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Rice Women’s Basketball doubles down, takes second-straight from UAB

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Rice Women’s Basketball went wire-to-wire with UAB for the second time this week and once again walked away victorious.

Five days ago Rice women’s basketball squared off with UAB and Tudor Fieldhouse and grineded out a narrow win over the visiting Blazers. On Monday the two squads switched courts, but the results were the same. Rice and UAB found themselves in a tight game in the fourth quarter and once more, Rice was able to squeeze out the win.

The game of runs started out in favor of the home team. UAB opened the game on a 7-0 run before Rice readied a counterpunch. When the Owls were ready, they delivered a 13-0 rally. The game was on.

Last Time Out: Rice Women’s Basketball tops FIU at home

Neither side led by more than seven points. The Blazers held that advantage in the first quarter before the Owls’ run. Rice didn’t reach their own seven-point advantage until Destiny Jackson knocked down a pair of free throws ith 5:49 to play in the fourth quarter. Even then, UAB would trim the margin to two before Maya Bokunewicz delivered a crucial step-back jumper to give Rice breathing room in the final minute.

Player Spotlight | Destiny Jackson

Although she hasn’t put together any 20-point games yet, Destiny Jackson has quietly become a weapon for the Rice women’s basketball offensive attack. Over the course of the last month, she’s scored in double-digits in four of six games, ramping up her shot volume over the Owls’ three-game winning streak in which she’s averaged 14.3 points and 4.7 rebounds per game. She scored 12 with six boards on Monday.

What they’re saying |

“I know I say it all the time but I am just really so proud of this team. To come on the road on a quick turnaround after two hard-fought wins at home and pick up another one just says so much about this team, their toughness, and their fight.

Our mentality of winning the day has really stuck with them and now it’s on to the next.”

— Rice women’s basketball head coach Lindsay Edmonds

Final Box | Rice 60 – UAB 55

Up Next | Full Schedule

Rice women’s basketball has checked off the first stop of a three-game road trip that started on Monday. From Birmingham, they’ll head to Ruston to take on Louisiana Tech on Thursday, Feb. 24 and then finish things off in Hattiesburg against Southern Miss on Saturday, Feb. 26.

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Lights out free-throw performance lifts Rice Women’s Basketball past FIU

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Rice Women’s Basketball was lights out down the stretch, closing out their home tilt with FIU to secure their first 2-0 weekend in league play.

The first points of the afternoon went to FIU, but Rice women’s basketball followed up a pair of their opponents’ free throws with a 14-5 run, starting strong in their effort to secure their first 2-0 weekend in conference play this season.

The Owls the Panthers to 12.5 percent shooting in the first quarter but it wouldn’t come that easy. FIU punched back in the second frame, outscoring Rice 21-11. Rice led by as many as five points in the final two minutes before FIU closed the quarter on an 8-0 run including a three-point heave at the buzzer to break a 25-25 tie.

Last Time Out: Rice Women’s Basketball edges UAB at home

The three-point shot would continue to play an important role in the game moving forward. Both teams hit from long range on two of their first three baskets of the second half as the Owls worked to whittle down a Panthers’ lead that reached six points early in the third quarter.

The game would stay within reach for both sides until the midpoint of the fourth quarter when Rice slammed the door. A 9-0 Rice run — with seven of the nine points coming from the free-throw line — put the game out of reach. The Owls did not make a field goal in the final 3:37 but were still able to maintain a comfortable margin as they closed things out.

Player Spotlight | Malia Fisher

Fisher was tremendous in the Owls’ defensive efforts down the stretch, securing 18 rebounds, the most in a game by any Conference USA player this season. She made 11-of-13 free throws, scoring 17 points. She also tied for the team lead in assists (four) and had the Owls’ only block of the game. A true freshman, Fisher’s ascent is only just beginning.

Stat Corner | Free throws = Free points

The free-throw line was where Rice women’s basketball won this game. Rice hit 31-of-36 attempts from the charity stripe, building their fourth quarter lead on foul shots and maintaining the differential with near-perfect accuracy from the line. The Owls made 20-of-22 free throws in the fourth quarter alone.

Final Box | Rice 73 – FIU 67

Up Next | Full Schedule

Rice women’s basketball will have a quick turnaround. The Owls start a three-game road trip on Monday when they travel to Birmingham to play UAB for the second time in five days. From there, they’ll finish out the trip the following weekend with games at Louisiana Tech on Thursday, Feb. 24 and Southern Miss on Saturday, Feb. 26.

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Rice Women’s Basketball holds on, edges UAB at home

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Rice Women’s Basketball was forced to battle for a full 40 minutes, but the Owls left Tudor Fieldhouse with a hard-fought win over UAB.

Following an 0-5 start to conference play, Rice women’s basketball had just started to settle into a rhythm, earning at least a split of games over two consecutive weekends before falling to North Texas twice in four days. Seeking to get back on the right foot, the Owls opened their current homestand with a hard-fought victory over the UAB Blazers.

Rice scored first and shot well from the field early, but UAB had an answer for seemingly every basket the Owls sunk. A 12-3 Rice run in the first quarter expanded their lead to as many as six, but they’d end the first quarter with only a two-point lead despite shooting 50 percent from the floor.

Last Time Out: Rice Women’s Basketball drops two-game set against UNT

UAB would push ahead early in the second quarter, but the margin never grew beyond four points in favor of either side. The Blazers spread their points around. The Owls saw contributions from a group of shooters as well, but it was the sharp shooting of Maya Bokunewicz that made the difference. Her step-back three gave Rice a 40-39 lead at halftime, proving an exclamation point for her 17-point first-half performance.

Rice was able to extend that lead in the third quarter, stretching it to eight points on a step-back jumper from Ashlee Austin which put Rice up 55-47. It was at that point the Owls seemed to have established themselves in the driver’s seat only to watch UAB storm back and tie the game back up at 65 midway through the fourth quarter.

“A lot of our games are going to come down to wire,” head coach Lindsay Edmonds said in the aftermath. “We have to be better in those moments, myself included.”

Said with the memory of fourth quarters that didn’t go the Owls’ way, Edmonds and company settled down and locked in. The game would come down to fouls and free throws in the final seconds. In need of one last surge, the Owls got it done with two free throws from Bokunewicz to ice the win.

Player Spotlight | Maya Bokunewicz

Bokunewicz redshirted last season before becoming a fixture in the Rice women’s basketball starting lineup in her second campaign on South Main. Before Thursday, her career-best game had come on the road against Middle Tennessee on January 7 when she scored a career0high 20 points and added five rebounds. She entered the starting lineup the following game and has been there ever since.

She scored 17 points in the first half against UAB, finishing with 19 points and eight rebounds. She credited the big game with more confidence in her shot, saying she’s “definitely slowed down and just kind of gotten into a rhythm with the game.”

Stat Corner | 58%

When asked about Bocunewicz’s scoring outburst, Edmonds mentioned a conversation she’d had with the redshirt freshmen in the preseason in which Bocunewicz had admitted to being reluctant to shoot three-pointers. Edmonds told the young guard to get comfortable. “I love the three,” Edmonds said recalling that conversation.

On Thursday. Bocunewicz was 3-of-5 from three and the Owls connected on 58 percent of their shots from deep. Those early three kept Rice in the game. The late triples helped them put it away.

Final Box | Rice 81 – UAB 76

Up Next | Full Schedule

Rice women’s basketball won’t have much of a reprieve before they meet UAB on the court once again. The Owls host FIU on Saturday but make the trip to Birmingham to play the Blazers on Monday, Feb. 21. They will finish that road trip the following weekend with games at Louisiana Tech on Thursday, Feb. 24 and Southern Miss on Saturday, Feb. 26.

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Rice Women’s Basketball: Owls swept in two-game set vs North Texas

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North Texas swept a two-game set with Rice women’s basketball over the weekend, leading the Owls for the better part of both contests.

Things got off to a rocky start for Rice women’s basketball on Thursday, their first of a pair of games against North Texas in a four-day span. The Owls managed one field goal and two free throws in the first frame, trailing 13-4 heading into the second quarter. That nine deficit ballooned to 14 by the halftime buzzer.

The second half saw the two teams ping-pong back and forth with long scoring streaks. Rice scored nine in a row to cut the deficit to four points. North Texas answered immediately with a nine-point run of their own to get their advantage back up to 13 points. The Owls would make it a three-point game in the fourth quarter, but North Texas was able to hang on and hit their free throws late to put it away.

Last Time Out: Rice Women’s Basketball grinds out narrow win at UTEP

The Sunday affair shared an eerily similar feeling for much of the contest. Both teams traded baskets early before a 20-0 run by the Mean Green to put the Owls in a 30-12 hole late in the second quarter. Thus began another effort of chipping away. Rice closed the half on a modest 8-5 run, entering the break trailing 33-20.

The Owls would be held to 34.8 percent from the field for the game, cracking 40 points with less than two minutes to play on the clock. With the loss, Rice women’s basketball falls to 7-11 overall and 2-8 in conference play.

Player Spotlight | Malia Fisher

As has been the case for the entirety of the Rice women’s basketball season, it’s been trial-by-fire for freshmen guard Malia Fisher and she has, for the most part, walked away better for her efforts. On Thursday she finished tied for the team lead in scoring with 14 points, but also added 10 rebounds, earning the team’s only double-double outing.

For the better part of Sunday, she was the only viable offensive threat the Owls had. She led the team with nine points in the first half and added five more in the second to reach a team-high 14 points for the second-straight game.

Up Next | Full Schedule

Rice women’s basketball has two more games at Tudor Fieldhouse before they hit the road at the end of the month. On Thursday, Feb. 17 the Owls host UAB at 7:00 p.m. On Saturday, Feb. 19 FIU will visit Tudor Fieldhouse for a 2:00 p.m. tip.

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Rice Women’s Basketball: Owls grind out narrow win at UTEP

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Locked in a close game with UTEP from wire to wire, Rice women’s basketball made the shots when it mattered to secure the road win.

It might be worth finding someone to whisper “it’s the first quarter” into the ear of every Rice women’s basketball player before they take the court. The Owls continue to be one of the fastest-starting teams in Conference USA as their trend of early scoring continued on Saturday against UTEP.

Rice jumped out to a 9-3 lead to start the contest, pushing their advantage to seven points late in the first quarter before UTEP was able to find any sort of rhythm. The Miners would narrow the deficit in the second quarter and tie the game up before a Destiny Jackson jumper at the buzzer put Rice back in front, 32-30.

Last Time Out: Rice Women’s Basketball can’t keep up with sharpshooting USM

The third and fourth quarters would be more of the same. Despite Rice outshooting UTEP 49.0 percent from the field compared to UTEP’s 39.3 percent, neither team led by more than three points in the second half until Haylee Swayze hit a three with 5:51 to play. From that point onward Rice simply had to weather the storm.

Turnovers by both teams made the finish tighter than the Owls would have hoped for, but Destiny Jackson delivered five free throws in the final 90 seconds to secure the win. After starting 0-5 in conference play, Rice women’s basketball has now won two of their last three.

Player Spotlight | Malia Fisher

Extended playing time for some of the Owls’ up-and-coming players was one of the subtle blessings of a short bench this season. Malia Fisher showcased the benefits of having her on the court quickly, notching double-doubles in three of her first six career games.

On Saturday against UTEP, it seemed as Fisher couldn’t miss. She connected on her first six shots from the field, ending the game 7-for-14 with seven rebounds, fives assist and two steals. The Owls’ streaky offense was sparked time and time again by a big play from Fisher.

Stat Corner | Five deep

Rice women’s basketball has relied heavily on their staters all season long. With little reinforcements behind them, the Owls’ starting five are going to have to carry the load. That’s exactly what they did on Saturday. Rice got two points from their bench, courtesy of India Bellamy’s lone shot attempt, splitting the remaining 70 points across their five starters. UTEP would only score 69 points with their starters and bench combined.

Four of the Owls’ five starters reached double-digits with Haylee Swayze coming up just short (eight points) but delivering the crucial three-pointer in the fourth quarter that all but put the game out of reach. It was a stellar performance from the starters. Rice will need more of that going forward.

Final Box | Rice 72 – UTEP 69

Up Next | Full Schedule

Rice women’s basketball gets a home-and-away two-game slate with North Texas next weekend. The Owls will travel to Denton on Thursday, Feb. 10 and host the Mean Green on Sunday. Feb. 13.

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