said point-blank. “Our room for error here isn’t large.”

Rice basketball didn’t lose the game solely because their vets had off nights, but the inconsistency from the top down points toward a lingering problem for this team as a whole. They’re hot and cold to an extreme. At their best, they can take down Memphis and go toe-to-toe with FAU. Both of those teams have been in the Top 25 this season. But when things aren’t clicking it can get messy. Fast.

With another crucial home game looming against South Florida, Pera took full responsibility on Wednesday night “I am not deflecting blame. This is on me,” he said. “This is my responsibility. I am going to hold myself accountable and my staff. We are going to dissect the tape, watch the first USF game and find ways to help these kids be better.”

Up Next: vs USF (Saturday, Feb. 10)

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Jazzy Owens-Barnett’s career night boosts Rice Women’s Basketball past USF

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A career night from Jazzy Owens-Barnett pushed Rice women’s basketball to victory over South Florida on the road.

Rice women’s basketball found itself on the ropes in the early going against South Florida on Wednesday night, hoping to avoid being victims of a Sunshine State sweep following a loss to FAU over the weekend. Rice made just four shots from the field in the first quarter and fell into a 10-point hole following a three-ball from the Bulls to start the second quarter.

It would be hyperbolic to say it was all Owls from that point forward, but it’s fair to say some sort of switch flipped in the blue and gray with their backs against the wall. It was at that point Jazzy Owens-Barnett began to take over, scoring 11 points in the span of five minutes of court time as Rice erased the gap and managed to walk into halftime with a 29-29 tie.

The teams traded buckets early in the third but the later parts of the quarter is when Rice really took command of the game. The Owls made 10 consecutive field goals from the midpoint of the third quarter going into the final frame. Almost at the same time, the Bulls missed 12 shots in a row. USF was able to hang around, but Rice never trailed in the final quarter, pulling out a big win on the road.

“We want to be playing our best basketball right now and I feel like that’s where we’re starting to trend to,” head coach Lindsay Edmonds said afterward. “We’re learning from mistakes. We’re growing. And I think the best is yet to come.”

The win was Edmonds’ 50th at Rice, making her the fastest coach in program history to 50 victories.

Final Box | Rice 69 – USF 59

Key takeaway | Getting close to full strength

Rice spent the better part of the past month without Malia Fisher or Jazzy Owens-Barnett on the court. Injuries had forced the Owls to do their best with a makeshift starting lineup and reworked defensive rotations. Various players have stepped up and had big games in the interim, but it’s been quite a while since we saw this team playing up to its fullest potential.

Owens-Barnett has been back in the lineup for a few games now. Fisher returned for the first time tonight. This is as close as the Owls have been to 100 percent in weeks and they were able to go on the road and pick up a crucial victory against a team tied with them in the standings when the day began.

A career night from Owens-Barnett, 21 points including a perfect 4-for-4 from three, propelled the Owls this time around. “I feel like every night someone from our bench can step up,” Edmonds said of Owens-Barnett. “What a spark plug. We needed every single one of it. She led our charge offensively, but she helped us a ton defensively as well.”

As Edmonds alluded, it might be someone else next time out. And that’s the beauty of depth. Finally healthy and with so many options, this team has the potential to be scary down the stretch.

Up Next: vs Tulsa (Saturday, Feb. 10)

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Rice Basketball edges UTSA for third straight road win

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Rice basketball avoided a late collapse against UTSA, holding off a late rally to beat the Roadrunners. It was the Owls’ third straight road win.

After struggling to shoot the ball for weeks, Rice basketball knocked down a trio of three pointers in the first two and a half minutes of their Saturday afternoon contest against UTSA. Staked to a strong start from three, the Owls’ shooting from the rest of the court followed. Rice shot 46 percent from the floor in the first half, all the while keeping UTSA off balance on the other side the court.

By the time halftime arrived Rice had accumulated a double-digit lead. Wary of losing a large lead for the umpteenth time over the last several weeks, the Owls came out of halftime composed and aggressive. Mekhi Mason added to what would become a career day with 10 points in the first six minutes of the half, pushing the Rice lead to as many as 16.

UTSA would rally. Rice would counterpunch. Leading by 15 with five minutes to go, it looked as if Rice was going to avoid a second-half swoon. But rather than play out the final minutes in peace, UTSA would go on a 15-3 run, all-but erasing the Rice lead and getting the game within one score in the final 30 seconds.

Fortunately for the Owls, Anthony Selden would knock down a pair of free throws, getting the Owls’ edge back to four points before UTSA ran out of time.

Rice basketball head coach Scott Pera hit the nail on the head in his postgame remarks following a nail-biting win against UTSA on Saturday afternoon. “If they make the layup, who knows what crazy stuff can happen, especially in this series. What would this series be if something crazy didn’t happen? It’s just been an unbelievable series of close games.”

“I’m just glad we could get out of here with a win,” he said, exhaling after a stressful 40 minutes in San Antonio.

Final Box | Rice 80 – UTSA 76

Key takeaway | Mekhi rising

When Quincy Olivari departed for Xavier, it was widely assumed Travis Evee would take over as the Owls’ de facto scorer. Even with some of his struggles, Evee is leading the team with 15.7 points per game. Right behind him? Mekhi Mason, now sitting at 14.7 points per game after a 30-point outburst against the Roadrunners.

Even before his career day, though, Mason was becoming one of the most consistent scorers on this roster. You have to go back to January 3 against Tulane to find the last time he didn’t reach double figures in points (he had nine). He’s only had one game below eight points since Thanksgiving.

Mason is ninth in the American Conference in scoring in league games. He’s become a force all opponents must account for which, in turn, is freeing up Evee and the rest of his teammates for more opportunities.

Up Next: vs SMU (Wednesday, Feb. 7)

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