Thursday, January 3
Hattiesburg, MS
6:00 p.m. CT
Rice University
10-3, 1-0
58
at
47
Southern Miss
8-6, 0-1
1
2
3
4
F
Rice
12
9
18
19
58
Southern Miss
6
20
5
16
47
Strong Second Half Propels Owls to Victory in C-USA Opener
1/3/2019 8:54:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Rice defeats Southern Miss 58-47 in league opener
HATTIESBURG, MS – The Rice Owls women's basketball team outscored Southern Miss 37-21 in the second half to propel themselves to a 58-47 C-USA road victory in the league opener Thursday evening at Reed Green Coliseum.
Rice (10-3, 1-0) improved to 10-1 in their last 11 contests behind a game-high 18 points from redshirt sophomore center Nancy Mulkey and 15 points from freshman guard Jasmine Smith.
The Owls set a season-high with 19 assists, six of which came from junior guard Erica Ogwumike to go along with eight points and nine rebounds. Senior guard Nicole Iademarco also chipped in nine points and had a game-high two blocks.
"I thought we grew a lot as a team tonight in a hard-fought road win," Rice head coach Tina Langley said. "I like how we shared the ball and executed well in critical moments."
The Owls held an opponent below 60 points for the seventh time this season, limiting Southern Miss (8-6, 0-1) to 33 percent shooting for the game, including a 5-of-26 (19 percent) performance from beyond the arc. Rice held the Lady Eagles to six points in the opening quarter and five points in the third quarter.
The Owls outscored Southern Miss in points in the paint (24-12) and committed just 13 turnovers, their second-lowest output of the season.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Quarter 1
Rice won the opening 10 minutes over the Lady Eagles, 12-6, and never trailed in the quarter after Ogwumike converted a three-point play on the first possession of the game. The Owls limited Southern Miss to just 3-of-10 shooting and held the Lady Eagles scoreless over the final 6:16 of the period.
Quarter 2
Southern Miss flipped the script on the Owls by outscoring Rice 20-9 in the second period. The Lady Eagles took their first lead of the night, 19-17, after a pair of three-pointers from Allie Kennedy. Mulkey helped stem the tide with a pair of jumpers in the paint to tie the score 21-21 before Southern Miss closed with the final five points of the quarter to take a 26-21 halftime lead.
Quarter 3
As has been the case most of the season, the Owls came out of the locker room on a mission in the third quarter and took control of the game by scoring the first 11 points of the period. Mulkey scored six of the first eight points sandwiched around an Ogwumike layup, and Iademarco pushed the Rice lead to 32-26 (5:59) with a three-pointer from the left wing. After Southern Miss split a pair at the free throw line, the Owls went on a 7-0 run with five points coming from Smith to extend the lead to as much as 39-27. Rice held the Lady Eagles to 1-of-10 shooting from the field in the quarter.
Quarter 4.
The Owls held a comfortable lead for much of the fourth quarter, and despite a late Southern Miss run that cut the lead to 51-45 with 1:44 to go, Smith put the game away with a clutch corner three-pointer off a feed from Ogwumike to push the lead back to nine points.
UP NEXT
The Owls conclude a five-game road trip on Saturday (2 p.m.) with an ESPN+ tilt at Louisiana Tech before returning home to face UTSA on Thursday, Jan. 10 (7 p.m.) in the C-USA home opener. Visit www.RiceOwls.com and follow @RiceWBB on Twitter for more on the Owls all season long.
-RiceOwls.com-
Rice (10-3, 1-0) improved to 10-1 in their last 11 contests behind a game-high 18 points from redshirt sophomore center Nancy Mulkey and 15 points from freshman guard Jasmine Smith.
The Owls set a season-high with 19 assists, six of which came from junior guard Erica Ogwumike to go along with eight points and nine rebounds. Senior guard Nicole Iademarco also chipped in nine points and had a game-high two blocks.
"I thought we grew a lot as a team tonight in a hard-fought road win," Rice head coach Tina Langley said. "I like how we shared the ball and executed well in critical moments."
The Owls held an opponent below 60 points for the seventh time this season, limiting Southern Miss (8-6, 0-1) to 33 percent shooting for the game, including a 5-of-26 (19 percent) performance from beyond the arc. Rice held the Lady Eagles to six points in the opening quarter and five points in the third quarter.
The Owls outscored Southern Miss in points in the paint (24-12) and committed just 13 turnovers, their second-lowest output of the season.
Quarter 1
Rice won the opening 10 minutes over the Lady Eagles, 12-6, and never trailed in the quarter after Ogwumike converted a three-point play on the first possession of the game. The Owls limited Southern Miss to just 3-of-10 shooting and held the Lady Eagles scoreless over the final 6:16 of the period.
Quarter 2
Southern Miss flipped the script on the Owls by outscoring Rice 20-9 in the second period. The Lady Eagles took their first lead of the night, 19-17, after a pair of three-pointers from Allie Kennedy. Mulkey helped stem the tide with a pair of jumpers in the paint to tie the score 21-21 before Southern Miss closed with the final five points of the quarter to take a 26-21 halftime lead.
Quarter 3
As has been the case most of the season, the Owls came out of the locker room on a mission in the third quarter and took control of the game by scoring the first 11 points of the period. Mulkey scored six of the first eight points sandwiched around an Ogwumike layup, and Iademarco pushed the Rice lead to 32-26 (5:59) with a three-pointer from the left wing. After Southern Miss split a pair at the free throw line, the Owls went on a 7-0 run with five points coming from Smith to extend the lead to as much as 39-27. Rice held the Lady Eagles to 1-of-10 shooting from the field in the quarter.
Quarter 4.
The Owls held a comfortable lead for much of the fourth quarter, and despite a late Southern Miss run that cut the lead to 51-45 with 1:44 to go, Smith put the game away with a clutch corner three-pointer off a feed from Ogwumike to push the lead back to nine points.
The Owls conclude a five-game road trip on Saturday (2 p.m.) with an ESPN+ tilt at Louisiana Tech before returning home to face UTSA on Thursday, Jan. 10 (7 p.m.) in the C-USA home opener. Visit www.RiceOwls.com and follow @RiceWBB on Twitter for more on the Owls all season long.
-RiceOwls.com-
Team Stats
RICE
USM
FG%
.500
.333
3FG%
.250
.192
FT%
.529
.800
RB
32
33
TO
13
12
STL
4
8
Game Leaders
Pts
18
FGM
8
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Pts
15
FGM
5
3FGM
3
FTM
2
Pts
9
FGM
4
3FGM
1
FTM
0
Pts
8
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Players Mentioned
G/F
/ Women's BasketballC
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's BasketballWBB: Rice vs. Marshall Postgame Presser
Wednesday, March 09