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Rice Women’s Basketball 2020: Owls dispatch MTSU for 30th straight C-USA win

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In a rematch of last season’s Conference USA Championship Game, Rice women’s basketball beat Middle Tennessee with relative ease.

For the 30th time in as many tries, Rice women’s basketball won a conference game. The Owls’ most recent victory, a 77-60 win over Middle Tennessee at Tudor Fieldhouse on Saturday served as the most recent reminder of this team’s dominance.

Rice had dispatched of every C-USA opponent they’d faced this season, but they had yet to play either Old Dominion or Middle Tennessee, the two programs still in striking distance of the Owls’ in the conference standings. Facing their toughest test of the season, Rice verified their supremacy with their trademark level of suffocating defensive intensity.

Middle Tennessee made two of their first 15 shots and nine of their first 32. The Lady Raiders entered with a 40% shooting percentage on the season. Rice held them to 33.8% shooting while knocking down 47.3% of their own shots.

Winning conference games is hard. Rice women’s basketball has made it seem easy. And beating one of the conference’s better teams by nearly 20 points only underscores the expectations the Owls are putting on themselves. Perfection isn’t the goal — the NCAA Tournament is — but the more Rice wins the closer they get to achieving that greater aspiration.

Final Stats

Player of the Game – Erica Ogwumike

The impressiveness of Rice women’s basketball leading scorer Erica Ogwumike continues to be understated. On Saturday she tallied a double-double at halftime. That would have been her 10th consecutive double-double had she not been subbed out with nine rebounds when Rice had a commanding lead over UAB their last time out.

Ogwumike finished with ## points and ## rebounds. Her presence on the court gives Rice a chance to win every possession, something few teams in college basketball can say of any one individual.

Up Next

Rice women’s basketball will hit the road for their next two contests. On Thursday, Feb. 13 they’ll face Old Dominion in arguably their most important C-USA game of the season to this point. That game is scheduled to tip off at 5:30 p.m. Saturday they’ll head to Charlotte for a 3:00 p.m. game. Both are scheduled to be broadcast on ESPN+.

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Rice Basketball 2020: Owls blow out UAB to stay white-hot

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Rice basketball snapped out of a cold spell with a blazing shooting streak, riding their hot hands to a huge road win over UAB on Thursday.

The last time Rice basketball was on the court they posted a potentially season-altering win over Conference USA leading North Texas that, quite frankly, came out of nowhere. A switch flipped at some point during that win. The Owls duct taped that switch to the floor, maintaining their torrid shooting pace on the road against UAB.

Entering Thursday’s contest, the Blazers were far less consistent than the Mean Green. But it really didn’t matter how well UAB was playing. Rice couldn’t miss.

UAB scored first. Then Rice took over. Rice led by 19 at the break, their largest lead at halftime in any game this season. They stretched that lead to as many as 29 points, squeezing the fight out of a UAB team that had won their last two C-USA games.

Rice shot 52.7 percent from the field and made 13 three-pointers. That’s a step down from their 61.5 percent shooting performance against North Texas, but more than enough to get Rice beyond 80 points for the third straight game.

Final Stats

Player of the Game – Drew Peterson

Not only did Peterson lead the Owls in scoring, but he was also the point man who commanded the team on both sides of the court. He was the only player on either team to play more than 31 minutes — he played 39. His six assists marked the second game in a row with at least six assists and he added five rebounds, second-most on the team.

Up Next

Rice basketball will play its final road game of the season prior to pod play on Saturday. They’ll travel to Murfreesboronext to play Middle Tennessee. That game is scheduled to tip off on Saturday at 5:00 p.m.

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Rice Basketball: Owls drop another heartbreaker, this time to UTSA

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Rice basketball made plenty of big shots, but missed their last attempt. That lead to a crushing last-second UTSA layup and the Owls’ fifth straight loss.

Trailing 13-5 after barely five minutes of game time had elapsed, Rice basketball was on the verge of another lopsided defeated. Not only did the Owls manage to avoid that pain, they thundered back from the eight-point deficit, outscoring UTSA 14-2 over the next five minutes to take a 19-15 lead. Game on.

The energy and strain Rice exuded in their narrow loss to UTEP on Thursday galvanized this team to keep fighting. They did not execute perfectly, but their will to battle through eight lead changes was noticeably different from where they’d been even a week ago.

It was Rice that jumped out to the double-digit lead in this one. Josh Parrish pushed the lead to 10 midway through the first half. Trey Murphy made it 11 with a three, one of a season-high 18 three-point baskets the Owls made during the contest. Rice hadn’t made that many threes in a game since November 29, 2013, an overtime loss to Rider.

Like the Rider game, the Owls’ hot hand eventually cooled. With the game tied at 88, Rice had the ball and a chance for the go-ahead bucket. Not only did they miss the shot, UTSA corralled the ball and dashed down the court for a layup of their own. A halfcourt heave fell short, dooming Rice to another strenuous defeat. Midway through C-USA play, Rice sits in last place.

Final Stats

Player of the Game – Ako Adams

Ako Adams had 21 points, 18 of which came from six three-pointers. The senior’s final trey pushed his career total to 201, officially the most in school history. His timely shots, three assists and four rebounds continued to will Rice back into the game. Thanks to Adams’ resolve, this was a slugfest that Rice very much could have won.

Up Next

Rice basketball will get a brief respite after playing five games in the last 10 games. They won’t play on Thursday, returning to the court for the next time on Saturday, Feb. 1 at Tudor Fieldhouse against North Texas.

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Rice Basketball 2020: Late-game lapses cost Rice against UTEP

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With the result hanging in the balance, late-game miscues cost Rice basketball a shot at their second win in conference play.

There was a lot to like from Rice basketball in the Owls’ most recent outing against UTEP. They held C-USA No. 2 scorer Bryson Williams to three points, kept the Miners to a woeful 5-of-28 from three and led late into the second half. It was a competitive game from start to finish, but Rice couldn’t close it out, falling to 1-7 in C-USA play.

Both teams started slow, missing a combined seven consecutive shots from the field before the scoring started. They traded narrow leads throughout the first half with neither side leading by more than two possessions. Up four with three minutes to play prior to the break, Rice allowed UTEP to close the half on a 6-0 run, narrowly preventing their first halftime lead since January 11 at FIU, their only prior C-USA win.

Ako Adams knocked down a three to start the second half, continuing a back-and-forth which lasted until the final minutes. Rice had done the big things right, executing their gameplan almost flawlessly. But they didn’t do the small things. That’s what ultimately cost them a very winnable game. Rice had not one, but two instances in the final moments of the game in which they failed to rebound off a missed free throw.

The first miscue gave UTEP a free possession which ended in two successful free throws, a three-point swing after the initial free throw to start the sequence. The second lapse allowed UTEP guard Daryl Edwards to secure a rebound off the front end of a 1-and-1, finishing with a layup and two free points after failing to convert from the line.

Head Coach Scott Pera was almost at a loss for words. “Those are plays you count on,” he said. That adds up.” UTEP’s largest lead of the day — 8 points — came with eight seconds to play in regulation. Most, if not all of that differential, can be explained by mental lapses from the Owls.

“They made winning plays,” Pera said. An apt summary of a game Rice basketball watched get away from them on their home court.

Final Stats

Player of the Game – Robert Martin

Robert Martin hadn’t played since January 4 against Western Kentucky. He was the catalyst Rice needed off the bench in his return to action. He made his first four shots, including three from distance. “I thought he kickstarted us in the first half,” Pera said. “We were kind of stale with the offense and he made some buckets to get us going. It’s good to have him back on the court.”

Martin finished with a team-high 20 points, adding five rebounds and two assists.

Up Next

Rice basketball hosts UTSA on Saturday, January 25 and doesn’t play against until February. They’ll have one more at home on February 1 against North Texas before returning to the road.

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The Roost Podcast | Ep. 20 – 2019 UTEP Review and redshirt recap

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Rice Football went out on top, ending their season on a three-game winning streak. Carter and Matthew recap the UTEP win and recap key redshirt players.

It took a few months to get here, but Rice football got rolling at the tail end of the 2019 season. The defense allowed one touchdown and the offense put up 30 points in their final regular season game, a road win over UTEP. Quarterback JoVoni Johnson, a notable redshirt player, was instrumental, scoring his first career touchdowns. More on Johnson, other redshirt players and the UTEP game in this week’s show.

You can always find previous episodes on the podcast page. For now, Give a listen to Episode 20 below.

Episode 20 Notes

  • End of season updates —  Our next show, Ep. 21, will feature postseason awards and superlatives. Have a player or an award you’ve got in mind? Leave it in the comments or send it our way on social media. While you’re here, please take a moment to fill out our postseason survey and let us know what you thought of the podcast and the site as a whole.
  • UTEP Review — When Kai Locksley went down, UTEP’s offense disappeared. Credit belongs to the Rice football defense, though, who did what they were supposed to do against a backup quarterback by holding the Miners scoreless in the second half. Meanwhile the offense generated several explosive plays, led by Aston Walter and freshman wideout Zane Knipe. It was an all-around complete showing and another win.
  • Redshirt updates — Only one Rice football player appeared in exactly five games this season. Most appeared in either eight or more or four or fewer. Carter and Matthew work through some key redshirt names and what that means for the program in 2020 and beyond.

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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