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Rice Basketball rolls past North American

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Rice basketball bounced back from a tough road loss at Texas with a comfortable beatdown of North American at Tudor Fieldhouse.

If there was an emotional hangover from the overtime loss at Texas on Monday, no one on the court for Rice basketball on Wednesday morning showed any signs of it. Days after the near-miss, Rice emptied its bench on it’s home court against a less talented team, coasting to a landslide victory to stay undefeated at Tudor Fieldhouse this year.

North American led just once in the entire game courtesy of a modest six-point run around the first media timeout of the first half. That 10-9 advantage for the visitors lasted for less than a minute. Cam Sheffield knocked down a three to spark a 9-0 Rice run and the Owls had the breathing room they needed to keep their opponents at bay.

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The two sides who trade buckets for a while, then Rice added an 8-0 run in the final minutes before the halftime buzzer. Up by 15 at the break thanks to a layup by Travis Evee, the Owls continued to pour it on.

Rice basketball opened the second half on a staggering 34-12 run. From that point onward, the game was essentially decided. 16 different Owls saw action.

Player Spotlight | Andrew Akuchie

Quincy Olivari went off for 20+ points, again, but it was the 10-point game of freshman Andrew Akuchie that stood out. It was his first double-digit scoring effort of his young Rice career and another reminder the depth on this team is continuing to strengthen, Akuchie might not be a starter just yet, but he’s a capable young player with plenty of upside.

A 10-point, 4-rebound outing just a few games into his Rice career is another positive step in his growth that was extremely encouraging to see.

Final Box | Rice 92 – North American 54

Up Next | Full Schedule

Rice basketball has two more games in their current homestand. They’ll play another on Saturday against Northwestern State before taking on Jarvis Christian in their final non-conference game of the season. All three of those games are scheduled to be streamed on CUSAtv.

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Rice Basketball loses upset bid in OT, falls to Texas

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Rice basketball took Texas to the brink but was unable to secure the historic upset, falling to the Longhorns in overtime.

Whether it was good fortune or a willingness to take advantage of what had been a turbulent day for the Texas program, Rice basketball came out ready to play on Monday evening at the Moody Center. Max Fiedler put Rice on the board with a layup to start the scoring, which would casually ping-pong back and forth in the early goings as both teams adjusted to the pace of the game. Then the Owls took off.

Alem Huseinvoic knocked down back-to-back threes with Quincy Olivari following with another, a 9-0 Rice run. Texas would battle back but was never able to get in front. Rice went into the break with a 33-29 lead and a real shot to pull off a monumental upset.

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The Owls, who hadn’t beaten a ranked Texas squad since 1982 and had lost their last 10 meetings with the Longhorns, sensed an opportunity and never quit. Although Texas was able to take the lead in the second half, Rice always seemed to answer.

Both teams exchanged minored leads throughout the remainder of the contest. Texas would lead by as many as six points in regulation but was never able to pull away. Ultimately, Rice would have their shot, a jumper by Huseinovic in a tie game with the buzzer imminent. Instead, the ball hit iron and the Owls would go on to lose in overtime.

The loss will sting, but it’s worth noting this wasn’t just a bad night from Texas that Rice stumbled upon. No, Texas shot 50 percent from the floor and narrowly outrebounded Rice 40-39. This was a full 45-minute dogfight and the Owls acquitted themselves well before ultimately running out of game.

Player Spotlight | Quincy Olivari

Olivari had strung together some impressive games over the month of December, but his performance against Texas might have been his most inspired showing yet. Olivari tied for the lead among all scorers with 28 points, connecting on 4-of-9 from three and 6-of-7 from the free throw line, also grabbing five boards and dishing out four assists.

It felt like he was involved in most of the momentum-shifting plays on Monday night. Had it not been for his effort, the Owls wouldn’t have been in this game.

Final Box | Texas 87 – Rice 81 (OT)

Up Next | Full Schedule

Rice basketball heads back home for a three-game homestand which gets started on Thursday night against North American. They’ll play another on Saturday against Northwestern State before taking on Jarvis Christian in their final non-conference game of the season. All three of those games are scheduled to be streamed on CUSAtv.

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Rice Women’s Basketball handles Houston in 2OT

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Rice women’s basketball edged out crosstown rival Houston in a double-overtime thriller, moving to 8-0 on the season and 4-0 at home.

After victories over TCU and Texas A&M, Rice women’s basketball entered Saturday’s contest against Houston with eyes on a non-conference Lone Star sweep. It wouldn’t be easy, but the Owls would eventually prevail, taking down Houston in double overtime.

Rice would be tested from the start. Hoston scored first and opened up a seven-point lead in the first five minutes of play. Both teams would exchange baskets through the remainder of the first quarter as the Owls cut their deficit down to one point near the beginning of the second frame. That was when Houston made their run.

The Cougars went on a 9-0 sprint, opening up a 10-point lead, the largest by either team in the game. Rice went into halftime trailing by double-digits and in need of a spark to maintain their perfect record.

That second-half spark came in the form of Destiny Jackson. The senior guard exploded down the stretch, scoring 12 points in the third and fourth quarters. She knocked each of her four shots from the field in that time and was perfect on four free throw attempts.

Rice trimmed their 10-point deficit down to two in the third quarter and took the lead for the very first time with 5:14 remaining in the fourth quarter. The Owls would have a chance to win the game at the buzzer, but a Malia Fisher runner in the lane bounced off the irons and the game went to overtime.

Emotions were rampant in the extra minutes. Rice had three players foul out (Malia Fisher, Katelyn Crosthwait and Trinity Gooden). Houston lost two to fouls (Tatyana Hill and Kamryn Jones). All that would matter though, was how the team finished on the court.

An Austin three-pointer followed by a pair of free throws from Jackson gave Rice an 8-point lead in the second overtime. That proved to be a large enough advantage as Rice thwarted one final attempt at the buzzer to secure the win, the first overtime victory of head coach Lindsay Edmon’s career.

“Every win is a great win. Overtime wins are great because that gives you the confidence that, if we’re in this position again, we can say, ‘hey we’ve done this before,” Edmonds said. “Every win is a great man. I’m really excited about us protecting home court again and just taking care of business.”

Spotlight | Destiny Jackson

Jackson scored a season-high 33 points on Saturday, leading all scorers in the game. Through much of the game, it felt like she couldn’t miss, converting on 12-of-14 shots, her highest shooting percentage in a game in which she took more than two shots this season.

“Her teammates believe in her. I believe in her and she believes in herself. And I think that is just an unbelievable thing to have. As a point guard at her size, her ability to score the basketball but also find her teammates when she needs to. I thought she did a tremendous job,” Edmonds said.

“She’s a really hard matchup at point guard and when she has her mindset that she can get to the rim, she can get to the rim as much as she wants.”

Regulation would have been enough to reach her season-best, but her contributions in overtime were massive. She also added seven rebounds and five assists, the latter of which led the team.

Final Box | Rice 91 – Houston 88 (2OT)

Up Next | Full Schedule

Rice women’s basketball has a string of home games coming up that runs through the end of the year. They’ll host Sam Houston on Friday, Dec. 16 in their final non-conference game before entering conference play with games against Middle Tennessee (Tues, Dec. 20), Western Kentucky (Thur, Dec. 29), and UTEP (Sat, Dec. 31).

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Rice Basketball outpaces Texas State for fifth straight win

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Rice basketball leads for the duration in an impressive road win over Texas State, their fifth consecutive victory.

Rice basketball has battled through a few games where the shots weren’t falling in the first half and a second half comeback was necessary. The opposite proved true on Sunday afternoon against Texas State. The Owls came out of the gates red-hot, surging to a quick 14-4 lead before the first media timeout, courtesy of a 9-0 run.

The team parlayed the strong start into a robust performance. Following a layup that cut the Owls’ advantage to five points, Rice exploded on a second long run, this time of the 12-0 variety. Soon after, a three-pointer from Cameron Sheffield put Rice up by 18 points with 6:32 to play in the first half.

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Texas State would attempt a rally and cut the Rice lead down to 10 points at halftime. The game would stick around the margin for some time after the break before Rice ripped off an 11-0 run to push their advantage to 20 points, a stark divergence from the Owls’ prior pair of road trips of the year.

After losing a road game at Pepperdine by 40 points and at Middle Tennesee by 35 points, any kind of victory would have been encouraging on Sunday against Texas State. Not only did Rice hold on to win, they did so in dominant fashion, never trailing and walking away from San Marcos with a double-digit win.

Player Spotlight | Quincy Olivari

So much went right for Rice basketball in this one, but it was Quincy Olivari that steered the ship. He scored a season-high 30 points, knocking down five three-pointers, providing a jolt during each of the Owls’ three big runs that helped amass such a large lead. He also added five rebounds and four assists.

Final Box | Rice 83 – Texas State 71

Up Next | Full Schedule

Rice basketball will play its final nonconference road game next week against the University of Texas. That game is scheduled to tip off on Monday night in Austin, TX at 7:00 p.m. It will be streamed on the Longhorn Network.

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Rice Women’s Basketball staves off TCU, stays perfect

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Rice women’s basketball continues its early-season success, staving off a late rally from TCU to move to 7-0 on the year.

Rice women’s basketball couldn’t have gotten off to a much better start on Friday night against TCU. The Owls shot a blazing 58.3 percent from the floor, jumping out to a 17-8 lead. Ashlee Austin led the way with an austere 4-for-4 start and a team-high nine points, setting the tone for the team moving forward.

TCU got their feet underneath them in the second quarter, but Rice continued to hold them at bay. The Frogs trimmed their deficit to five points to start the frame before the Owls’ rocketed their advantage back to 10.

The margin wiggled a little bit to each side throughout the period, but Rice always seemed to have an answer for every TCU basket, never allowing more than two consecutive scores without a response.

Things really wouldn’t escalate until the final minutes of the fourth quarter when TCU made a late run. Austin had just put Rice up by 11 when TCU mounted a 7-0 run, culminating in a three-pointer with 49 seconds on the clock to cut the Owls’ lead to four. Rice would tighten up, make their free throws and pull away, maintaining their perfect start and moving to 7-0 on the young season.

The 7-0 start is the best in program history, with that standard being raised further with each successive victory.

“I think this year can just be amazing, but we’ll take it one game at a time and the next one’s the most important [one] and we can’t get ahead of ourselves and we can’t think that we’ve arrived,” head coach Lindsay Edmonds said.

“We got to keep fighting every single day and know now that that target is on our back even more than it already was. I’m really proud of that. Pressure is a privilege and they’ve worked really hard to have that target on their back and now we got to work even harder to keep it there.”

Spotlight | Team Depth

Five different players had four or more points in the fourth quarter, by far the most potent and diverse frame of the evening for the Owls in the most pressure-packed situation. Coach Edmonds mentioned that’s exactly how she wants this team to operate.

“[On] a different night, a different person can step up and when we are so balanced, it’s hard for opponents to scout against us. It’s hard to know who we’re going to go through. We have plays for everybody that we want to take advantage of. I think that’s our best attribute, how deep we are and how balanced we are,” she said.

Three starters finished in double figures and eight different players had at least three points with 10 Owls seeing the court in the 40-minute contest. Rice women’s basketball has depth and they continue to use it to their advantage.

Final Box | Rice 68 – TCU 58

Up Next | Full Schedule

Rice women’s basketball has another important home game against a Lone Star State foe. After posting victories over Texas A&M and TCU, Rice hosts crosstown rival Houston on Saturday, Dec. 10. Tip-off for that game is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. on ESPN+.

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