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Rice Basketball blanks ODU down the stretch in thrilling home win

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Rice basketball turned a close game into a runaway affair, blanking Old Dominion down the stretch and ending the game on a flawless 16-0 run.

Rice basketball went through a tough stretch in early January when the shots just weren’t falling. The Owls’ typical precision from three had turned sporadic as the team had to find ways to win in the paint and with their defense. Those days seem like a distant memory now that Rice has turned in consecutive days with laser-sharp accuracy from beyond three-point arc.

It’s only fitting that Rice opened their Thursday tilt with Old Dominion with consecutive threes. They would go on to hit seven of their first 14 shots from long-range. Rice had hit 50 percent or better on their triples in three games this to that point, still, Old Dominion found a way to hang around.

Last Time Out: Rice Basketball outshoots Marshall on the road\

Where the Monarchs came up short from distance they made up for inside. Their cuts to the basket and 20 points in the paint in the first half alone contributed to a close game that pinballed back and forth early on.

Old Dominion would take charge as the game progressed into the second half. The Monarchs were on fire from the field — until they weren’t. An eight-point ODU lead with 6:40 to play disappeared following a 1-for-10 stretch from the field. Rice mounted a 10-0 run with Carl Pierre delivering the go-ahead three with 2:51 on the clock. That run would extend to 16-0 as Rice ran away with it at home. Mylyjael Poteat was dominant down the stretch. Pierre couldn’t miss. Rice rolled.

“I guess we got to go look at the record books and see the last time we that kind of run to end the game,” head coach Scott Pera said following the win.

What they’re saying | Scott Pera

“This is the team I thought we had on November 14. And then some things went wrong. Chris tore a tendon… Quincy hurt his wrist and wasn’t right for 12 games maybe… and then we had 15 out of 16 guys get COVID including me. So we had a lot of bumps and through the bumps we stayed together. We got some wins. We had some good games, beat some good teams, lost to some good teams.

When league started – after we got through the North Texas situation and the COVID stuff – our guys were healthy, except for Chris, and they were through COVID. It’s the team I’d thought we’d have.” – Scott Pera

Player Spotlight | Carl Pierre

Pierre continues to campaign for the best transfer addition in Pera’s tenure at Rice. He tied the school record with eight three-pointers last week against Marshall. He followed that up with seven triples against Old Dominion, propelling the Rice offense and keeping pace with the surging Monarchs. He’s become a key cog in the Owls’ game plan each and every night. If other teams don’t make it a priority to keep him away from the basketball, this is probably going to keep happening.

Stat Corner | It’s how you finish

Defense was the focal point of the conversation in the Owls’ season-opening win over Pepperdine. Expectations for that side of the ball had risen compared to recent seasons, but few could have imagined the dazzling display Rice put forth to slam the door against Old Dominion on Thursday night.

“You can’t do better. I may coach another 500 games and it may never happen again,” Pera said of the team’s emphatic finish.

Rice held Old Dominion scoreless in the final 6:40 of regulation. The Monarchs missed their final 11 shots. Whether it was sheer exhaustion, careful spacing or a combination of both, Rice absolutely stymied what had been a dynamic offensive attack up until that moment.

Final Box | Rice 77 – ODU 69

Up Next | Full Schedule

Rice basketball closes out their two-game homestand on Saturday against Charlotte. After that they hit the road once again, paying a visit to Louisiana Tech and then Southern Miss to close out the month of January.

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Rice Women’s Basketball: Owls fizzle in the fourth, fall to ODU

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Rice women’s basketball entered the fourth quarter in a tied game with Old Dominion, but the Owls couldn’t finish things off, falling to 0-4 in conference play.

It wasn’t quite deja-vu, but there was a familiar feel from the opening moments to the final whistle of the road tilt between Rice women’s basketball and Old Dominion on Thursday afternoon. Just as they had done in prior outings, Rice raced out to an early lead, reaching an eight-point advantage in the first three minutes and change of the first quarter.

And just has been the case in those previous games. the Owls watched their opponents claw back into the game. Old Dominion would cut their deficit to two points in the first quarter and get within one point in the final minute before halftime. In the third quarter, the Monarchs would take the lead for the very first time as both teams struggled from the field.

Last Time Out: Rice Women’s Basketball ‘s early lead slips away vs Marshall

The tempo started to pick up at the back end of the third quarter. There were no lead changes in the first 25 minutes of regulation. There were three in the final five minutes of the third quarter with India Bellamy delivering the equalizing layup in the final seconds.

Turnovers proved to be the difference in the final quarter. Rice turned the ball over seven times to ODU’s three with both teams shooting 60 percent or better from the floor. Old Dominion edged Rice on the boards and got off a few more shots and that proved to be the difference. Rice falls to 0-4 in conference play with the loss.

Player Spotlight | India Bellamy

Bellamy scored a career-high 12 points against Old Dominion, adding four rebounds, three assists and three steals to her ledger along the way. She played 26-minutes, also a career-high, but one that could prove to be more sticky moving forward. Rice has relied much more on its thin bench in recent weeks and will have to continue doing so if they have any chance of being fresh in the fourth quarter. That means trusting players like Bellamy when they’re shooting the ball well and spreading the ball around to lighten the load.

Stat Corner | Figuring out the Fourth

At the beginning of the season, winning the third quarter was a major point of emphasis for the Owls. Head coach Lindsay Edmonds opened multiple postgame media sessions with a desire to improve as a team right out of the halftime break. For the most part, Rice has answered that call, particularly since their return from their long COVID-19 induced hiatus. Now it’s time for this team to take the next step.

“We’ve preached being better in the third [quarter] and I think that’s happened,” Edmonds said earlier in the week. “Now we’ve got to figure out how to be better sometimes in the second or the fourth.” Rice was outscored 29-19 in the fourth quarter on Thursday, losing the game by that same 10-point margin.

Final Box | ODU 69 – Rice 59

Up Next | Full Schedule

Rice women’s basketball has one more game on their current road trip before they make the trek back to Houston. They play at Charlotte on Saturday. Once they make it back to Texas, they’ll host Louisiana Tech on Thursday and Southern Miss on Saturday.

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Rice Basketball outshoots Marshall with career-night from Carl Pierre

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Rice basketball outshot Marshall behind a career-night from Carl Pierre, weathering a late run before pulling away late.

From start to finish, Rice basketball found ways to put the ball in the basket, typically from long range. The Owls had struggled to find a rhythm from three in recent games but snapped out of that funk with an emphatic barrage of triples to take down Marshall on the road.

Marshall took an early 4-3 lead but Rice would take over from there. Travis Evee and Carl Pierre would combine to hit 11 of the Owls’ 12 three-pointers, pushing the Rice lead to double-digits just after the midpoint of the first half.

Last Time Out: Rice Basketball falters down the stretch at WKU

Marshall wouldn’t go quietly. The Thundering Herd cut the Owls’ 12-point advantage midway through the second half to a 58-58 tie with 8:35 to play. Rice didn’t panic. A layup from Max Fiedler followed by a triplet of threes from Evee and Pierre gave Rice a fresh lead before the Owls pushed it back to double-digits with under two minutes to play.

“We weren’t perfect,” head coach Scott Pera. “It’s not always going to be perfect. But every time they made a run, we responded.”

The win moves Rice to 3-2 in conference play, trailing division leader Louisiana Tech by two games.

Player Spotlight | Carl Pierre

Pierre was lights out on Saturday, scoring a career-high 30 points and tying the school record with eight made three-pointers in the game. He always seemed to have an answer to a Marshall run, keeping the Owls at least one step ahead throughout the duration of the contest.

Stat Corner | Sharpshooters

Rice basketball combined two aspects of their three-point shooting game they hadn’t been able to sync up in quite some time. They hit more than eight threes for the first time since December 16 against Incarnate Word and topped 50 percent from three for the first time since December 4 against Jarvis Christian. The Owls would have happily taken the efficiency or the quantity. Getting both in the same game meant trouble for Marshall.

According to Rice, this marks the first time Rice has made at least 60 percent of its three-pointers in a game since Nov. 19, 2016 at Omaha.

Final Box | Rice 87 – Marshall 77

Up Next | Full Schedule

Rice basketball split their brief two game road trip against Western Kentucky and Marshall. Next weekend they’ll return home to Tudor Fieldhouse where they’ll host Old Dominion (Thursday) and Charlotte (Saturday).

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Rice Women’s Basketball: Early lead slips away as Owls fall to Marshall

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Once again, Rice women’s basketball came out strong but couldn’t stay in step through four quarters, falling to Marshall at home.

Rice women’s basketball couldn’t have asked for a much better start at home against Marshall. The Owls hit five of their first six shots to take an 11-0 lead over the visiting Thundering Herd. The offense would cool off, but not by much. Rice shot 60.9 percent in the first half, weathering Marshall runs with more buckets of their own.

Once Marshall regained their footing toward the end of the second quarter the two teams traded small leads throughout the next frame. Destiny Jackson and India Bellamy delivered crucial baskets in the third quarter to keep Rice in the mix heading into the fourth.

Last Time Out: Rice Women’s Basketball falls short at home vs WKU

The tight battle tilted away from Rice when the fourth quarter began. Marshall went on a 15-0 run to start the period. Rice made just one field goal in the 10-minute span, faltering down the stretch as the short bench and the second game in two days seemed to prove too much to overcome.

Player Spotlight |  Destiny Jackson

Jackson came up one rebound shy of what would have been her first career double-double. On a day when most Owls struggled from the field, Jackson connected on four of her five shots, adding two points from five free throws. She finished with a +9 plus/minus, the only player on the team to finish in the positive differential.

Stat Corner | Not locked in at the line

There are a myriad of external factors that have not fallen in the Owls’ favor this season. But the reality is those challenges — both expected and unforeseen — happen to some degree to every team in every season. That makes it all the more imperative for this team to control what they can control, and that starts with free throws.

Rice women’s basketball went 8-of-18 from the line against Marshall, leaving 10 points on the board. Five of those misses came in the second quarter when the Owls could have kept a double-digit lead but allowed the gap to close. Free throws won’t fix everything, but it’s a good place to start.

Final Box | Marshall 66 – Rice 53

Up Next | Full Schedule

Rice women’s basketball goes back on the road after their brief two-game homestand. Next week they’ll play a set of games against Old Dominion and Charlotte.

Subscribe on Patreon for exclusive Rice football recruiting updates, practice notes and more.

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Rice Basketball: Dismal second-half dooms Owls at WKU

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Rice basketball played a great first half before all but disappearing after the break, falling to Western Kentucky on the road on Thursday night.

A tale of two halves might not even do true justice to just how disparate the two periods Rice basketball played against Western Kentucky on the road Thursday night. The Owls came out white-hot, converting on 51.5 percent of their shots from the field while draining seven threes. Then the bottom dropped out. Rice shot 29.6 percent in the second half and added just one triple to their eventual modest totals.

The Owls opponents actually shot worse from the floor in the second half than they had in the first. Where they found their edge was the charity stripe. Western Kentucky was 17-of-22 from the free throw line. Rice was 8-for-11. The Owls would go on to lose by nine.

Last Time Out : Rice Basketball pulls off thrilling upset of UAB at home

It’s not as if fouls determined this game, though. Rice basketball just wasn’t nearly as crisp after the halftime buzzer. Whether it was the right halftime adjustments made by Western Kentucky or a bad shooting slump for Rice — or both — the results were the same. A game that looked winnable at halftime slipped away.

The loss snuffs a short two-game winning streak that included perhaps the most impactful victory of head coach Scott Pera’s tenure at Rice, a home win over UAB. The Owls fall to 2-2 in Conference USA play.

Player Spotlight | Chris Mullins

Mullis has developed into a jack-of-all-trades for Rice basketball over the course of his career. Always known for his superb defensive ability, he added some well-timed buckets against the Hilltoppers. He tossed in a three-pointer to start off the second half on his way to a tie for the team-high in scoring with 13 points. He also added two rebounds and a steal.

Stat Corner | Don’t get dunked

Western Kentucky dunked seven times against Rice and scored 32 total points in the paint. 18 of those points came after halftime. They were a large part of what allowed Western Kentucky to run away with the game in the second half. The home team came out of the break on a 13-5 run. Six of those points came directly from dunks, the highest percentage shot you can take. Just three of them came from threes.

Three-pointers would help Western Kentucky maintain the lead down the stretch, but getting beat inside is what allowed the gap to manifest in the first place. The shots won’t fall every night. When they don’t, preventing easy buckets has to climb atop the priority list. Rice basketball didn’t do that very well on Thursday.

Final Box | WKU 80 – Rice 66

Up Next | Full Schedule

Rice basketball closes out their brief road trip on Saturday with a visit to Marshall. The Owls bested the Thundering Herd in the Conference USA Tournament the last time these two squads met. After that they’ll return home for games against Old Dominion and Charlotte.

Subscribe on Patreon for exclusive Rice football recruiting updates, practice notes and more.

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