Rice University
No. 18 Marquette (1st Round)
Preview: Owls Ready to Dance in College Station
3/21/2019 10:33:00 AM | Women's Basketball
No. 21 Owls face No. 18 Marquette in NCAA opening round on Friday (1 p.m.)
NCAA Postseason Guide | NCAA Tournament Central | Buy Tickets
No. 21/23 Rice Owls (28-3, 16-0 C-USA) vs. No. 18/16 Marquette Golden Eagles (26-7, 15-3)
Friday, March 22, 2019 • 1 p.m. (CT)
College Station, Texas • Reed Arena
Tickets: 1st and 2nd Rounds
TV: ESPN2 (regional coverage)
Video Stream: WatchESPN (game seen in its entirety)
Radio: Stretch Internet (J.P. Heath)
Live Stats: StatBroadcast
Twitter Updates: @RiceWBB
Series Record: Marquette leads, 2-0 (Last: Marquette won 78-62, 12/3/06)
Owls Back in the NCAA Tournament
After a 14-year hiatus, the Rice Owls return to the NCAA Tournament for the third time in program history and first since 2005. The Owls are 1-2 all-time in the NCAA Tournament; defeating then No. 9 ranked UCSB (67-64) in 2000 as a No. 13 seed before falling to North Carolina (83-50) in the second round. Rice also lost (75-49) to Georgia as a No. 11 seed in 2005.
How They Got Here
Rice earned the C-USA automatic bid by defeating Middle Tennessee in the C-USA Championship game last Saturday, 69-54. It was the team's first-ever C-USA tournament title. The Owls became the first team in C-USA history to complete an undefeated conference season (16-0) and also win the league tournament title. Sophomore center Nancy Mulkey was named the championship's MVP and earned a spot on the all-tournament team alongside junior guard Erica Ogwumike.
About Marquette
The Golden Eagles (26-7) are making their third consecutive appearance in the NCAA Tournament and second straight at-large selection. The No. 5 seed matches a program-best for highest seed as the Golden Eagles were also a five-seed in 2017. The Golden Eagles are led by an experienced senior class, which features five scorers that average double figures and all own over 1,300 career points led by BIG EAST Player of the Year Natisha Hiedeman with 17.8 points per game and BIG EAST Sixth-Woman of the Year Allazia Blockton, who is Marquette's all-time leading scorer, averaging 14.4 points per contest.
AP Top-25
For a fifth straight week the Owls appeared in the AP Top 25, moving up to No. 21 on Monday, the highest ranking in program history. The Owls made their first-ever appearance (No. 25) in the AP Top 25 Poll on Feb. 18. Rice also made their debut in the USA Today/WBCA Coaches Poll this week at No. 23.
2nd-Longest Win Streak in the Nation
The Owls enter play riding a school record 21-game winning streak, the nation's third-longest active win streak behind Baylor (23) and Quinnipiac (21). The Owls haven't lost since their Dec. 18 setback vs. North Carolina in Myrtle Beach, a span of 93 days entering Friday.
Longest Active NCAA Win Streak
1. Baylor - 23
2. Rice - 21
2. Quinnipiac - 21
C-USA Longest Win Streaks
1. UTEP - 23 (2007-08)
2. Rice - 21 (2018-19)
20-20-20
The Owls have reached the 20-win plateau for a third straight season under fourth-year head coach Tina Langley, marking just the second time in school history that Rice has reached 20 or more wins in three consecutive seasons. Rice has compiled 73 wins (22, 23, 28) over the last three years, the greatest stretch in program history.
Did You Know
Rice women's basketball joined Rice volleyball this season as one of seven teams in the school's history to win a regular season title outright and win the tournament title. Baseball (1999, 2006, 2007, 2014), WBB (2000, 2019) and volleyball (2018) have accomplished the feat.
Ogwumike C-USA Player of the Year
Rice junior guard Erica Ogwumike became the first player in program history to be named C-USA Player of the Year. Ogwumike backed up her C-USA Preseason Player of the Year accolades by becoming the only player in C-USA to rank in the top-10 in the league in scoring (5th-16.3), rebounding (2nd-10.6) and steals (8th-1.6). Last year's C-USA Newcomer of the Year, Ogwumike leads all C-USA players and ranks 14th in the nation with 18 double-doubles.
Langley C-USA Coach of the Year
Rice fourth-year head coach Tina Langley became the second coach in Rice history to win Coach of the Year honors on Wednesday, Rice's first in the C-USA era. Langley has helped guide the Owls to one of the most successful seasons in program history, winning their first-ever C-USA regular season/tournament titles and becoming just the third team in league history to complete a 16-0 record in conference play. In Langley's last three seasons, the Owls won their first postseason championship (WBI, 2017), qualified for the second round of the WNIT (2018), and now qualified for the NCAA Tournament (2019)
Mulkey C-USA Defensive Player of the Year
Rice sophomore center Nancy Mulkey joined Jessica Kuster (2013) as the only Owls to be named C-USA Defensive Player of the Year. The redshirt sophomore leads all of C-USA and ranks 4th in the nation with 89 blocks despite missing the first eight games of the season. Mulkey's 89 blocks is already a Rice single-season record and she's one game away from qualifying for the nation's lead in blocks per game (3.86).
Grigsby C-USA Sixth Player of the Year
Rice senior guard Lauren Grigsby became the first player in program history to be named a C-USA Sixth Player of the Year, the league announced on Tuesday. Grigsby, from Spring, Texas, leads the Owls' bench unit with 7.5 points and 3.2 rebounds per game. Grigsby is shooting a career-best 44.0 percent (8th in Rice history) from three-point territory while playing a career-high 21.0 minutes per game.
C-USA Dominance
The Owls went 16-0 in league play with a winning margin of 19.2 points per game. Rice has already secured their most wins in C-USA since joining the league in 2005 and finished the season as one of just seven teams undefeated in conference play across the nation. Only Houston (16-0; 2010-11) and UTEP (16-0; 2007-08) completed perfect C-USA seasons before Rice, neither of which won their respective conference tournaments.
Road Warriors
After starting the season 0-2 on the road, the Owls reeled off 11 consecutive road victories away from Tudor Fieldhouse, which is currently the longest active road win streak in the nation.
Trio Earns All-Conference Honors
For the first time in program history, the Owls secured three All-Conference honorees as Ogwumike, Mulkey, and Nicole Iademarco each earned accolades as announced by Conference USA on Monday. Ogwumike and Mulkey were both named First Team All-Conference, marking the first time the Owls placed two athletes on the C-USA First Team since joining the league in 2006. Iademarco was selected to the C-USA Second Team for a second straight year, just days after joining Ogwumike on the C-USA All-Academic Team.
Shutdown Defense
Rice ranks 6th in the nation in scoring defense, allowing just 52.8 points per game on 35.0 percent shooting (9th in the nation). During league play the Owls stepped up their defense even more, surrendering a league-low 47.2 points per game on 31.9 percent shooting. The Owls have held 18 straight opponents below 70 points and 20 straight opponents below 45 percent shooting.
Home Sweet Home
Rice finished the season 13-0 at Tudor Fieldhouse and have a 26-1 record on their home floor over the last two seasons. The Owls are one of just eight undefeated teams at home this season and completed just the second single-season undefeated home record (13-0 in 1997-98) in program history.
-RiceOwls.com-
