The source for Rice sports news

Rice Women’s Basketball: Tina Langley’s program continues to climb

By

Rice women’s basketball has soared to new heights under head coach Tina Langley. With her at the helm, the future remains bright for the Owls’ program

Tina Langley brought a championship-caliber resume with her when she was hired to be the next head coach for Rice Women’s Basketball. She had a Final Four appearance as an assistant at Maryland under her belt and a vision of what she wanted Rice to become. Five years later, the Owls are right on course.

The Owls’ haven’t made it to the Final Four yet, but each successive season has brought with it validation that Langley knows the way. After one year to get her feet under her, Rice won the WBI Championship in her second season. That was the first postseason title in program history. Rice made the WNIT in Year 3 and the NCAA Tournament in Year 4. The Owls’ were on track to repeat with another ticket to the Big Dance when the season was canceled.

Even without a clear resolution, the results of Langley’s teams speak for themselves. In the past two seasons, Rice is 49-12, a .803 winning percentage). They’ve won 32 of 34 conference games, including a Conference USA record 30 consecutive conference victories.

The Roost Podcast: Listen now to our Extended Offseason Interview Series

Getting to this point wouldn’t have been possible without establishing a strong culture. “One of the neat things about this team is how selfless they all are,” Langley said, “I think that’s what will continue to push us forward.”

Those players responded well when lineups shifted from night to night with injuries. All five Rice freshman played meaningful minutes. They responded well to their first conference loss in more than a year, rallying to win the conference title on their home court. From top to bottom, everyone seemed to understand the expectations and they knew how to carry them out.

“That’s what sets the standard for a great program. We have to be ready to answer the call,” Langely said, in a simple, yet knowing way. Success isn’t so easy. But Langley has found a way to unify her program in such a way that the wins seem to fall into place.

Langely signed a new five-year extension following the 2019-2020 season, keeping her at South Main through 2024. At this point, Langley has done enough to stay at Rice for as long as she would like.

Coming soon...
For a limited time only, we will be giving away a copy of the 2020 Rice Football season preview FOR FREE to all Patreon subscribers who join our Starting Lineup tier or higher. The Preview will be released to the general public on July 7.  Patrons get access on July 1.
Become a Patron!
Subscribe on Patreon for exclusive Rice football recruiting updates, practice notes and more.

Recent Posts

Rice Women’s Basketball: Owls are still built to win now

By

Rice Women’s basketball is coming off a string of successful seasons, but the Owls have no intention of slowing down now. The future remains bright on South Main.

Winners of back-to-back Conference USA titles, Rice Women’s Basketball has no plans to slow down any time soon. Head coach Tina Langley has turned Rice into a power within its conference with eyes on bigger and better things. Even without star guard Erica Ogwumike, head coach Tina Langley can list endless reasons she believes in the returning roster.

From the top, there’s Nancy Mulkey, described by Langley herself as “one of the best centers in the country.” Jasmine Smith has been a starter since she arrived on campus. Langely called Synde Wiggins a “lethal shooter”, deservedly so after the junior finished Top-5 in Conference USA with her .358 three-point percentage. And then there’s a host of talented depth pieces and the surging freshman class.

On paper, this is going to be a very good basketball team. In practice, Langley has proven she can press the right buttons when the games matter most. Rice Women’s basketball has lost one game in the month of March in the past two seasons. That came in heartbreaking fashion in the NCAA Tournament. When that’s the only blemish on your March resume, things are trending in the right direction.

The Roost Podcast: Listen now to our Extended Offseason Interview Series

Beyond the hedges, the Owls’ chief competitor has challenges of their own. Old Dominion knocked off the Owls in Virginia last season, snapping their 30-game conference winning streak. Following the season the Monarchs lost head coach Nikki McCray to Mississippi State. They’ll be breaking in new head coach next season. Western Kentucky, who tied for second with Old Dominion last season, will replace several upperclassmen starters.

Nothing will be handed to Rice next season. If the past two years are any indication, there could be some growing pains as the Owls work out the kinks before conference play begins. But when it comes to matching the coaching and the talent Rice possesses, it’s hard to make a case the Owls won’t be in the mix for another conference title next spring.

Coming soon...
For a limited time only, we will be giving away a copy of the 2020 Rice Football season preview FOR FREE to all Patreon subscribers who join our Starting Lineup tier or higher. The Preview will be released to the general public on July 7.  Patrons get access on July 1.
Become a Patron!
Subscribe on Patreon for exclusive Rice football recruiting updates, practice notes and more.

Recent Posts

Rice Women’s Basketball: ’19-’20 season a reminder there are no sure things

By

Rice women’s basketball head coach Tina Langley has come to terms with the team’s truncated season. For here, there’s more to success than wins alone.

Fans were disappointed when the final buzzer sounded in Reed Arena and Rice women’s basketball was eliminated from the 2019 NCAA Tournament. Erica Ogwumike, Nancy Mulkey and a core group of young players had fallen just short of upsetting Marquette in College Station.

The Owls had come close to keeping their tremendous season alive, but all was not lost. Rice would return almost the entire unit next year. Surely, Rice would get another chance at an NCAA Tournament win. It just wouldn’t come as soon as many had hoped.

Months later, Ogwumike and Co. walked onto the court in Frisco, TX to play their first game of the Conference USA Tournament. The Owls were favorites to win the game and the tournament. That would secure another trip to the Big Dance. But minutes before tip the game was called off and the tournament was canceled. With 48 hours the NCAA Tournament had been canceled too and any that second chance at an NCAA win with this group went up in smoke.

In the weeks and months that followed the NCAA would opt not to grant additional eligibility to basketball students who’s seasoned’ were shortened. Ogwumike would hear her name called in the WNBA draft. Life would move on.

In the aftermath, Rice women’s basketball head coach Tina Langley found comfort in another kind of success, one that she said carries just as much weight as championships.

The Roost Podcast: Listen now to our Extended Offseason Interview Series

“We’ve never been a program that really evaluated ourselves based on winning and losing or whether we won a championship or not. It’s just did we become the best team that we could possibly become?” she asked before going on to answer her own question. “I’m just really proud of who we became.”

And perhaps that is the best way to evaluate a season without a true ending. Rice started slow, and saw a 30-game conference winning streak snapped midseason. They rebounded, winning their final five games. Although they didn’t know it at the time, the season would end with a home win over Old Dominion. That victory — weeks after the Monarchs had snapped the Owls streal — solidified the Owls as back-to-back outright champions. Like every coach hopes, they were playing their best basketball at the end of the season.

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

Recent Posts

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

By

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.

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

Recent Posts

Rice Women’s Basketball: Owls top LA Tech with Ogwumike sidelined

By

Rice Women’s Basketball was without their star guard but still managed to blow past Louisiana Tech. The Owls are a perfect 5-0 in Conference USA play.

Rice women’s basketball had won in a variety of ways on their way to a C-USA leading 24-game winning streak. They’d blown out countless teams and played close contests with others. But they’d never won without their best player on the court — they hadn’t had to.

The white and blue-clad Owls showed no timidity when they took the court without Erica Ogwumike on Thursday night against Louisiana Tech. The senior guard had suffered an injury against FIU that kept her sidelined against Louisiana Tech. She did not dress for the game and has no official timetable on her return. However, the expectation remains she’ll be back sooner rather than later.

If that wasn’t enough, the team was hit with sickness during the week. Rice dressed a half dozen players for their first practice of the week and had to send coaches and players home to rest. “We were barely able to practice,” head coach Tina Langely said postgame, not as an excuse, but as a credit to the performance her shorthanded squad had put together against a conference foe.

With Ogwumike out, there were some jitters. Rice had a few shot clock violations and lost possessions early on, clearly impacted by the loss of their primary ballhandler. What never wavered was their defense. Rice has now held 15 of their last 24 (and three of their last five) C-USA opponents to 50 points or fewer. Louisiana Tech shot a season-low 26 percent from the field.

“I love the pride that they take on the defensive end of the floor. I think it speaks to the character of our team.” Langely said. “Defense is about your heart and your effort and you don’t usually get a lot of credit from the defensive end of the floor as individuals. And you see our team really comes together and gives all that they have to defend well.”

That defense turned into just enough offense. Rice scored 13 points on fast breaks, relying on Jasmine Smith and Destiny Jackson to push the team down the court. Once the team stretched the lead to double digits at halftime, Louisiana Tech never got closer than eight for the remainder of the game.

Final Stats

Player of the game – Sydne Wiggins

On a night in which only two Owls reached double-digit points, it was the defensive performers who stood out. Nancy Mulkey registered her 200th career block and a career-best 15 rebounds, but it was the furious play of Sydne Wiggins that stood out the most. She was relentless on that side of the court, registering one steal, two blocks and plenty of headaches for the Owls’ opponent. Langley praised her focus, “She plays with such poise,” Langely said, “[She] has a great IQ. She brings so much to the court for us.” With Ogwumike on the bench, Wiggins was a much-needed energizer.

Up Next

Saturday they host Southern Miss with tip-off scheduled for 2:00 p.m. Then the team gets a few days off before a Thursday/Friday road trip to play UTEP and UTSA.

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

Recent Posts