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WNBA Draft: Erica Ogwumike chosen by Liberty, traded to Lynx

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Former Rice women’s basketball star Erica Ogwumike has been selected by the New York Liberty in the 2020 WNBA Draft and traded to the Minnesota Lynx.

When her Rice women’s basketball career came to a close, Erica Ogwumike had already paved the way for her future off the court. The Owls’ all-time leader in scoring average had spent most of the preseason flying back and forth across the country as she interviewed with medical schools. Ogwumike has since been accepted to nine medical schools, but her immediate future was somewhat in flux.

That was true until Friday night, when Ogwumike was selected by the New York with the second pick of the third round of the WNBA Draft. She was soon traded to the Minnesota Lynx.

Erica joins her sisters, Nneka and Chiney in the professional ranks. She is the third of four sisters to earn a WNBA Draft selection. Both Nneka and Chiney were chosen first overall, Nneka by the Los Angeles Sparks in 2012 and Chiney by the Connecticut Sun in 2014. Ogwumike had to wait her turn to come off the board, but still joined an exclusive group of WNBA draftees.

More on The Roost Podcast: Erica Ogwumike talks COVID-19 and her Rice career

As evidenced by her medical school opportunities, the youngest sister took a different path to begin her professional career. Erica was not a highly-touted recruited. Nor did she make any NCAA Tournament Final Four appearances like her sisters. She took a less conventional route, going from Pepperdine to Rice, where she caught fire as her career progressed.

Ogwumike finished her collegiate career as the back-to-back Conference USA Player of the Year. She led her team to back-to-back regular season conference championships and an NCAA Tournament appearance in 2019. A truncated 2020 season prevented what could have been another postseason run.

Those memories will take a back seat for now as Ogwumike embarks on a new adventure. For now, med school is on hold. Ogwumike is headed to the WNBA.

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The Roost Podcast | Ep. 25 – Erica Ogwumike reflects on Rice basketball career

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Now Former Rice basketball guard Erica Ogwumike joins the show to talk basketball, her career and the suddenness of the global sports shutdown.

Mid-march was meant to mark the end of the Conference USA Tournament. Erica Ogwumike and Rice basketball had aims on defending their conference tournament crown and making a repeat trip to the NCAA Tournament.

Instead, there is no basketball or sports of any kind to watch. The coronavirus put life as we know it permanently on hold. That left Ogwumike free to come on The Roost Podcast and talk through the impact of the shutdown on her, the Owls and her time at Rice.

You can always find previous episodes on the podcast page. For now, Give a listen to Episode 25.

Episode 25 Notes

  • Housekeeping — We want your input! This wasn’t mentioned on the podcast, but Rice football spring practice was officially canceled this week. That was the last of the potential sports-related events for the spring leaving the podcast and the site with an open slate for the next few weeks (or months). Do you have something you’d like to hear about or read? Leave it in the comments or shoot us a note on social media.
  • Erica Ogwumike — Ogwumike was on the court when the power’s that be canceled the C-USA Tournament and effectively ended her Rice basketball career. We sat down with and discussed:
    • Being a college basketball player during the coronavirus cancelations
    • The decision to leave Pepperdine and transfer to Rice
    • Her favorite non-basketball moment as Rice
    • Whether or not she would consider returning if the NCAA grants her an additional year of eligibility. Spoiler alert: the answer isn’t no.

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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2020 Conference USA Basketball Tournament: Men’s and Women’s Previews

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Both Rice basketball teams qualified for the Conference USA Basketball Tournament in Frisco, Tx. Here’s a preview of the action.

Men’s Tournament 

The Favorite: North Texas

Perhaps the biggest surprise story in college basketball this season, North Texas came out of nowhere to pace Conference USA. The Mean Green are the No. 1 seed with a 14-4 record and at least one head-to-head win over every team in the conference. North Texas is extremely balanced on offense with the No. 1 scoring defense.

The Contender: Louisiana Tech

As good as North Texas has been, they’re far from a shoe in. Louisiana Tech is one of the hottest teams in C-USA. They beat North Texas in bonus play and won five of their last six games, finishing one win shy of the Mean Green for the No. 1 overall seed. Ken Pomery tabs Tech as the favorite to win the title.

The Sleeper: Marshall

It’s hard to see any of the lower seeds stringing together four consecutive wins, but of the middle-tier seeds, Marshall is an intriguing pick. The Thundering Herd are the fourth best scoring offense in C-USA and they rebound well. If they can limit the turnovers, they’re talented to play with anyone in the conference.

The case for Rice

Rice basketball goes as their shooting goes. When Rice shoots 50 percent from the field, they win. The Owls are 10-10 when they make at least half of their shots, and that includes wins over 1-Seed North Texas and first round opponent FIU. If Rice gets hot, they’ll be dangerous. Inconsistency has been their Achilles heel.

Women’s Tournament

The Favorite: Rice

Rice women’s basketball had a 30-game conference winning streak snapped during the season by Old Dominion. The Owls later got revenge, topping the Monarchs in the regular season finale to clinch the outright regular season title. A battle tested team peaking at the right time, it’s hard to bet against Rice.

The Contender: Old Dominion

Old Dominion is on a very short list of programs who were able to prove they belong with the streaking Owls. While Rice relies on two primary pieces, Old Dominion is incredibly balanced. They play tenacious defense and can score from all over the court. If Rice doesn’t win, Old Dominion would be the obvious next team up.

The Sleeper: Charlotte

Charlotte holds the lone distinction of the only team in C-USA to beat both Rice and North Texas. Led by Jade Phillips, the 49ers got off to a slow start before catching fire midseason. She has the talent to take over a tournament. If any team is going to take down both Old Dominion and Rice, Charlotte could be the team to do it.

The case for Rice

The chalk pick to cut down the nets in the preseason. Through a full season, it’s hard to doubt Rice women’s basketball. They’ve had their ups and downs, but their defense and the inspired play of Erica Ogwumike will give them a shot against any opponent, C-USA or otherwise.

Schedule – Men / Women

First Round

Rice Men: Wednesday, March 11 at 6:30 p.m. vs Marshall – ESPN+
Rice Women: Bye

Second Round

Rice Men: TBD
Rice Women: Thursday, March 12 at 11 a.m. vs Marshall/Southern Miss – Watch Stadium

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Rice Women’s Basketball beats ODU to clinch C-USA Regular Season Title

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Rice women’s basketball clinched the 2020 Conference USA Regular Season Title with a thrilling win over Old Dominion at Tudor Fieldhouse.

In a game that had all the makings of an instant classic, Rice women’s basketball emerged with a conference title-clinching victory. Neither team ever held a lead greater than eight points in a contest with 18 lead changes that came down to the final seconds.

Both teams came out firing. Rice shot 53.6 percent from the field in the first half, but only found themselves up by four points at the break. That was due, in large part, to an incredible game from Old Dominion’s Victoria Morris. The junior finished with a season-high 29 points, 12 of which came before halftime.

The big game by Morris was countered by one of the Owls’ most complete team showings of the season. Senior guard Erica Ogwumike battled foul trouble but still finished with an impactful 20 points and five rebounds in her final game at Tudor Fieldhouse. She was one of five Owls that finished in double figure points.

Rice got key contributions from their bench, something they lacked in their loss to Old Dominion earlier in the season. That included a season-high 11 points from Katelyn Crosthwait off the bench and important minutes from Destiny Jackson as well.

Once their 30-game conference winning streak was over, Rice seemed vulnerable in C-USA for the first time in two years. Beating Old Dominion gave Rice a win over every C-USA team this season. In a sense, it restored some of the Owls’ swagger.

Rice had already secured at least a share of the title with their win over UTEP on Thursday. Saturday’s triumph put the Owls’ alone atop C-USA. More importantly, it locked up the No. 1 overall seed for Rice in the Conference USA Basketball Tournament, set to begin on Wednesday, March 11.

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Rice Women’s Basketball clinches share of 2020 regular season C-USA title

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It was another banner night for Rice Women’s Basketball, which defended their spot atop Conference USA, clinching a share of the regular season title.

Rice Women’s Basketball clinched a share of the Conference USA Women’s Basketball regular season title with a Thursday night win over UTEP. The Miners kept things close early before Rice used their seemingly inevitable third quarter surge to put things out of reach and lock down the win at home.

The victory clinched a fourth consecutive season of at least 20 wins for Rice women’s basketball. That’s a testament to the incredible work done by head coach Tina Langley, who earlier this season became the fastest coach in program history to reach 100 wins.

Langley and the Owls aren’t done yet, though. The win over UTEP came in parallel with an Old Dominion loss to UAB in overtime. For the moment, Rice (15-2) holds sole possession of first place in Conference USA and the right to the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament. That sets the stage for a winner-take-all contest this weekend between the Owls and the Monarchs.

Old Dominion (14-3) would leapfrog Rice with a win at Tudor Fieldhouse on Saturday by nature of the head-to-head tiebreaker. Even with a loss, Rice could fall no further than the No. 2 seed. Since the top four teams in C-USA get byes in the first round and the middle-tier of the conference is fairly robust, the difference between the No. 1 seed and the No. 2 seed might not matter much this year. Still, the optics of being No. 1 carry some relevance.

This season has been flush with highs (Erica Ogwumike’s 2000-point, 1000-rebound plateau, 30th consecutive C-USA win) and lows (Injuries to Ogwumike and Nancy Mulkey, back-to-back C-USA losses, bad start to nonconference play). In the midst of all of the noise, Rice women’s basketball has proved to be resilient. Now it’s time to win when it counts — in March.

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