Saturday, January 19
Houston, TX
2:00 p.m. CT
Rice University
14-3, 5-0
64
vs
52
North Texas
10-7, 3-2
1
2
3
4
F
North Texas
13
13
12
14
52
Rice
19
12
15
18
64
Photo by: Juan DeLeon
Owls Stretch Winning Streak to Seven Straight
1/19/2019 5:25:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Rice defeats North Texas, 64-52
HOUSTON – The Rice Owls women's basketball squad remained unbeaten at home this season (8-0) and pushed their winning streak to seven straight with a 64-52 victory over the North Texas Mean Green Saturday afternoon at Tudor Fieldhouse.
"I'm really proud of the team getting a hard-fought win at home over a very good North Texas team," Rice head coach Tina Langley said. "We wanted to come out and execute tonight. This is a team (North Texas) that defends very well so it was important to take what the defense gave us and not overextend ourselves."
Rice (14-3) improved to 5-0 in conference play for the first time in program history behind Erica Ogwumike's eighth double-double (18 points/13 rebounds) of the season and a 15-point/6-rebounds/6-blocks performance from center Nancy Mulkey.
Ogwumike made five field goals and shot 7-of-8 at the free throw line while playing a game-high 38 minutes. Mulkey made 6-of-12 attempts from the field and recorded five or more blocks in a game for the fourth time this season in 28 minutes of action.
Senior guard Nicole Iademarco became the second Owl this season (joining Shani Rainey) and the 22nd player in program history to surpass 1,000 career points at Rice with seven points and six rebounds.
The Owls held North Texas (10-7, 3-2) to 31 percent shooting from the field, marking the fifth straight game Rice has held their opponents below 40 percent shooting. Rice dominated points in the paint (30-16) and shot a season-best 94 percent (15-of-16) from the free throw line.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Quarter 1
The Owls outscored the Mean Green 19-13 in the opening quarter, making 7-of-16 shots from the field and 3-of-3 at the free throw line. Ogwumike and Iademarco scored five points apiece and the Owls held a 12-5 advantage on the boards. Rice outscored NT 10-5 in the final four minutes of the period, which included a deep three-pointer from Lauren Grigsby to beat the shot clock at the 3:15 mark.
Quarter 2
North Texas held a 13-12 advantage in quarter two but the Owls still entered the locker room with a 31-26 halftime advantage. Mulkey scored eight points in the quarter and blocked four shots on the defensive end.
Quarter 3
Over the first five minutes of the third period the Owls extended their lead to 41-28 with a 10-2 run with four different Rice players registering points, including a Jasmine Smith three-pointer with 4:42 to go. The Owls concluded the quarter with a 46-38 advantage as North Texas stayed within striking distance behind 12 bench points in the period.
Quarter 4.
North Texas began the final quarter on a 6-0 run after Terriell Bradley hit consecutive three-pointers to pull to within 46-44. However, Rice had an answer thanks to sophomore Sydne Wiggins, who went on a personal 5-0 run to stretch the lead back to 51-44 with 8:36 remaining. Wiggins made one of the Owls five three-pointers on the night, then came up with a steal that led to a layup to take back momentum. Wiggins added another layup with 2:37 to go to increase the Rice lead to 61-48 and the Owls never let the Mean Green get within single digits from that point on.
UP NEXT
The Owls hit the road for a pair of critical C-USA showdowns, beginning Thursday, Jan. 24 at Middle Tennessee (15-4, 6-0) on ESPN+ at 6:30 p.m. CT. Rice then travel to C-USA preseason favorite UAB (17-2, 5-1) for a Saturday tilt at 1 p.m. on CUSAtv.
-RiceOwls.com-
"I'm really proud of the team getting a hard-fought win at home over a very good North Texas team," Rice head coach Tina Langley said. "We wanted to come out and execute tonight. This is a team (North Texas) that defends very well so it was important to take what the defense gave us and not overextend ourselves."
Rice (14-3) improved to 5-0 in conference play for the first time in program history behind Erica Ogwumike's eighth double-double (18 points/13 rebounds) of the season and a 15-point/6-rebounds/6-blocks performance from center Nancy Mulkey.
Ogwumike made five field goals and shot 7-of-8 at the free throw line while playing a game-high 38 minutes. Mulkey made 6-of-12 attempts from the field and recorded five or more blocks in a game for the fourth time this season in 28 minutes of action.
Senior guard Nicole Iademarco became the second Owl this season (joining Shani Rainey) and the 22nd player in program history to surpass 1,000 career points at Rice with seven points and six rebounds.
The Owls held North Texas (10-7, 3-2) to 31 percent shooting from the field, marking the fifth straight game Rice has held their opponents below 40 percent shooting. Rice dominated points in the paint (30-16) and shot a season-best 94 percent (15-of-16) from the free throw line.
Quarter 1
The Owls outscored the Mean Green 19-13 in the opening quarter, making 7-of-16 shots from the field and 3-of-3 at the free throw line. Ogwumike and Iademarco scored five points apiece and the Owls held a 12-5 advantage on the boards. Rice outscored NT 10-5 in the final four minutes of the period, which included a deep three-pointer from Lauren Grigsby to beat the shot clock at the 3:15 mark.
Quarter 2
North Texas held a 13-12 advantage in quarter two but the Owls still entered the locker room with a 31-26 halftime advantage. Mulkey scored eight points in the quarter and blocked four shots on the defensive end.
Quarter 3
Over the first five minutes of the third period the Owls extended their lead to 41-28 with a 10-2 run with four different Rice players registering points, including a Jasmine Smith three-pointer with 4:42 to go. The Owls concluded the quarter with a 46-38 advantage as North Texas stayed within striking distance behind 12 bench points in the period.
Quarter 4.
North Texas began the final quarter on a 6-0 run after Terriell Bradley hit consecutive three-pointers to pull to within 46-44. However, Rice had an answer thanks to sophomore Sydne Wiggins, who went on a personal 5-0 run to stretch the lead back to 51-44 with 8:36 remaining. Wiggins made one of the Owls five three-pointers on the night, then came up with a steal that led to a layup to take back momentum. Wiggins added another layup with 2:37 to go to increase the Rice lead to 61-48 and the Owls never let the Mean Green get within single digits from that point on.
The Owls hit the road for a pair of critical C-USA showdowns, beginning Thursday, Jan. 24 at Middle Tennessee (15-4, 6-0) on ESPN+ at 6:30 p.m. CT. Rice then travel to C-USA preseason favorite UAB (17-2, 5-1) for a Saturday tilt at 1 p.m. on CUSAtv.
-RiceOwls.com-
Team Stats
UNT
RICE
FG%
.316
.407
3FG%
.313
.294
FT%
.786
.938
RB
31
42
TO
14
17
STL
6
8
Game Leaders
Pts
18
FGM
5
3FGM
1
FTM
7
Pts
15
FGM
6
3FGM
0
FTM
3
Pts
8
FGM
3
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Pts
7
FGM
3
3FGM
1
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
G
/ Women's Basketball
G/F
/ Women's BasketballC
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's Basketball
G/F
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's BasketballWBB: Rice vs. Marshall Postgame Presser
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