The source for Rice sports news

Rice Women’s Basketball drops home finale to North Texas

By

Rice Women’s Basketball rallied from a large deficit in the first half but couldn’t replicate the feat in the second half, falling to North Texas at home.

Rice women’s basketball may not have had a worse first quarter against a conference opponent this season than they experienced on Tuesday night against North Texas. The Owls were outscored 14-0 before they got on the board, barely clawing back to a 10-point deficit before the end of the frame.

The second quarter was an entirely different story. Rice came out the aggressor, scoring 15 of the first 18 points to take a two-point lead over the Mean Green and make this game interesting once more. North Texas would counterpunch, ending the half on a 9-0 run to take a seven-point lead into the break.

More: Rice Football: 2025 Recruiting Class Analysis — Defense

North Texas would hold serve in the second half, keeping Rice women’s basketball at arm’s length and answering every volley with one of their own. Rice made consecutive field goals just once in the third quarter before unraveling in earnest in the fourth.

After a layup from Sussy Ngulefac opened the scoring, North Texas outscored Rice 10-2 in the next four minutes, turning a comfortable lead into a one-sided advantage with haste. Rice women’s basketball falls to 14-16 on the season and 7-11 in conference play.

Final Box | North Texas 68, Rice 56

Key takeaway | Can Lightning Strike Twice?

If things hold, Rice women’s basketball should be the No. 8 seed in the American Conference Tournament this weekend, a far cry from where this squad expected to be. However, this program proved a season ago that an up-and-down regular season could be pushed aside in March in favor of an electric run to a tournament championship.

Rice didn’t want to bank on another miracle to reach a second consecutive NCAA Tournament, but that’s what the Owls will need to reach those lofty goals. For better or worse, it’s a series of one-game seasons from this point onward with an eye on the horizon looking for another bolt of inspiration.

Up Next: AAC Tournament

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

Recent Posts

Rice Women’s Basketball overwhelmed in second half by Temple

By

Rice Women’s Basketball led at halftime but couldn’t keep up the pace, falling by double-digits on the road at Temple on Friday.

Temple hit the first few shots, but it was Rice women’s basketball that set the tempo on Friday night in Philadelphia. After falling behind 5-0 in the first quarter, the Rice rallied to take the lead four minutes later and quickly surged ahead on the aggressive offensive play of Aniah Alexis, who paced both teams with a game-high 12 first quarter points.

Rice maintained a multiple-possession lead through the second quarter but never grew their advantage to double digits. Temple just wouldn’t go away, eventually pulling even again midway through the third quarter on a 9-2 run that brought the score to a deadlock at 42 points apiece. That’s when the momentum began to swing in favor of the hometown Owls in earnest.

More: Rice Football: 2025 Recruiting Class Analysis — Defense

After leading for the better portion of two quarters, Rice found itself trailing at the onset of the fourth quarter, falling even further behind when Temple opened the period with six straight points to go in front by 10, the largest lead be either side at that point in the contest. The onslaught wouldn’t stop there.

Interrupted by one layup from Trinity Gooden, Temple went on a fresh 9-0 run, ballooning the lead to 17 points and putting the game on ice before stretching their advantage to as many as 22 points. After controlling much of the early moments of this game, Rice would be outscored 50-25 in the second half, falling to 7-10 in AAC play and 14-15 overall.

Final Box | Temple 83, Rice 63

Key takeaway | Battle on the boards

One statistic doesn’t often tell the full story, but the Owls’ second half slump coincided quite clearly with a shift in their success rebounding, or lack thereof. For all their struggles this season, Rice had out-rebounded their opponents in 14 of their 16 conference games to date. That level of consistency appeared to be on track after the first half with Rice winning the rebounding battle 25 to 19 at halftime.

The second half was an entirely different story, though. Temple outrebounded Rice 17-11 in the second half and instead of losing this fight rather handily as the first half had suggested, actually matched Rice on the boards, 36 to 36. That changed the entire complexion of the game, disrupting the Owls’ offensive flow and thwarting any chance of a second half comeback.

Rice women’s’ basketball is 3-6 this season when losing the rebounding battle.

Up Next: vs North Texas (Tues, 3/4)

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

Recent Posts

Rice Women’s Basketball blazes past UAB

By

Rice Women’s Basketball caught fire in the second quarter and ran away with a dominant home victory over the UAB Blazers.

Had it not been for a handful of pesky three-pointers from UAB, Rice women’s basketball might have run away with things in the opening quarter on Tuesday night. The Owls were held to a modest two-point advantage after one, a lead that grew quickly when the long range shot died up for the Blazers in the ensuing quarter.

Rice outscored UAB by an astounding margin of 22-5 in the next 10 minutes, taking a 19-point edge into halftime, firmly in control of the contest. Led by a game-high nine points from Victoria Flores, the Owls would only need to hold the line after the break if they wanted to secure a much-needed conference win.

More: Rice Football: 2025 Recruiting Class Analysis — Defense

UAB refused to make it easy. The Blazers opened the second half on an 11-2 run, cutting the Owls’ lead to 10 points but the sprint would stop there. Rice responded with a 13-2 run of their own, capped by a pair of threes from Flores to catapult the Owls to a 20-point lead, their largest of the game to that point.

“Everybody was locked in,” head coach Lindsay Edmonds said, praising her team’s defensive effort to hold UAB to just four threes as well as a commanding 62-27 margin on the boards.

The big lead would prove enough wiggle room to afford Rice women’s basketball a chance to exhale and play loose in the final quarter. They’d go ahead by as many as 30 before closing out a comfortable home win, their second home conference victory by 20+ points in the past three games.

Final Box | Rice 73, UAB 48

Key takeaway | Vic-torious

Few athletes on South Main had bigger shoes to fill than Victoria Flores this season. Taking over the point guard start from Destiny Jackson was a huge responsibility for a younger player who didn’t have the same on-court success as a fixture within the program like Jackson.

Even still, the growth Flores demonstrated as the season progressed was unmistakable and the link between her progress and the Owls’ success was crystal clear. Flores scored 23 points against UAB, her 11th game this season reaching double-digits. Rice women’s basketball is 10-1 when she scores at least 10.

To put that in perspective, Rice is 7-11 when Dominique Ennis scores at least 10 and 5-7 when Malia Fisher reaches double-digits. Both of those players are crucial pieces to framework of this team, but Flores’ opens up the offense and changes the complexion of this squad when she’s at her best.

Rice will need all of its stars if it wants to replicate its late-season tournament run of a year ago. Flores has done enough to warrant inclusion in that company.

Up Next: at Temple (Fri, 2/28)

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

Recent Posts

Rice Women’s Basketball comes up short against UTSA

By

Rice Women’s Basketball got within a last-second shot of league-leading UTSA but couldn’t get it to fall, dropping a heartbreaker to the Roadrunners.

A pair of three-pointers in the closing minutes of the first quarter staved off what looked to be a rout inside the confines of Tudor Fieldhouse on Saturday afternoon. Rice women’s basketball was hosting Senior Day and seemed to have been caught up in the festivities, sacrificing the opening minutes of a crucial game against top-seeded UTSA.

The Owls would eventually come to, though, playing the Roadrunners more or less even through the next two quarters. Rice runs would occasionally get the game back within seven or eight points, but UTSA would hold serve, keeping Rice at bay until things got interesting in the fourth quarter.

More: Rice Football: 2025 Recruiting Class Analysis — Defense

Rice opened that last segment with a scoring burst, but it was the Owls’ defense that made the biggest difference. The Roadrunners made three field goals in the quarter and just one in the final seven minutes, allowing the Owls to claw back into the contest and turn it into a competitive game once more.

Dominique Ennis hit a jumper to make it a three point game with 2:55 to play. Then Sussy Ngulefac cut the deficit to one and the defense forced a jump ball to get the Owls the ball back in time for a final shot. Ennis got the look, but it wouldn’t fall. After a foul and free throws, Rice got one last-second heave, but that shot went wide, too.

Final Box | UTSA 57, Rice 55

Key takeaway | 40 minutes

Saturday’s fourth quarter against UTSA made it clear Rice women’s basketball could challenge the best of the AAC. The Owls outscored the Roadrunners by six in the fourth quarter as well as by one point in the third and were even with them in the second. UTSA won the first quarter by nine. And therein lies the problem Rice women’s basketball has yet to solve this season, the 40 minute game.

Every game is 40 minutes and it’s hard to play at 100 percent for a full 40 minutes. But the best teams tend to get a lot closer to that level of consistency than those in the middle of the standings.

A two-point difference at the final buzzer made that abundantly clear. UTSA isn’t so much more talented than Rice to the point where the back-and-forth action of the game has been rendered moot. On the contrary, Rice has the talent and the ability to play with these teams. They just aren’t consistent enough to be anywhere near the top of the standings, something that has generated an understandable level of frustration.

Up Next: vs UAB (Tues, 2/25)

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

Recent Posts

Rice Women’s Basketball dominates FAU in get-right win

By

Rice Women’s Basketball bounced back with a dominant defensive performance, holding FAU to a program conference-best 18.2 percent shooting from the floor.

It seemed as if neither side could find the hoop in the opening minutes of FAU’s visit to play Rice women’s basketball on Tuesday night. FAU opened 2-for-11 from the floor. Rice was worse, hitting just one of its first 11 shots. While FAU continued to see intermittent success at best from the floor, Rice used that lull as a launching point.

“We needed that one. We needed that in one in that fashion,” head coach Lindsay Edmonds said. “We challenged them in the first media [timeout] and they responded and after that, we just kind of took off.”

Trailing 8-2 at that point, Rice would hit seven consecutive shots, turning a six point deficit into a six point advantage in the span of five minutes of court time spanning the end of the first quarter and the start of the second. Rice would go into break up by 14, what felt like a commanding advantage considering FAU’s paltry 16 total points across 20 minutes of action.

More: Rice Football: 2025 Recruiting Class Analysis — Defense

The third quarter brought more of the same, Rice defensive dominance and a steady trickle of made shots from the home team. If there was any doubt remaining in the outcome of this contest it was put to rest with a backbreaking three pointer by Dominique Ennis that put Rice in front by 19, a 44-21 margin, with 4:25 remaining in the third quarter.

That massive advantage made the fourth quarter a breeze. The Owls held serve in the final 10 minutes, limiting FAU to a meager 39 total points to secure a much-needed victory. The win brings Rice to 13-13 overall and 6-8 in AAC play.

Final Box | Rice 72, FAU 39

Key takeaway | Defensive intensity

The offense has been an odyssey for Rice women’s basketball all season long. With the regular season being measured in days rather than months, it’s hard to see those issues correcting themselves to a significant degree. So while the offense has it’s spurts and starts, the burden has fallen to the defense to set the tone.

“I couldn’t ask for anything better,” Edmonds said of the Owls’ dominant defensive showing. “That’s what we have the capabilities of doing and now that we’ve shown it we’ve got to bring it a little bit more. That’s exactly how I know that we can defend. That’s how I expect us to defend.”

To put into context just how atypical the Owls’ defensive dominance was in this game one has to dive nearly exhaust the record books. Only once in the past 20 seasons — that’s as far back game-by-game shooting data data was available at this time — has Rice held and opponent below 20 percent shooting from the field.

Rice held UTEP to 18.9 percent from the field on Feb. 1, 2007. On Tuesday night they limited FAU to 18.2 percent from the floor. That’s a mark that goes back hundreds of games, a slew of coaching staffs and beyond the renovations made to Tudor Fieldhouse in 2008. It’s the best defensive field goal percentage Rice has allowed in program history against a conference opponent.”

“I kept saying we were going to right the ship and I feel this is the first part of that, right? We want to make sure that we are going into March being as confident as we can,” Edmonds said. “We’ve got four games that are coming up that are going to be big for us and we’ve got to take them one at a time, but we took care of the first one and that was tonight.”

Up Next: vs UTSA (Sat, 2/22)

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

Recent Posts