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Rice Women’s Basketball falls to UAB in OT

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Rice Women’s Basketball went blow for blow with the UAB Blazers through four quarters before the shooting slumped for good in overtime.

Malia Fisher was the best show in town on Wednesday night as Rice Women’s Basketball slugged out a low-scoring affair in Birmingham against the UAB Blazers. Fisher’s season high 24-point fell just short of half the Owls’ game total and kept the team in the fight when everything else wasn’t going according to plan.

The teams combined for just 19 points in the first quarter, collectively before UAB took a 24-17 lead into halftime. A smatter of threes and free throws in the third quarter seemed to spark the visiting Owls who rallied from a seven point deficit to a three-point advantage, eventually entering the fourth with a two-point advantage.

More: Rice Women’s Basketball 2024-2025 Midseason State of the Program

Neither side did much in the last frame of regulation with UAB outscoring Rice 11-9 to set the stage for a winner-take-all overtime session. Victoria Flores got things started with a bucket, but a 9-0 run from the Blazers put the Owls too far behind to mount a comeback.

Final Box | UAB 63, Rice 56

Key takeaway | Shooting struggles persist

The number of subpar shooting performances has started to snow pile. Rice women’s basketball had 45 minutes of hoops on Wednesday night but only managed to come away with 56 points. More often than not a total that low isn’t going to cut it and that was the case this time around.

Through seven AAC games, Rice ranks 11th in the conference in field goal percentage and 12th in scoring. The Owls’ inability to create on that side of the ball has been a weight dragging them down all season and costing them winnable games.

That they’ve managed to tread water around the .500 mark is a testament to a tremendous defensive effort — Rice ranks third in opponent field goal percentage and scoring per game — but it’s not translated to nearly as many wins as this team expected.

Winning with defense is possible and it’s something this program has done tremendously well in the not-so-distant past, but it’s going to take something more consistent on offense. For whatever the reason, this season’s team hasn’t cracked the code on that vital component just yet.

Up Next: at Charlotte (Sat, 1/25)

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Rice Women’s Basketball falters late to South Florida

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Rice Women’s Basketball lost a fourth quarter lead and the game, falling at home to preseason AAC favorite South Florida.

Rice women’s basketball came out of the gates slowly, falling behind 15-7 in the early moments of the first quarter before catching fire behind the sharp shooting of Victoria Flores — who led the team with 22 points on the day — put an exclamatory three-pointer on an 11-0 run. That shot put Rice in front by five near the end of the frame.

The game would stay close for some time after that, but Rice was able to maintain a three-point lead after one and a one-point lead at halftime. That advantage grew to as many as eight points in the third quarter, putting the Owls in a great position to notch a big conference win at Tudor Fieldhouse, but that would not come to pass.

More: Rice Women’s Basketball 2024-2025 Season Preview

South Florida caught fire late, shooting 53.8 percent from the field in the fourth quarter as the Rice offense went silent. The Bulls went to the line 12 times and were able to keep the Owls off balance as their lead turned into a deficit in a matter of minutes. Rice would score just eight points in the final quarter, falling by 10 points in a that was highly contested for nearly 35 minutes.

Final Box | South Florida 74, Rice 64

Key takeaway | Fourth quarter foibles

A disturbing pattern has emerged in many of Rice Women’s Basketball’s defeats this season. Outside of a drubbing at the hands of a Top 25 Georgia Tech squad, the Owls have more or less been no worse than evenly matched against the remainder of their opponents. In many of those matchups, like in this one, they even led late in the game. The commonality? An inability to finish.

Rice led South Florida by six to start the fourth quarter on Sunday afternoon. Playing even basketball down the stretch would have kept Rice in the game, at a minimum, instead, the Owls watched as the Bulls rattled off 13 straight points to open the frame, seizing a seven point lead. Before they could steady themselves, another 9-2 run essentially put the game out of reach.

The Owls made two field goals in the fourth quarter after shooting nearly 50 percent from the floor for most of the afternoon. A one-off poor quarter is understandable, but it’s hard not to notice a trend of winnable games this team has let get out of hand in the fourth quarter.

Entering the fourth quarter, Rice led South Dakota State by 13 points and lost. Rice trailed by two against Louisiana entering the fourth before losing by 10. They led Gonzaga entering the fourth and lost.

This team has the talent and the experience. Building that many fourth quarter leads isn’t possible without it. But finishing is a learned skill, and one the Owls had best figure out if they want to avoid more painful experiences like this one.

Up Next: at Tulane (Wed, 1/1)

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Rice Women’s Basketball drops opener to South Dakota State

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Rice Women’s Basketball built an early lead but couldn’t close things out, falling to South Dakota State in their home opener.

The depth of the 2024-2025 Rice women’s basketball roster has been a talking point for months. Even without graduated point guard Destiny Jackson, who was in attendance Monday to participate in the pre-game ring ceremony and AAC Championship banner unveiling, and Malia Fisher, who was held out for health reasons, the Owls seemed unflappable in the early goings.

Dominique Ennis paced the team in scoring, delivering a pair of early three-pointers as Rice fought for an early lead. The first test would come when Sussy Ngulefac picked up an early foul, leaving the game a few minutes later and kicking off that ballyhooed deep rotation.

With Ngulefac on the bench, Victoria Flores and Aniah Alexis made their Rice debuts. Shelby Hayes came through with six first half boards, leading all players. When Ngulefac returned the Owls’ lead had grown to seven.

More: Rice Women’s Basketball 2024-2025 Season Preview

Ngulefac made her presence felt in earnest at the start of the third quarter, scoring five of the Owls’ first seven points to give Rice its first double-digit lead. A dominant edge on the boards at that point put the home team in position for a resume-boosting win, but when the fourth quarter arrived, so too did a boisterous South Dakota State comeback.

After being held to no more than 15 points in each of the first three frames the Jackrabbits exploded for 26 points in the fourth, erasing a 13-point Rice advantage. South Dakota State took its first lead since the opening quarter with less than two to go in regulation. A hurried last-second shot was off the mark as the Owls saw their first game slip away.

“We didn’t hit shots early on in the fourth quarter and it snowballed into our defensive intensity,” head coach Lindsay Edmonds said. “When we’re hitting shots, we defend really, really, really well. And when we’re not hitting shots, we’re thinking about the shots that we didn’t hit.”

Those shots they didn’t hit cost the Owls a big non-conference win. Shorthanded or not, this a problem Rice women’s basketball has to figure out if they’re going to have the sort of season they’re expecting on South Main.

Final Box | South Dakota State 65 – Rice 63

What They’re Saying

Key takeaway | One-two punch

As successful as last season was for Rice Women’s Basketball, it was far from a smooth ride. The Owls had to make their run through the AAC Tournament as a double-digit seed, partly because they were seemingly hardly ever at full strength. Ngulefac missed the early portions of the season with injuries, coming into her own down the stretch when the team needed her most.

Ngulefac’s emergence was essential because it coincided with Hayes’ injury, which ended her season prematurely. Ngulefac played 19 of the Owls’ 34 games. Hayes played 18. Getting both on the court in the same game was a rarity. Those in attendance at Tudor Fieldhouse on Monday night saw how impactful that tandem can be when operating at their respective peaks.

“I feel like Sussy and Shelby showed up in a big way tonight and won that battle,” Edmonds said. “One came in and did their job and the next one came in and did their job. They did a really good job together being a one-two punch. That was good to see.”

Hayes and Ngulefac each reached double figures, combining for 23 points and 12 rebounds.



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2024-2025 Rice Women’s Basketball Season Preview

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Expectations are high for the 2024-2025 Rice women’s basketball season following an NCAA Tournament appearance under now fourth-year head coach Lindsay Edmonds.

Rice women’s basketball has hit its stride under Lindsay Edmonds, raising the bar in each successive season with her at the helm of the program, culminating in an NCAA Tournament appearance last season. That taste has everyone on the roster — which returns the vast majority of its key players, sans one — eager for an encore this coming season.

“This is the most veteran, the most mature team that we’ve had since I’ve been here,” Edmonds said. With that experience comes a different level of urgency and an even greater sense of purpose. “We’re going faster and the expectations are just higher,” Edmonds declared.

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