Owls Defeat Nicholls St. 71-47 on Opening Night

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Houston, Texas

HOUSTON – The (RV) Rice Owls women's basketball team used a balanced scoring attack to win on opening night over Nicholls State, 71-47 Tuesday evening at Tudor Fieldhouse.

Twelve different Owls registered points, including a game-high 22 points from sophomore Haylee Swayze as Rice improved to 32-10 all-time in season openers. Junior Nancy Mulkey (12 points) and freshman Lauren Schwartz (11 points) also scored in double-figures in the victory.

Senior guard Erica Ogwumike led all players with 11 rebounds and dished out a career-high seven assists while Mulkey (last year's NCAA blocks leader) led all players with four rejections.

The Owls posted big advantages over Nicholls in points in the paint (34-8) and bench scoring (41-21) and outshot the Colonels from the field, 42 percent-26 percent. Rice allowed just 16 first half points and led by as much as 27 points late in the contest.

Rice shared the basketball at an elite level, assisting on 21 of 26 made field goals.

Tuesday marked the first games for Rice freshmen Schwartz, Destiny Jackson, Katelyn Crosthwait, India Bellamy, and Ashlee Austin, each of whom scored points in their collegiate debuts.

Tina Langley Postgame Reaction
"It was good to get the season started. We've played against ourselves a good bit as well as our scout team so to be able to get out against different competition was good for our team. We were able to see some good things tonight and areas we can grow in quickly."

HOW IT HAPPENED
Quarter One
The Owls outscored Nicholls 17-8 in the opening 10 minutes of the season, led by six points on 3-of-4 shooting from Mulkey. Rice held Nicholls to just 3-of-12 shooting in the quarter and held a 10-2 advantage in points the paint. Swayze and Schwartz each connected from deep, including a trifecta from Swayze from the corner in the final seconds of the period.
Quarter Two
Rice duplicated the opening quarter with another 17-8 advantage to take a 34-16 lead into halftime. Swayze outscored the Colonels all by herself with 11 points on 4-of-7 shooting, including three more made three-pointers. The Owls had a 9-0 advantage in points off turnovers in the period.
Quarter Three
The Owls took advantage of the free throw line out of halftime, making 10-of-12 attempts at the stripe in the period, including 4-of-4 efforts from both Schwartz and Swayze while Mulkey added an additional six points on 3-of-5 shooting. Ogwumike distributed five of the Owls 11 assists in the quarter as the Owls increased their lead to 50-28 entering the fourth.
Quarter Four
Rice outscored Nicholls 21-19 in the final period, shooting 50 percent from the field. Bellamy, Crosthwait, Austin and Arianna McCurry all joined the scoring party over the final 10 minutes as the Owls cruised to their 16th straight victory at Tudor Fieldhouse dating back to 2018.

Up Next
The Owls return to action this Saturday when they host Little Rock (0-1) at 1 p.m. as part of a doubleheader with the men.

-RiceOwls.com-

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