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Rice Basketball grinds out home win over PVAMU

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Rice basketball found a way to grind out a low-scoring, defensive affair against Prairie View A&M on Wednesday night to stay unbeaten at home.

Winners of three straight, Rice basketball brought plenty of positive history with them into a midweek matchup with Prairie View A&M. The Owls were undefeated on their home court this season and had never lost to Prairie View A&M in program history. Those streaks quickly became irrelevant anecdotes as soon as both teams hit the court and the home team was put to the test.

Neither side shot the ball well out of the gate, but the Owls’ offensive output was particularly troubling. At their lowest they were 5-of-18 (28%) from the floor, somehow keeping the game within a six-point margin throughout the first 19 minutes without finding much success from the floor, at least until a three-pointer at the buzzer gave the Panthers a seven-point lead, their largest of the night.

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Prairie View would strike first in the second half, led by Braden Bell who drilled his third three-pointer in as many shots to extend their lead to 12 points. He’d been 2-of-12 entering the game but couldn’t seem to miss on Wednesday night before eventually fouling out.

Foul trouble was an issue for both sides and Rice used it to its advantage, knocking down 26 free throws to help them climb out of that large hole. In dire need of a spark, Quincy Olivari obliged, almost single-handily keeping the Owls afloat with 13 consecutive points in less than five minutes — none of his teammates had as many points in the full 40 minutes — until Travis Evee knocked down consecutive threes to tie the game.

Once Rice got level, it was game on. Prairie View A&M earned a meager two-point lead following Rice pulling even, but that would be it. Olivari put Rice in front for good with a free throw, one of a career-high 11 makes from the charity stripe — and the Owls held on to close it out.

Player Spotlight | Cameron Sheffield

While Olivari was lifting the team with his shooting stroke, Sheffield was dominating on the glass. He led all players with 15 rebounds, including four offensive boards. He only took three shots, but his impact on the game was massive.

“I couldn’t take him out. I just had tremendous trust in what he was doing,” head coach Scott Pera said after the game. “People have roles on the team. Not only is he good at this role, he’s embracing his role.”

Likewise, Olivari was quick to heap on his own praise. “It’s the reason we won,” he said, referencing Sheffield’s performance.

Final Box | Rice 70 – PVAMU 62

Up Next | Full Schedule

Rice basketball will hit the road next after playing four straight games in the span of two weeks at Tudor Fieldhouse. They’ll play in San Marcos, TX at Texas State on Sunday. The tip-off for that game is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. on ESPN+.

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The Roost Podcast | Ep 135 Rice Football vs North Texas Recap

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The 2022 Rice football regular season is over. The Roost Podcast is here to unpack the North Texas game and discuss the coaching staff and the program.

In many ways, it was a microcosm of the 2022 Rice Football season as a whole. The Owls made a game out of their trip to Denton as heavy underdogs but came away one possession short, falling on the road to a 5-7 record. The team is still very much alive for a bowl berth, but questions surround this staff and the next steps. What does Rice do next? We break it down here.

You can find previous episodes on the podcast page. For now, give a listen to Episode 135.

Episode Notes

Housekeeping

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Rice Football vs North Texas game recap

  • Despite a fourth quarter lead, mistakes and weird circumstances doom attempts of a late comeback
  • Rice finds magic in a scout team quarterback, staying competitive in spite of the odds
  • The defense was really, really good until things crumbled at the very end
  • What’s the latest on Mike Bloomgren? Will there be a coaching change?
  • How does Bloomgren’s connection to Stanford have any bearing on the Owls future plans?

Where can you find us?

Download and subscribe to The Roost Podcast on any of your favorite podcast providers. The show is available on iTunes, GooglePlay, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, TuneIn and PodBean. Please consider leaving a review wherever you listen.

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Rice Women’s Basketball knocks off Texas A&M, stays perfect

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Rice Women’s Basketball remains unbeaten, upsetting Texas A&M to move to 6-0. It’s the Owls’ first win over the Aggies since 2006.

On the final leg of a four-game road trip, Rice women’s basketball faced perhaps its toughest test yet. Texas A&M was unbeaten on their home court this season and the Owls had just three victories over the Aggies in College Station in program history.

If there were a game to experience some nerves, this might have been it. But head coach Lindsay Edmonds and her team never blinked. Rice opened the game with a quick 10-4 run, putting the Aggies on notice from the jump: this was going to be a close one.

Texas A&M battled back to tie the game at 25-25 at the break, then they went on the offensive. The Aggies scored the first eight points after halftime, pushing the Owls to the brink before India Bellamy and Malia Fisher trimmed the deficit back down to four points. Then the game was on.

More: Rice Women’s Basketball Season Preview

Rice tied the game gain in the final minute of the third quarter, entering the final period ahead by one thanks to a layup from Destiny Jackson. The fourth quarter belonged to the Owls. Katelyn Crosthwait knocked down two threes while Shelby Hayes made a shot and a free throw of her own to eventually push the Rice advantage to nine points. It proved to be enough and Rice hung on for the big win.

“This is a group that played a lot of minutes last year, so I think they had that confidence and they knew they’d won in close games before,” “I felt like they weren’t worried about was across the chest of the opponents. They were just playing basketball”

Player Spotlight | India Bellamy

On an afternoon where so many did their part, Bellamy’s contributions stood out. In just her second appearance of the season, she was third among all scorers with 11 points, knocking down 5-of-10 shots from the field and adding one free throw.

Final Box | Rice 66 – Texas A&M 58

Up Next | Full Schedule

Rice women’s basketball finally gets to return home this coming week where they’ll host a string of Texas teams. On Friday, TCU comes to town for a 7:00 p.m. game (streamed on ESPN+) and Houston follows on Saturday, Dec. 10.

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Rice Football falters late, falls to North Texas

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Rice Football took a fourth quarter lead, but was unable to secure their sixth win, falling to 5-7 on a dreary day in Denton against North Texas.

On the arm of a scout team quarterback, Rice football stood toe to toe with the Conference USA Title Game-bound North Texas Mean Green for nearly four quarters. But in the end, the home team was able to punch in the final score in the fourth quarter, sending Rice home with a crushing defeat. The Owls will await their bowl fate as results start to come in. For now, here are a few immediate reactions from the game:

Show up ready to play: Check

Rice football knew their season was potentially on the line when they arrived at Apogee Stadium on Saturday morning. This was it. And to their credit, the team that took the field a few hours later looked much more poise than they had in either of their prior two games.

Special teams blocked a field goal on the opening drive. The defense got a stop on the second drive. And while the offense had one short-yardage fumble and a punt in their first two possessions, both were extended drives in which freshman quarterback AJ Padgett, making his first career start, acquitted himself well. The moment was clearly not too big for him.

The Roost Podcast: Stay tuned for the game recap this week – Rice Football vs North Texas

North Texas was able to move the ball, but the Owls did a good job limiting the conference’s most explosive offense from doing much damage through the first 15 minutes. The only blemish was a costly one, though, a busted-coverage touchdown to spot North Texas with an early 7-0 lead. The defense forced a three-and-out on the ensuing possession to prove that was a mistake and not the norm.

This team has seen plenty of bad games go down downhill quickly. On Saturday, when it was do or die, they fought. At the halftime whistle, the two-touchdown underdogs were tied. This team had to get off the mat if they were going to have any chance to win this one. They came out swinging.

Young talent shows up

Starting a scout team quarterback in a must-win game is never Plan A. But those are the cards Rice football was dealt and they played them extremely well, exploiting Padgett’s running ability while simultaneously taking advantage of a North Texas defense that left plenty of receivers in open space for the young signal caller.

In addition to the quarterback conundrum, Rice football was also without starting slot receiver Luke McCaffery and his backup Kobie Campbell on Saturday. That forced true freshman Braylen Walker into a more prominent role and he did more than grab his cup of coffee on his way back to the bench.

His first grab went for 17 yards and a first down. His second reception, also on third down, went for 15 yards and move the chains. Somehow career reception number three was even more impactful:

Walker hadn’t played a single down of college football before Saturday. Beyond that, he missed the entirety of his senior season of high school. His last touchdown came on November 14, 2020, more than two years ago. And in his first true action on anything more than scout team, he torched the North Texas defense when his team needed him most.

In his first career start, Padgett completed 13-of-22 passes for 229 yards, one touchdown and one interception. He also ran for 40 yards, excluding sacks. If players like this are the future of Rice football, the Owls look to be in good hands.

Coming up short

A painful theme of the season reverberated around Apogee stadium in the final minutes. With the ball at the 34 yard-line, Padgett took a sack on a well covered first down play. Cam Montgomery was stopped for a short gain on second down. Then came a pivotal, and diasterous, third down play. Padgett mishandled the snap and bent down to pick up the ball. Officials ruled him down, a loss of eight yards.

As the play was explained to the Rice sideline, Padgett was ruled to have used the ball to pick himself up and called down. That set up a fourth and a mile from which Rice football would be unable to recover. Despite leading in the fourth quarter, Rice was unable to finish, falling to 5-7 on the season as they drop their third game in a row.

Emotions were raw in the aftermath, and head coach Mike Bloomgren answered the questions. “My message to the team was there’s nothing I can do to take the pain away. There’s a lot of people that poured a lot into this program over the years and this is not the result any of us wanted, this is not the goal we set,” he said.

And now, we wait

Taking care of business on Saturday was the easiest way to secure a trip to a bowl game for the first time since 2014. Rice football was unable to do that, but their postseason hopes aren’t dead just yet. As mentioned in our Q&A post this past week, there is a variable path to a bowl game for a five-win Rice squad.

Missouri upset Arkansas on Black Friday to secure a spot. That left six bowl berths outstanding at the time Rice football kicked off against North Texas on Saturday afternoon. Should the pool of six-win teams not be sufficient to meet the demand for bowl teams, Rice would be next on the list.

How things go this afternoon and into the evening will certainly be something we’ll be following at The Roost as the day progresses. Stay tuned here for updates.

What’s next?

When asked for his thoughts on the future, Bloomgren stood tall. “Those things are for people above my pay grade. Those are always questions when you coach. Progress is clear. It’s defined, but is it enough? Those are for other people to make those decisions. I know what we’re done. I know what this coaching staff is done and I would challenge anybody to do better then what this group has done, and that’s on the field and off,” he said.

“We’re winning more games every year. And maybe the wins are not as fast as anybody wants including me and the staff, but progress, what these guys are building, and the recruits? Yeah, absolutely. I don’t think anybody could do better than this staff.”

As erratic as the journey has been from week to week, Rice football closes the 2022 regular season with a distinct near-term history under head coach Mike Bloomgren. Excluding the COVID year, in which Rice played five games (and finished 2-3), the Owls have increased their win total in each season of Bloomgren’s tenure.

Rice won two in 2018, three in 2019, four in 2021 and five this season, with the potential for a sixth win still to come if things work out for the best.

On paper, Rice has been better each season under Bloomgren. The real question for athletic director Joe Karlgaard (and new president Reginald DesRoches) is whether or not that incremental growth has come quickly enough and, more importantly, whether or not the belief remains that those steady building blocks laid in the past five years suggest the elusive breakthrough year will come in the Owls’ first season in the American Athletic Conference.

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Rice Women’s Basketball speeds past Texas Southern, stays perfect

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Following a pair of close wins on the road, Rice women’s basketball put away Texas Southern with haste to remain undefeated on the season.

Katelyn Crosthwait made the first shot she took, a three-pointer to give Rice women’s basketball the early lead on the road against Texas Southern. The Tigers would manage one free throw in response before the visiting Owls scored six more points, pushing their lead to 9-1 in the first two minutes of action.

If there were ever a moment for Texas Southern to turn things around, it would have been at the beginning of the second quarter. Trailing by six, Texas Southern secured a rebound following a miss from Jazzy Owens-Barnett, but then they turned the ball back over to Rice. Ashlee Austin knocked down a layup and the route was on.

More: Rice Women’s Basketball Season Preview

Rice went on to outscore the home team 20-6 in that second quarter, holding Texas Southern to 2-of-13 from the field in that frame while the Rice shot a blistering 50 percent from the field. That would have been impressive in itself had the Owls not followed it up with a blazing 9-of-12, 75 percent showing in the third quarter to extend their advantage even further.

At that point, both squads emptied their benches and played out the stretch. 12 different Owls appeared in the game, making room for freshmen like Owens-Barnett, Dominque Ennis and Shelby Hayes to each see 12+ minutes of action. After a series of close fourth quarters, it was nice for everyone to breath and let the young guns play. They’ll be needed as the season progresses.

Player Spotlight | Malia Fisher

For the third time in five games, Fisher recorded a double-double. That shouldn’t come as a surprise at this point. The talented sophomore is averaging 15 points and 11.4 boards per game, both marks that lead the team.

On Wednesday, she sent the Owls into a short Thanksgiving break with relative ease, wrapping up the double-double before halftime. She would only be called upon to play 27 minutes given the Owls’ sizable lead, otherwise this grand day could have been even grander.

Final Box | Rice 76 – Texas Southern 49

Up Next | Full Schedule

Rice women’s basketball wraps up a four-game road trip on Sunday when they head up to College Station to play Texas A&M. The Aggies are 4-1 and share one common open with the Owls, Texas Southern, who A&M beat 67-54. This Lone Star battle has the potential to get interesting.

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