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Houston claims Silver Glove Series with pair of wins over Rice Baseball

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Rice baseball dropped the first two games of the Silver Glove series this week, narrowly being outscored by Houston by a combined score of 8-3.

TUESDAY | Houston 4 – Rice 1

Houston had one strong inning with the bat on Tuesday, but they made the production count. The Cougars struck for three runs in the second inning off Rice starter Robert Fernandez, who pitched relatively well, all things considered, going five innings and allowing three runs, the final two of which came across on a bases-clearing triple in that fateful second frame.

Last Time Out: Bats wake up as Rice Baseball sweeps Houston Christian

Trailing 3-0, Rice would manufacture one run in the eight. Kyte McDonald walked and stole second, moving into scoring position for Treyton Rank who drove him in with a single. Houston tacked on an insurance run in the eighth and that would be that.

WEDNESDAY | Houston 4 – Rice 2

A true bullpen game featuring 15 pitchers saw consistent traffic on the base paths for both teams. But despite the accumulation of pitches, hits and free passes, runs trickled in here and there, rather than flowing in droves.

Houston got on the board first with a solo home run in the third. Rice tied things in the fifth on a sac fly from Manny Garza that felt a few feet short of a game-changing grand slam. Instead, the game was back to even for a few more innings until Houston scratched across three more to take a 4-1 lead midway through the eighth. The Cougars would hold on to claim the series, which concludes next week.

THREE FOR THE ROAD

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ON DECK | vs Tulane (Fri-Sun)

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Rice Baseball battles through rain to sweep Houston Christian

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Rice baseball picked up its first home series sweep of the season, battling through the rain to take all three games against Houston Christian at Reckling Park.

It was all smiles at Reckling Park following a weekend sweep of a team from across town. Rice baseball moved to 8-11 on the season with conference play looming ahead. “All in all, it was an excellent weekend for us. We were challenging the guy on the offensive side to be more than they have been, get on the plate and create some more issues on the offensive side and they really did,” head coach Jose Cruz Jr said.

“They took it personally and they were swinging the bat. They were confident. They battled with two strikes. They got hits with guys on base. They had more stolen base attempts, executed bunts. All that was really good. That’s the kind of attitude that we just need to have moving forward.”

FRIDAY | Rice 10 – HCU 7

It became evident this would not be a pitcher’s duel when Rice ace Parker Smith was lifted after three innings that required 62 pitches to get through. The Owls were in front 4-3 when Smith departed, but ceded that advantage in the fifth inning when Smith’s relief, Tom Vincent, surrendered a pair of two-out RBI hits.

Last Time Out: Rice Baseball drops series to Hawaii

Trailing 7-6, Rice went quietly in the sixth before getting something going in the seventh. The first three batters reached, setting up a bases-loaded situation with no outs. Two strikeouts later, the burden fell to Trey Duffield who delivered in style, mashing the two-out delivery over the left field fence for a grand slam. Vincent followed with a scoreless eighth before Davion Hickson stepped in for the ninth, earning his second save of the season.

SATURDAY | Rice 7 – HCU3

Rice were visitors in their home park after weather forced the Saturday contest, previously scheduled to be played at Houston Christian, back to South Main. They found themselves trailing after the first inning, giving up a pair to HCU via a pair of errors in the infield, before rallying back in the top of the second.

The Owls hung three on HCU starter Parker Edwards, who they’d knock out of the game early in the fourth. JD McCracken settled in quickly, working through five allowing just two earned runs as the bats continued to tack on runs, steadily increasing their advantage. Treyton Rank’s two-RBI double in the eighth left plenty of cushion for Tyler Hamilton, who earned the last six outs and his first save of the season.

SUNDAY | Rice 10 – HCU 6

There was no Rice deficit to be seen in the series finale. The Owls struck for two in the first inning before hitting around in the second, sending 11 to the plate in a seven-run outburst that gave the home team a commanding 9-0 lead entering the third. At that point, all Ryland Urbancyzk had to do was hold the line. He worked 4.2 innings in relief, handing the ball to Mauricio Rodriguez who earned the win.

Kyte McDonald, Jack Riedel and Nathan Becker all had three-hit games as Rice baseball unloaded the bench and was able to get a host of position players into the game in the later innings. HCU was eventually able to get a bit closer, threatening with bases loaded in the ninth, but Davion Hickson came in and shut the threat down quickly, earning the save and clinching the sweep.

THREE FOR THE ROAD

Rice baseball needed a weekend to get right and did just that against Houston Christian. Three straight wins, regardless of opponent, are a boon for morale. Here are three takeaways from the series:

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ON DECK | at UH (Tues), vs UH (Wed), vs Tulane (Fri-Sun)

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Rice Women’s Basketball routs ECU, wins AAC Championship

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Rice Women’s Basketball is headed to the NCAA Tournament, routing East Carolina to win the Owls’ first-ever American Conference Championship.

Any concerns that Rice women’s basketball would be out of gas as they walked onto the court for their fourth game in as many games dwindled in a matter of minutes as the Owls executed a defensive masterclass. They held ECU to 1-of-12 (8.3 percent) shooting in the opening quarter, setting the tone for one of their most dominant performances of the season.

“We put our foot down,” head coach Lindsay Edmonds, exclaimed. “I mean, seriously. We wanted this. We talked about how our opponent was going to be hungry, we needed to be starving. We were starving to get this win.”

The score was 18-3 in favor of the blue and grey by the end of the first. ECU didn’t reach double digits until halfway through the second frame. It was then that Emily Klaczek congratulated the Pirates with a three, her third of the game, to lift the Owls back to a 17-point advantage. Maya Bokunewicz drilled another at the buzzer to make sure Rice went into halftime up by that same margin.

More: Takeaways from first week Rice Football spring practice 

The Pirates engineered an 8-1 run just after halftime to get back within 14. Klaczek responded with another three, the Owls’ eighth of the game, silencing the threat and keeping Rice in firm command.

ECU’s last gasp came in the fourth quarter, trimming the Rice lead to nine as the Owls managed just one field foal in the first six minutes. Malia Fisher, who had been limited with foul trouble, ended the Pirates’ prayers with a crucial three, putting Rice back in front by double-digits. ECU wouldn’t get any closer for the remainder of the game.

Sussy Ngulefac led Rice with 15 points and her first career double-double with the Owls. Klaczek had 14. Fisher had 13. Destiny Jackson had 10. When it mattered most, the Owls’ stars took charge and willed them to the NCAA Tournament.

“It’s pretty surreal. It’s amazing,” Edmonds said. “I don’t even know if it’s completely all sunk in yet, but we’re going dancing. And there’s more to come for Rice women’s basketball this season.”

Final Box | Rice 61 – ECU 41

What They’re Saying

“We always break the season into three different seasons — non-conference, conference and then tournament play — When we started tournament season, we started breaking down huddles with our left hand because it was closest to our hearts and I just feel like we played with so much heart. We played with so much toughness. We played with so much togetherness. It was it was really special. We hung our hats on defense. We shared the basketball.

I just can’t get over how close this group is on and off the floor and that’s what makes us be so special. Malia [Fisher] said that we might have been a 10 seed on paper but we never believed that we were. So that’s why we we had something to prove and we did it for four straight days, which is really really hard to do, but they were relentless and they knew that they wanted it and they weren’t going to do let anybody take that from them.” – Head coach Lindsay Edmonds

Key takeaway | Defense, it is

The last time Rice women’s basketball played in the NCAA Tournament was following the 2018-2019 season. That team, coached by Tina Langley and featuring Erica Ogwumike and Nancy Mulkey, was as defensively-minded of a basketball team as there has been in quite some time. They held opponents to a staggering 52.9 points per game.

When Lindsay Edmonds took the helm in 2021, the tempo ticked upward and the shots started flying. The Owls have been an offense-first team ever since, or at least, that was the case right up until a few weeks ago when injuries and late-season shooting struggles forced this team to adapt.

“It starts with our mentality and our mindset. We’ve just been saying one more stop, one more rebound,” Edmonds said. “It was just a mentality. I feel like everybody bought into it. Everyone locked into that. It was tremendous. It was everything we needed it to be.”

This team allowed 64.1 points per game in the regular season. In four AAC Tournament games, Rice had held their opponents in 53.3 points per game, fractional points off the torrid pace set by that 2018-2019 squad. When you account for the painstakingly slow tempo of Langley’s squads, it’s remarkable just how stout this current iteration of the Rice defense has become.

If you want to win in March, you have to be elite at something. As improbable as it might have been a few weeks ago, this team is going to hang its hat on defense. It just might work.

Up Next: NCAA Tournament

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Rice Basketball season comes to an end with AAC Tourney loss to Wichita State

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Rice basketball came out hot but was unable to finish, falling to Wichita State in the first round of the AAC Tournament in Fort Worth, TX.

Shocked doesn’t even begin to accurately describe how Rice basketball must have felt midway through the first half on Wednesday afternoon. The 13-Seed Owls had taken a 17-4 lead over the 12-Seed Wichita State Shockers to start the game. Things were going well. And then Wichita State just could not miss.

Wichita State hit 19 of their final 22 shots of the first half, thundering back from a 13-point deficit to take a 13-point lead at the break. During that stretch, the Shockers shot 86.3 percent from the field. Few could have anticipated quite how quickly the script could have been flipped, even when accounting for the Owls’ inconsistency on defense and a potent shooting performance.

“Basketball is a game of runs, right?” Travis Evee mused when recalling that furious Wichita State rally. “I think we really stayed together. It heightened our focus, our energy to climb back and weather that storm.”

Down by double-digits to start the second half with their backs against the wall, Rice basketball thundered back. Evee knocked down a pair of threes, keying a 12-0 Rice run to turn a potential blowout into a one-point game after Alem Husenovic knocked down a key jump shot.

It truly was back and forth from that point onward with 11 lead changes transpired over the course of the next five minutes and neither team leading by more than two possessions until the Shockers’ Xavier Bell knocked down a fast break layup with six seconds on the clock to put the game out of reach.

With the loss, Rice basketball falls to 11-21 on the season. A streak of back-to-back seasons in which the Owls played in a postseason tournament will come to an end as the program does some soul-searching in hopes of charting a brighter future moving forward.

Final Box | Wichita State 88 – Rice 81

What They’re Saying |

“It’s been a great four years and this one’s going to sting, probably for a while. It’s not the way that we wanted to go out, but I think in about a week or two weeks, whenever this wears off, I’ll really be able to look back and really be thankful for everything that this university has given me, everything that [head coach Scott Pera and Max Fiedler] have given me. I’m gonna miss playing with them. I’m gonna miss putting on the jersey. I’m gonna miss being in the locker room with these guys.” – Travis Evee on his Rice basketball career

Key takeaway | Going the wrong way

In the seventh season under Pera, Rice basketball has officially taken a significant step backward. The Owls finished above .500 under Pera for the second time last season but will finish this campaign 10 games below .500, their worst mark since his inaugural season.

The offense, which has been Pera’s calling card, has regressed from scoring 76.9 points per game last season to 71.7 points per game this season. The defense, a constant source of frustration, ranks 269th in the nation, allowing 75.3 points per game, a number that will worse after allowing 88 points on Wednesday.

“It’s uncanny, the misfortune we had this year,” Pera said, noting the series of close losses and bad bounces along the way.

Pera has built his tenure on the back of steady, gradual improvement. Faced with a tougher league schedule with the move to the AAC and the departure of star guard Quincy Olivari, who led the Big East in scoring for Xavier this season, it feels like that train has jumped the tracks.

Pera’s seventh season ends like many of the ones before it, with him at the podium reiterating “We’ve got to get better defensively.” Seven seasons in and the refrain is the same. And it’s not going to get any easier.

Rice basketball will lose Travis Evee and Max Fiedler this offseason. There is talent remaining on the roster, but the proof of concept of what this could be feels sufficient. At its best, this has been a .500 program under Pera, whose future on South Main is in question. Athletic Director Tommy McClelland has proven amenable to patience in other sports, but that’s come in conjunction with progress. This was a step back — and a significant one at that — one that Pera might not survive.

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Rice Women’s Basketball tops Temple, advances to AAC Title Game

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Rice Women’s Basketball got pivotal plays from its leaders in crunch time to knock off Temple and advance to the AAC Championship Game.

Two of the better defensive teams in the American Conference slugged it out in the semi-finals on Tuesday night as Rice Women’s basketball took on Temple with a trip to the conference championship game on the line. The all-Owl affair featured lots of physicality and intensity with points at a premium.

The squads combined for 18 fouls in the first half, with two starters apiece charged with multiple fouls before halftime. Even with the interruptions, the teams shot the ball fairly well. Malia Fisher and Sussy Ngulefac took charge for Rice, scoring 20 of the team’s 33 first-half points as Rice sought to pound the interior and force Temple into defensive mismatches.

More: Takeaways from first week Rice Football spring practice 

A modest four-point halftime lead ballooned to as many as 13 in the third quarter as Ngulefac, Destiny Jackson and Emily Klaczek sparked an 11-0 run to take command of the game, but the edge would be fleeting.

Temple battled back, whittling the lead down to single digits before taking the lead with 3:29 remaining in regulation. It was then, with the season hanging in the balance, that Rice got three near-perfect performances from three of its most important leaders.

Klaczek followed a Fisher layup with a massive corner three to put Rice back in front by three. Destiny Jackson won on an iso play the following possession, keeping the lead at four. Then, with Temple inbounding as Rice nursed a two-point lead, Fisher stepped in front of the pass and effectively ended the game.

“I’m long and lanky,” Fisher said of that pivotal play, a play that effectively sent Rice to the American Athletic Conference Championship Game.

“That’s why they’re in the game, late game. I trust them. I count on them. They know what it’s like. I said it yesterday,” head coach Lindsay Edmonds said. “They’re tough. They’re competitors. I trust them. When the game is on the line, I know they’re going to do what it takes to make sure Rice comes out on top.”

Final Box | Rice 61 – North Texas 59

What They’re Saying

“We’ve been on a little bit of a revenge tour here, since we’ve been here. UAB got us at their place. We lost at home to North Texas and Temple. So we had a little bit more fuel to our fire behind all of the games that we were facing to make sure that we came out on top and we came out on top at the right time.

Toughness has really prevailed. Our togetherness has really shown. We have hung our hats on defense. I’m just really, really proud of the efforts. We could hung her heads a couple of times tonight but we found a way to get one more, to get one more rebound, to come out on the winning end. Really, really proud of the group.” – Head coach Lindsay Edmonds

Key takeaway | Don’t Settle

During Rice women’s basketball’s five-game losing streak to end the regular season, the Owls shot 20.2 percent from three including a 3-for-30 outing against North Texas. Head coach Lindsay Edmonds saw those results and made a change, keeping Sussy Ngulefac in the starting lineup for each game of the conference tournament and making a concerted effort to attack the rim.

“We were just talking about not settling for threes and talking about being aggressive, putting pressure on them, putting pressure on the paint, putting pressure on officials to make calls for us,” Edmonds said. “I really liked how they executed to start the game.”

Ngulefac, whose only start before this week came in the regular season finale against UTSA, was named player of the game for her efforts, finishing with 11 points and five rebounds with two blocks.

The Owls’ focus on going inside would eventually open up opportunities to make an extra pass and set up open looks from three. Klaczek’s huge triple in the final minute was made possible because of pressure inside that opened up the shot.

Rice women’s basketball has found a recipe that works. If they want to win one more game and punch their ticket to the NCAA Tournament, they need to stay aggressive, attack the basket and keep winning on defense. If they can, they’re going dancing.

Up Next: vs ECU on Wednesday in the AAC Title Game, March 13 at 6:00 pm

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