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Dominque Ennis’ big day powers Rice Women’s Basketball past Charlotte

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Everything seemed to be falling for Dominque Ennis and Rice Women’s Basketball on Saturday, who blew past Charlotte on the road.

Separation was minimal in the opening quarter when Rice women’s basketball tipped off against Charlotte on the road. Neither side led by more than three points for longer than 20 seconds of the first frame but Rice would start to ramp up the pressure in the second quarter.

Malia Fisher opened the scoring with a jumper and Maya Bokunewicz delivered a three, the exclamation points minutes just later to cap a 12-2 run that put Rice women’s basketball in the driver’s seat. The margin would stick around double-digits for the remainder of the quarter with Rice taking a 10-point advantage into the break.

More: Rice Women’s Basketball 2024-2025 Midseason State of the Program

Charlotte would threaten briefly with a 6-0 spurt early in the third quarter, but Rice took over the game from that point onward. A combination of Sussy Ngulefac on the insider and a barrage of three-pointers from Victoria Flores and Dominique Ennis turned a close game into a blowout.

Rice led by 17 after three quarters and stretched their lead to as many as 26 points midway through the fourth. They never let up, parading past the 49ers and never allowing any serious hopes of a comeback to spark.

Final Box | Rice 84, Charlotte 60

Key takeaway | Electric Ennis

A season best 24 points from Dominque Ennis is the biggest reason this game was never close in the second half, but the big day from one of the Owls’ best shooters further underscores how essential her presence is for this team. Including Saturday, Rice women’s basketball is 3-0 when Ennis makes at least four threes and 3-1 when Ennis attempts at least eight shots from downtown.

When Ennis is clicking the entire offense opens up. Her threat from the outside opens up everything else the Owls want to do. It’s not fair to put the burden entirely on her shoulders, but it should be a reminder to this team to risk getting her enough chances to impact the game. Even when the ball isn’t going in like it was today, the threat she provides makes this team better.

Up Next: vs Tulsa (Wed, 1/29)

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2024-2025 Rice Women’s Basketball Season Preview

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Expectations are high for the 2024-2025 Rice women’s basketball season following an NCAA Tournament appearance under now fourth-year head coach Lindsay Edmonds.

Rice women’s basketball has hit its stride under Lindsay Edmonds, raising the bar in each successive season with her at the helm of the program, culminating in an NCAA Tournament appearance last season. That taste has everyone on the roster — which returns the vast majority of its key players, sans one — eager for an encore this coming season.

“This is the most veteran, the most mature team that we’ve had since I’ve been here,” Edmonds said. With that experience comes a different level of urgency and an even greater sense of purpose. “We’re going faster and the expectations are just higher,” Edmonds declared.

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Bokunewicz’s big day powers Rice Women’s Basketball past St. Mary’s

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Rice women’s basketball overcame a slow start, catching fire in the second half behind the masterful shooting performance of Maya Bokunewicz.

It wasn’t the start Rice women’s basketball would have hoped to see on Sunday afternoon. After trading baskets early, Rice fell behind by nine points by the end of the first quarter, committing uncharacteristic penalties and making mental mistakes. Their opponent, Saint Mary’s pushed their advantage to double-digits early in the second quarter, putting the game on the brink of disaster should the Owls not settle down.

Head coach Lindsay Edmonds pulled the team aside and challenged them to focus.

“I just challenged. I challenge them to be who we are. We had not been that yet. And I was just telling them if wanted to play today, they would show up and play because at that point I  didn’t feel like they had shown up,” Edmonds said. “If we were playing blah it is not good for us. So I just challenged them to be us. And if they were ready to play, I was ready to watch them. They stepped up and they were ready to get going after that.

Not only did Rice find its rhythm, but they played some of their best basketball yet from that point onward. An 11-0 Rice run erased the Gaels’ lead entirely, with the Owls taking a brief two-point lead before heading into halftime even at 35-all.

The defense was starting to gel and the Owls were taking better care of the basketball. Maya Bokunewicz did the rest. The veteran guard connected on seven three-pointers, tying the school record and pushing the Rice lead to as many as 16 points.

When St. Mary’s tried to mount a late comeback, Rice made its free throws and Dominque Ennis delivered the dagger three in the closing seconds to put the game away. Rice moves to 3-2 with the win.

Final Box | Rice 73 – St. Mary’s 62

What They’re Saying

“We have kids that are now sophomores that were freshmen and played a lot of minutes, but there’s still ultimately very young on the basketball court. But there’s a lot of times they do not show their youth and inexperience at times today, I felt like we we showed that a little bit, but we’re still figuring it out. We don’t want to peak right now. We want to be peaking in February and March. I told them after the last game, we don’t need to hang our heads and hopefully, these adversities we’re facing now are going to bring us blessings in February and March.” – Head coach Lindsay Edmonds

Key takeaway | Masterful Maya

This team is still learning who to lean on in big moments. A season ago, Ashlee Austin and Destiny Jackson were the spark plugs that willed this program to win. Jackson remains, but her role as a distributor is just as important as that of a scorer. She’s going to need someone else to make those clutch shots. On Sunday, that clutch someone was Maya Bokunewicz.

“Maya Buckets, that’s the opening statement,” Edmonds joked.

Bokunewicz tied a career-high with 26 points, reached in large part by the aforementioned seven triples. Even with her big day from behind the arc, Rice still only shot 38 percent from the floor. All of those makes mattered. The fact that they counted for three instead of two was a bonus.

“I kind of lost count,” Bokunewicz admitted. “I would just shoot one and it would go in… it kept happening. Like coach Edmonds said, my teammates really just found me, I was wide open and I just happened to be really on today.”

Up Next: at Stephen F. Austin (Sat. Nov 25)



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Rice Women’s Basketball rallies past ACU at home

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Rice women’s basketball rallies in the second half to take down Abilene Christian, opening the season 2-0 at Tudor Fieldhouse.

Maya Bokunewicz got the scoring going with a jumper, but that proved to be just the first points in another back-and-forth affair at Tudor Fieldhouse. There were five ties in the first quarter and three more in the third, with the vast majority of the first half being played within a four-point margin to either side.

Jazzy Owens-Barnett gave Rice a six-point lead on the final shot of the first quarter, but that advantage was quickly erased in the first minute or so of the second frame. ACU then closed that quarter out on a run of their own, taking a seven-point advantage into halftime courtesy of back-to-back threes.

Down at halftime, the Owls resolved to keep fighting. “We challenged them and I thought they stepped up and showed who they can really be in that third quarter,” head coach Lindsay Edmonds said.

More: Rice Women’s Basketball Season Preview

Rice went on the offensive in the third quarter, quickly erasing the halftime deficit and creating a new lead of their own. The Owls outscored ACU 24-11 in the third with Ashlee Austin leading the way. Up by six entering the final quarter, Rice was able to withstand ACU’s final push and secure their second-straight win to open the season.

“I thought we showed up a little unfocused and not ready and our defense showed that,” Edmonds said after the final buzzer. “And then I think the second half I think we showed up and showed how we can be the defensive team that we can be. We rebounded the basketball and because of our defense and our rebounding we were able to create easier offensive opportunities for us.”

Five Owls reached double-digits, Austin’s 10 points coming entirely in the second half. The team shot 50 percent from the floor after halftime, turning a seven-point deficit into a 16 point victory.

Player Spotlight | Ashlee Austin

This season Rice women’s basketball boasts one of the deepest rosters it has had in some time. Given that influx of young talent, coach Edmonds has been able to spread the ball around, getting contributions from several different players early in the season.

On Sunday though, trailing by seven at half to ACU, Rice needed someone to take charge and seize control. As she’s done time and time again, Ashlee Austin rose to the occasion.

“Our main message coming out of halftime was just to be us,” Austin said. “Especially as a senior, I personally felt a need to be as perfect as possible and try and do everything I can.”

Austin finished with 10 points and seven rebounds, a modest line by her standards, but it was when that production came that mattered most. Austin tallied eight of those points and four of those rebounds in the third quarter, leading the comeback charge and putting the Owls ahead for good.

Final Box | Rice 85 – ACU 69

Up Next | Full Schedule

Rice women’s basketball won’t be back in Tudor Fieldhouse until early December, playing their next four games away from home. That road trip begins on Wednesday at Saint Mary’s — a late tip scheduled for 10:00 p.m. CT — then at Pacific on Friday. Both games will be streamed on WCC Sports.



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Rice Women’s Basketball’s Cinderella run halted by Charlotte

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For the first time in nearly a month, Rice Women’s Basketball lost in regulation, falling to Charlotte in the Conference USA Tournament.

Once sitting at 0-5 in conference play, Rice women’s basketball found themselves disappointed when they fell to No. 1 seed Charlotte in the third round of the Conference USA Tournament on Thursday afternoon. The Owls had battled the 49ers to the wire, leading roughly midway through the fourth quarter but were unable to close things out.

“I think if you had told me that a month ago, I’d have been like, okay, great,” head coach Lindsay Edmonds said in the aftermath. “Today, to be in it and to be so close. [I’m] not into a lot of moral victories so I would have liked to have seen that go the other way.”

It almost did. Rice women’s basketball led by as many as nine points in the first half, doing a tremendous job of keeping the Charlotte offense out of sync. The Owls fell out of rhythm themselves in the third quarter, but were able to settle down, buoyed by three-pointers from Maya Bokunewicz and Ashlee Austin, and keep the game within striking distance right up to the fourth quarter.

Last Time Out: Malia Fisher’s big day lifts Rice Women’s Basketball past Marshall

Trailing by four with 28 seconds to go, Rice would gather three offensive rebounds in the next possession, but none of their putback attempts would fall through the irons. Charlotte would take over, knock down a few more free throws and close it out.

“[I’m] just really proud of them, proud of their effort, proud of their fight,” Edmonds said. “There were times in this game we could have hung our heads, but we didn’t. That’s not who we are. That’s not what we’re about.”

Player Spotlight | Destiny Jackson

Jackson might not have received the accolades or attention some of her fellow young teammates have, but her impact on this basketball team cannot go unnoticed. She’s the glue on offense and led the team on Thursday with 14 points while still contributing a team-high four assists, nabbing four steals and finishing with six rebounds. When she’s productive this team is better. She was great against the 49ers.

Stat Corner | Free throw discrepancies

Both teams featured eerily similar box scores in this contest. They tied with 37 rebounds apiece. Rice had 14 turnovers, Charlotte had 15. Neither shot particularly well, with that shooting lull spilling into the fourth quarter. Free throws were the difference. Charlotte attempted 25 free throws to Rice’s 11 shots from the charity stripe. Had the Owls gotten to the line a few more times this game really could have gone either way.

Final Box | Charlotte 59 – Rice 53

Up Next |

Part of Edmonds’ postgame message was a rallying cry. “I told them I don’t want the season to be over with yet and that their mindset should still be locked in on basketball and continuing to play,” she said. They deserve to continue to play. The way we’ve been playing, they deserve to continue to play.”

Rice will receive consideration from the WNIT, who Edmonds said had been to see Rice play as well as the WBI. Either way, some sort of postseason berth seems like for this team, which ends the regular season as winners of seven of their last nine.



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