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Rice Women’s Basketball outlasts Ole Miss to win WNIT Championship

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Rice women’s basketball capped off a perfect postseason on Sunday, outlasting Ole Miss to win the WNIT Championship.

Sunday marked the first-ever WNIT Championship Game appearance for Rice women’s basketball. Winners of four straight WNIT Tournament games, all by double-digits, the eager Owls arrived ready to make history.

Rice displayed the same physicality and focus they’d exemplified over the past two weeks, taking an early and extending it a little bit at a time. Lauren Schwartz sparked the Owls’ offense with 10 first quarter points, cutting and weaving through the Ole Miss defense for what seemed to be endless open shots in the lane.

The tandem of Nancy Mulkey in the paint and Schwartz on the drive proved too much for Ole Miss to handle. That early lead began to grown extending to an 11-point lead at halftime. Rice lead 34-23 at the break. All they had to do was keep up the defensive intensity and the title would be theirs.

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Ole Miss had barely caught their breath when the second half onslaught began. Jasmine Smith got things started with a three. Then Schwartz and Mulkey continued to add to the Rice advantage. There were key contributions from Smith, Sydne Wiggins, Haylee Swayze and Katelyn Crosthwait, but the tandem of Schwartz and Mulkey proved impossible for Ole Miss to overcome.

The Rebels threatened, cutting their deficit to four points in the fourth quarter. But the Owls found that extra gear. Rice would hold on down the stretch, outscoring Ole Miss 71 to 58 to win the 2021 WNIT Championship.

Player of the Game – Nancy Mulkey

In her final career game as a Rice Owl, center Nancy Mulkey was magnificent. She scored 19 points, grabbed 12 rebounds and smacked seven blocks, one short of a season-high. . Ole Miss simply had no answer for her in the paint, and when they tried to key in on her, she’d funnel the ball to an open teammate.

Mulkey will leave Rice as one of the most productive and impactful players in program history. It’s fitting her final moments on the floor lifted her team to a championship.

Making history

And as for making history, the win marked the second time in the last four seasons that head coach Tina Langley and the Owls had won a postseason tournament. They won the WBI in 2017, defeating UNC Greensboro. Now they’ll add a WNIT Championship to their trophy case.

Rice women’s basketball is also the first team in Conference USA history to win the WNIT. Yet another first for a program that keeps winning.

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Rice Women’s Basketball cruises past Delaware, advances to WNIT Finals

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Nothing could stop a Rice women’s basketball program on a mission. The Owls cruised past Delaware, punching their ticket to the 2021 WNIT Championship Game.

Early in the first quarter, Rice women’s basketball was deadlocked at 12 points apiece with WNIT semi-final foe Delaware. Then the Owls, who were already shooting at a blistering pace, cranked up the intensity to another level.

Rice reeled off a 12-2 run, seven of those points coming from Sydne Wiggins, and ended the first quarter with a 10-point lead. The second quarter was all Owls. Rice extended their advantage to 18-points. This time it was Catelyn Crosthwait who led the charge. The sophomore guard scored seven of the Owls’ 18 points in that frame, giving Rice ample breathing room at the break.

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By the midpoint of the third quarter, Rice was shooting 60 percent from the field. That pace would fade a bit down the stretch, but Delaware came nowhere near that efficiency. Jasmine Dickey led the Blue Hens with 25 points, but it took her 30 shots and nine free throw attempts to get there. Rice guard Lauren Schwartz tied Dickey in scoring but amassed her 25 points on just 12 shots and 10 free throw attempts.

Schwartz, Crosthwait and the remainder of the Owls were so efficient from the floor they didn’t require any points from center Nancy Mulkey. The senior center was held scoreless on three field goal attempts and Rice still managed to cruise to a double-digit victory. Mulkey did lead the team with 11 rebounds, three blocks and tied a career-high five assists.

Player of the Game – Katelyn Crosthwait

Crosthwait scored a career-high 20 points, contributing a team-best four three-pointers in the Owls’ semifinal victory. She was perfect from the foul line (4-of-4) and added five rebounds. Her scoring ability enabled the Owls to space the floor and open lanes for her teammates. Adding a three-point element to the Owls’ already efficient offense makes this a challenging team to beat.

Up Next

Rice women’s basketball has punched their ticket to the WNIT Championship where they’ll face Ole Miss. The Rebels beat Northern Iowa in the semifinals on Friday night. Tip time is scheduled for 1:00 p.m on Sunday, March 28.

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Rice Women’s Basketball: Owls march past Fresno St for second WNIT win

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Rice women’s basketball exploded out of the gate, leading Fresno State from start to finish to advance in the WNIT.

It was clear from the start that the second-round game for Rice women’s basketball against Fresno State was going to be different than the defensive struggle that encapsulated the Owls first-round win over Arizona State. Rice made their first three shots and scored 25 points in the opening frame. That’s two points less than the Owls and the Sun Devils combined to score at halftime on Friday.

That strong start proved to be the harbinger of good things to come. Rice did cool down from their scorching 64.7 percent field goal percentage in the first quarter, but their lead held from that point onward.

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Fresno State made things interesting with a 9-0 run in the middle of the third quarter, but Rice was quick to respond immediately with an 11-2 run of their own to quiet the threat. Central to that hold, and the sizable lead itself, Nancy Mulkey led all scorers with a season-high 28 points. She also had eight rebounds.

Player of the Game – Jasmine Smith

Smith isn’t traditionally the Owls’ primary scoring option on the court, but her ability to run the offense and set others up for success is differential for this team. On Saturday, though, Smith combined her keen eye for her teammates with a near-perfect shooting performance. She started 4-of-4 from the floor, finishing with 15 points. She also had 10 assists, seven rebounds and four steals.

Up Next

Rice women’s basketball has moved into the win-or-go-home stage of the Women’s NIT. With the win, the Owls will face the winner of San Francisco and California Baptist on Monday, March 22 and 7:00 p.m. Should Rice win that game, they would win the Fort Worth Regional and advance to the Final Four in Memphis.

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Rice Women’s Basketball: Owls explode late, down Arizona State in WNIT opener

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The first round of the WNIT went well for Rice women’s basketball, who beat Arizona State to advance in the winner’s bracket.

Rice Women’s Basketball was disappointed to miss out on an at-large NCAA Tournament selection, but their focus pivoted to the WNIT quickly. Head coach Tina Langley had her team focused on preparation for their second WNIT trip in the past four seasons long before brackets were announced.

When the time came, Rice was paired with Arizona State. On paper, the matchup looked favorable for the 18-4 Owls against the 11-10 Sun Devils, who also boasted a strong defensive presence.

It wasn’t too much of a surprise then when both teams struggled on offense early on in the game. In the first quarter, Arizona State made 2-of-14 shots. Rice was held to 2-of-11 from the floor. The Sun Devils had more fouls (6) and turnovers (5) than points (4) in the initial frame. The Owls walked away with a 4-2 early lead, confident in their defense, but in need of a spark.

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Rice scored on three of their first four possessions in the second quarter, taking a 13-8 lead into the media timeout. They won on the offensive glass and took advantage of their opponent’s miscues, scoring seven of their 10 second quarter points directly off Arizona State turnovers. A 15-12 halftime lead highlighted a gritty, exhausting start.

The lead ping-ponged back and forth in the third quarter, but then Rice found their extra gear when it mattered. Katelyn Crosthwait hit the Owls’ first three-pointer of the game to spark a thunderous finish for the Owls. Rice outscored Arizona State 18-to-5 in the fourth quarter to secure the first-round win.

Player of the Game – Nancy Mulkey

In a game in which points were at a premium, Mulkey tied Lauren Schartz for the lead among all players in scoring with 16 points. The senior center converted on 7-of-10 shots from the field. That 70 percent shooting percentage more than doubled Arizona State’s team scoring rate. She added four blocks and seven rebounds.

Up Next

The format for the 2021 Women’s NIT guarantees two games for every team. With the victory, Rice moves into the winner’s bracket. They’ll face the winner of the second game in the Fort Worth Region between Fresno State (16-10) and Missouri (9-11).

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Rice Women’s Basketball escapes Old Dominion, advances to title game

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Rice Women’s Basketball is headed back to the Conference USA Tournament Finals, escaping Old Dominion with clutch free throws down the stretch.

There wasn’t any hesitation when Nancy Mulkey won the opening tip to set up a layup from Lauren Schwartz on the Owls’ opening possession. A day removed from a first quarter deficit against FIU, Rice women’s basketball came out red hot against 6-Seed Old Dominion.

The Owls led by as many as 16 points in the first half. Only once did the lead fall back into single-digits, but when it did, Rice pushed it back to 11 within a minute. The margin was comfortable enough that center Nancy Mulkey was only on the court for 13 minutes in the first half.

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Mulkey made her presence felt immediately in the second half, scoring the Owls’ first eight points of the third quarter. Her and Lauren Schwartz proved to be a dynamic scoring combination. While Mulkey cleaned up underneath, Schwartz scored from just about everywhere else. She followed her career-high 27-point outburst on Thursday with 17 points and fuves rebounds on Friday night.

It wasn’t all smooth sailing for the Owls, though. Rice started to cool off down the stretch. In fact, they failed to score from the field in the final 4:53 of regulation. An 11-point lead dwindled down to a single point, but errant free throw shooting from the Monarchs and two sets of clutch foul shots from Haley Swayze and Mulkey iced the game.

This was one of the closest games Rice has played for in some time. As harrowing as it was, it should prove to be a valuable test with a trip to the NCAA Tournament on the line in their next game.

Head coach Tina Langley remained steadfast in her postgame comments. When asked about the Owls’ resiliency, she was quick to double-down on the compliment. “They have battled all season,” she said. “And I’m just so proud of who they are and what they continue to do.”

Rice women’s basketball is scheduled to play the winner of 1-Seed from the East, Middle Tennessee or 2-Seed from the West, UTEP at 5:00 p.m. Saturday on CSB Sports Network.

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