Saturday, March 5
Houston, TX
2:00 P.M. CT
Rice University
-1312,89 CUSA
86
vs
48
UTSA
-622,314 CUSA
1
2
3
4
F
UTSA
13
14
13
8
48
Rice
17
19
32
18
86
Owls Use Long Ball to Thump Roadrunners, 86-48
3/5/2022 5:38:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Bokunewicz ties school record with seven made three-pointers
HOUSTON – The Rice Owls women's basketball team closed out the regular season with an emphatic 86-48 victory over the UTSA Roadrunners Saturday afternoon at Tudor Fieldhouse, the team's largest margin of victory this season and their sixth win in their last seven games.
The Owls (13-12, 8-9), who started the Conference USA season 0-5, rallied to finish the season 8-4 over their final 12 contests and finish the regular season with the No. 4 spot in the West Division. Rice will face No. 5 seed Marshall (15-12, 10-8) from the East Division in the second round of the C-USA Championship on Wednesday, Mar. 9 at 11 a.m. on ESPN+.
On Saturday, the Owls had a pair of players (Maya Bokunewicz-26 points/Ashlee Austin- 21 points) score 20+ points in a game for the first time since Katelyn Crosthwait and Lauren Schwartz accomplished the feat back on Mar. 26, 2021 in the WNIT against Delaware.
On a day where the Owls honored their lone senior Arianna McCurry in a pregame ceremony, it was the freshman Bokunewicz who stole the show. The State College, Pa. native set a season-high with 26 points, tying the Rice single-game school record with seven made three-pointers on 12 attempts while also securing 10 rebounds for her first career double-double. Bokunewicz matched former Owls Jenny Cafferty (1-27-00 vs. Fresno State) and Kara Liggett (2-17-00 vs. San Jose St.) as the only Owls to knock down seven three-pointers in a game.
Bokunewicz, who played 39 minutes, was only part of Rice's three-point attack as the Owls connected on a season-high 14 made three-pointers on 33 attempts (42%), tied for the third-most in a game in program history.
Austin notched her seventh game with 20+ points this season by making 5-of-15 shots from the field and a 7-of-7 performance at the free throw line. Freshman forward Malia Fisher was the third Owl in double-figures, adding 13 points to go along with seven rebounds. Sophomore guard Destiny Jackson filled the box score with nine points to go along with eight rebounds and six assists while not turning the ball over once.
As a team the Owls established a season-high in points (86) and matched their season-high with 20 assists.
Postgame Reaction - Head Coach Lindsay Edmonds
"This week has been a lot of fun. We're really clicking and the team is coming together, understanding their roles and how we want to play. This was a great team win. We had three in double-figures and obviously Maya (Bokunewicz) tying a school record and Ashlee getting 21 points is pretty awesome. Everybody contributed and came in and did some good things for us. Now we're going into a new season with the conference tournament and we're going in on a high note clicking on all cylinders. I really like where we're at."
HOW IT HAPPENED
First Quarter
Rice outscored UTSA by a 17-13 margin as Bokunewicz poured in eight early points while Fisher complimented her efforts with six additional points.
Second Quarter
The Owls stretched their lead to 36-27 going to the break by outscoring the Roadrunners 19-14 in the second quarter. Six different Owls scored in the quarter and Jackson totaled six points and seven rebounds.
Third Quarter
Rice exploded for 32 points on 8-of-12 shooting from the field and 11-of-13 at the free throw line, converting 5-of-7 from beyond the arc to blow the game wide open. Austin had a big performance with 13 points, not missing a single shot in the period. The sophomore forward made a pair of three-pointers and went 7-of-7 from the charity stripe.
Fourth Quarter
The Owls outscored UTSA 18-8 in the final period with Bokunewicz hitting a trio of three-pointers, including the record-tying seventh make at the 4:35 mark.
UP NEXT
The Owls head to Frisco to partake in the C-USA Championship with a date against the Marshall Thundering Herd in the second round set for Wednesday, Mar. 9 at 11 a.m. on ESPN+.
The Owls (13-12, 8-9), who started the Conference USA season 0-5, rallied to finish the season 8-4 over their final 12 contests and finish the regular season with the No. 4 spot in the West Division. Rice will face No. 5 seed Marshall (15-12, 10-8) from the East Division in the second round of the C-USA Championship on Wednesday, Mar. 9 at 11 a.m. on ESPN+.
On Saturday, the Owls had a pair of players (Maya Bokunewicz-26 points/Ashlee Austin- 21 points) score 20+ points in a game for the first time since Katelyn Crosthwait and Lauren Schwartz accomplished the feat back on Mar. 26, 2021 in the WNIT against Delaware.
On a day where the Owls honored their lone senior Arianna McCurry in a pregame ceremony, it was the freshman Bokunewicz who stole the show. The State College, Pa. native set a season-high with 26 points, tying the Rice single-game school record with seven made three-pointers on 12 attempts while also securing 10 rebounds for her first career double-double. Bokunewicz matched former Owls Jenny Cafferty (1-27-00 vs. Fresno State) and Kara Liggett (2-17-00 vs. San Jose St.) as the only Owls to knock down seven three-pointers in a game.
Bokunewicz, who played 39 minutes, was only part of Rice's three-point attack as the Owls connected on a season-high 14 made three-pointers on 33 attempts (42%), tied for the third-most in a game in program history.
Austin notched her seventh game with 20+ points this season by making 5-of-15 shots from the field and a 7-of-7 performance at the free throw line. Freshman forward Malia Fisher was the third Owl in double-figures, adding 13 points to go along with seven rebounds. Sophomore guard Destiny Jackson filled the box score with nine points to go along with eight rebounds and six assists while not turning the ball over once.
As a team the Owls established a season-high in points (86) and matched their season-high with 20 assists.
"This week has been a lot of fun. We're really clicking and the team is coming together, understanding their roles and how we want to play. This was a great team win. We had three in double-figures and obviously Maya (Bokunewicz) tying a school record and Ashlee getting 21 points is pretty awesome. Everybody contributed and came in and did some good things for us. Now we're going into a new season with the conference tournament and we're going in on a high note clicking on all cylinders. I really like where we're at."
First Quarter
Rice outscored UTSA by a 17-13 margin as Bokunewicz poured in eight early points while Fisher complimented her efforts with six additional points.
Second Quarter
The Owls stretched their lead to 36-27 going to the break by outscoring the Roadrunners 19-14 in the second quarter. Six different Owls scored in the quarter and Jackson totaled six points and seven rebounds.
Third Quarter
Rice exploded for 32 points on 8-of-12 shooting from the field and 11-of-13 at the free throw line, converting 5-of-7 from beyond the arc to blow the game wide open. Austin had a big performance with 13 points, not missing a single shot in the period. The sophomore forward made a pair of three-pointers and went 7-of-7 from the charity stripe.
Fourth Quarter
The Owls outscored UTSA 18-8 in the final period with Bokunewicz hitting a trio of three-pointers, including the record-tying seventh make at the 4:35 mark.
The Owls head to Frisco to partake in the C-USA Championship with a date against the Marshall Thundering Herd in the second round set for Wednesday, Mar. 9 at 11 a.m. on ESPN+.
-RiceOwls.com-
Team Stats
UTSA
Rice
FG%
.317
.426
3FG%
.000
.424
FT%
.588
.636
RB
38
49
TO
13
9
STL
7
5
Game Leaders
Pts
26
FGM
9
3FGM
7
FTM
1
Pts
21
FGM
5
3FGM
4
FTM
7
Pts
13
FGM
6
3FGM
0
FTM
1
Pts
9
FGM
2
3FGM
0
FTM
5
Players Mentioned
F
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's BasketballF
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's Basketball
C
/ Women's Basketball
F
/ Women's BasketballWBB: Rice vs. Marshall Postgame Presser
Wednesday, March 09