Wednesday, November 7
College Station, TX
6:00 p.m. CT
Rice University
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65
#20 Texas A&M
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Rice
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Texas A&M
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Owls Fall in Season Opener at No. 20 Texas A&M
11/7/2018 9:18:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Rice back in action Sunday at UCLA
COLLEGE STATION, Texas – Despite a late comeback attempt in the second half, the Rice Owls women's basketball team dropped their season opener Wednesday evening at No. 20 Texas A&M, 65-54 at Reed Arena.
The Owls (0-1) were led in scoring by junior guard Erica Ogwumike (12 points) and senior guard Nicole Iademarco (11 points). Senior guard Shani Rainey led the bench unit with nine points while senior forward Olivia Ogwumike and sophomore guard Sydne Wiggins added an additional seven points.
Rice's bench outscored the Aggies (1-0), 18-2, and managed to outrebound Texas A&M by a 31-30 margin but were outshot 46 percent to 39 percent and had a 26-7 disadvantage in points off turnovers.
Texas A&M's Chennedy Carter led all players with 22 points, while Aaliyah Wilson (18 points) and Kayla Wells (16 points) also scored in double-figures.
RICE HEAD COACH TINA LANGLEY
Postgame Reaction
"I thought Texas A&M played a tremendous game, especially on the defensive end of the floor. I just really want to credit them. I like how we fought, but execution wise we've got to get better. Our two focuses coming into the game were rebounding and live ball turnovers. I thought we did a really good job on the boards considering our size difference, but we needed to do a little bit better with the turnovers."
HOW IT HAPPENED
Quarter 1
Rice fell behind 13-1 in the game's first four minutes but managed to regroup and trim the deficit to 18-12 at the end of the quarter. The Owls outscored A&M 11-5 to end the quarter with five of those points coming off the bench.
Quarter 2
Neither team was able to find the range in the second period as the two teams combined for just 16 points. Rice shot just 33 percent in the quarter but held their own on the defensive end by limiting the Aggies to 39 percent shooting and five turnovers. The Owls entered the locker room trailing 28-18.
Quarter 3
The Aggies began the period on a 7-2 run to open up a 35-20 advantage, but midway through the quarter the Owls answered back with a 19-7 spurt of their own to trim the deficit down 42-39 with 2:26 left in the quarter. During the run, the Owls connected on four three-pointers, including a four-point play from Sydne Wiggins at the 3:19 mark.
Quarter 4
Rice entered the final period trailing 48-39 and managed to get as close as 52-44 with 5:31 to go but the Aggies outscored the Owls 13-10 the rest of the way. Ogwumike scored 10 points in the quarter, making 5-of-6 attempts at the free throw line.
GAME NOTES
• Rice fell to 31-10 all-time in season openers and 10-31 against the Aggies.
• Rainey saw her first game action since suffering an injury in the WBI Championship game on March 26, 2017, scoring nine points on 3-of-7 shooting from both the field and free throw line. Rainey is now just 46 points shy of 1,000 for her career.
• With a made three-pointer, Iademarco now has 145 made three-pointers for her career, two away from tying Jessica Garcia (1993-97) for third place on the Rice all-time made three-pointers list.
• Redshirt freshman Temi Alao and freshmen Jasmine Smith and Haylee Swayze made their collegiate debuts.
UP NEXT
The Owls continue their three-game road trip this weekend when they travel to Los Angeles, Calif. to face No. 23 UCLA on Sunday, Nov. 11 at For more information, be sure to visit www.RiceOwls.com and follow @RiceWBB on Twitter for more information.
The Owls (0-1) were led in scoring by junior guard Erica Ogwumike (12 points) and senior guard Nicole Iademarco (11 points). Senior guard Shani Rainey led the bench unit with nine points while senior forward Olivia Ogwumike and sophomore guard Sydne Wiggins added an additional seven points.
Rice's bench outscored the Aggies (1-0), 18-2, and managed to outrebound Texas A&M by a 31-30 margin but were outshot 46 percent to 39 percent and had a 26-7 disadvantage in points off turnovers.
Texas A&M's Chennedy Carter led all players with 22 points, while Aaliyah Wilson (18 points) and Kayla Wells (16 points) also scored in double-figures.
Postgame Reaction
"I thought Texas A&M played a tremendous game, especially on the defensive end of the floor. I just really want to credit them. I like how we fought, but execution wise we've got to get better. Our two focuses coming into the game were rebounding and live ball turnovers. I thought we did a really good job on the boards considering our size difference, but we needed to do a little bit better with the turnovers."
Quarter 1
Rice fell behind 13-1 in the game's first four minutes but managed to regroup and trim the deficit to 18-12 at the end of the quarter. The Owls outscored A&M 11-5 to end the quarter with five of those points coming off the bench.
Quarter 2
Neither team was able to find the range in the second period as the two teams combined for just 16 points. Rice shot just 33 percent in the quarter but held their own on the defensive end by limiting the Aggies to 39 percent shooting and five turnovers. The Owls entered the locker room trailing 28-18.
Quarter 3
The Aggies began the period on a 7-2 run to open up a 35-20 advantage, but midway through the quarter the Owls answered back with a 19-7 spurt of their own to trim the deficit down 42-39 with 2:26 left in the quarter. During the run, the Owls connected on four three-pointers, including a four-point play from Sydne Wiggins at the 3:19 mark.
Quarter 4
Rice entered the final period trailing 48-39 and managed to get as close as 52-44 with 5:31 to go but the Aggies outscored the Owls 13-10 the rest of the way. Ogwumike scored 10 points in the quarter, making 5-of-6 attempts at the free throw line.
• Rice fell to 31-10 all-time in season openers and 10-31 against the Aggies.
• Rainey saw her first game action since suffering an injury in the WBI Championship game on March 26, 2017, scoring nine points on 3-of-7 shooting from both the field and free throw line. Rainey is now just 46 points shy of 1,000 for her career.
• With a made three-pointer, Iademarco now has 145 made three-pointers for her career, two away from tying Jessica Garcia (1993-97) for third place on the Rice all-time made three-pointers list.
• Redshirt freshman Temi Alao and freshmen Jasmine Smith and Haylee Swayze made their collegiate debuts.
The Owls continue their three-game road trip this weekend when they travel to Los Angeles, Calif. to face No. 23 UCLA on Sunday, Nov. 11 at For more information, be sure to visit www.RiceOwls.com and follow @RiceWBB on Twitter for more information.
-RiceOwls.com-
Team Stats
RICE
TAMU
FG%
.386
.462
3FG%
.357
.375
FT%
.682
.824
RB
31
30
TO
18
10
STL
3
7
Game Leaders
Pts
12
FGM
3
3FGM
1
FTM
5
Pts
11
FGM
4
3FGM
1
FTM
2
Pts
9
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
3
Pts
7
FGM
2
3FGM
2
FTM
1
Players Mentioned
G/F
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's Basketball
F
/ Women's BasketballG/F
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's BasketballG
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