Wednesday, March 9
Frisco, Texas
11:00 A.M. CT
Rice University
-1412,89 CUSA
80
vs
62
Marshall
-1513,108 CUSA
1
2
3
4
F
Marshall
17
8
16
21
62
Rice
20
18
19
23
80
Photo by: CUSA
Photo by: CUSA
Photo by: CUSA
Photo by: CUSA
Photo by: CUSA
Photo by: CUSA
Photo by: CUSA
Photo by: CUSA
Photo by: CUSA
Photo by: CUSA
Owls Advance to C-USA Quarterfinals with Victory over Herd
3/9/2022 3:34:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Move on to face Charlotte with 80-62 win
FRISCO, Texas – Behind the strength of a balanced scoring attack, the Rice Owls women's basketball team cruised to an 80-62 victory over the Marshall Thundering Herd in the second round of the C-USA Basketball Championship tournament Wednesday afternoon at the Ford Center at the Star.
Rice (14-12, 8-9) ran their winning streak to four straight and have now won seven of their last eight games overall, setting up a showdown on Thursday (11 a.m.) against the No. 1 overall seed Charlotte 49ers. The Owls have now reached at least quarterfinals round of the C-USA Championship in five consecutive tournaments.
Rice's 80 points were the most by an Owls team in C-USA Championship history, surpassing the team's previous record 79 points against Houston on Mar. 3, 2006. The Owls also set program records for both free throws made (25) and free throw percentage (92.6%) in a single game at the C-USA Championship, making 25-of-27 attempts.
The Owls had five players score in double-figures, led by sophomore forward Ashlee Austin's team-high 19 points. Austin, who was named C-USA Second Team on Monday, made 5-of-10 shots from the field and played a large role in the Owls' performance at the free throw line, converting 8-of-8 at the charity stripe.
Freshman sensation Malia Fisher notched her eighth double-double of the season with 17 points and 16 massive rebounds to go along with four assists and two steals in 32 minutes of action. The All-Freshman selection scored 10 points and secured five rebounds in the third quarter alone and her 16 rebounds were the third-most by an Owl in C-USA Championship history.
Reigning C-USA Freshman of the Week Maya Bokunewicz recorded her second double-double of the season with 13 point and 10 rebounds while fellow freshman guard Trinity Gooden tallied a season-high 13 points, making 8-of-9 free throw attempts. Sophomore forward India Bellamy added 10 critical points off the bench, converting 3-of-5 shots from the field and 4-of-5 at the free throw line.
The Owls limited Marshall (15-13) to just 37 percent shooting for the game and had a huge advantage on the glass, outrebounding the Herd 43-26.
Postgame Reaction - Head Coach Lindsay Edmonds
"I'm so proud of these young ladies. We adopted a mindset of win the day about a month ago and ever since we took on that mentality I feel like the players have really bought in to that and it has gotten our momentum going and gotten us to where we are today. Being able to have a convincing win today just gives us even more confidence on what we're trying to do while we're here. We're definitely playing our best basketball."
HOW IT HAPPENED
First Quarter
Rice won a high-scoring opening quarter by a 20-17 margin, shooting 44 percent from the field as a team and making three three-pointers. Fisher and Austin got off to blazing starts, scoring seven points apiece on a combined 5-of-8 shooting from the floor and 3-of-3 at the free throw line. Bokunewicz and Gooden each connected from deep and the Owls outrebounded the Herd 11-6 in the quarter.
Second Quarter
The Owls dug in defensively in the period, holding Marshall to just eight points on 2-of-18 shooting, including a 1-of-9 effort from three-point territory. Meanwhile on the other end the Owls capitalized by getting into the penalty earlier, making all 12 of their free throw attempts in an 18-point quarter. Gooden went 6-of-6 from the line while Bokunewicz, Austin, and Bellamy all made a pair.
Third Quarter
Marshall was able to cut their deficit to 43-34 with 6:39 remaining but from that point on the rest of the game the Owls never allowed the Herd to get to within single digits. In addition to Fisher's 10-point/5-rebound effort in the quarter, Bellamy gave the Owls a lift with five points, including an old-fashioned three-point play. Rice outscored Marshall 19-16 in the quarter and 12-2 in the paint to take a 57-41 lead to the fourth.
Fourth Quarter
The Owls saved their best offensive quarter for last, scoring 23 points in the final 10 minutes behind eight more points from Austin. Haylee Swayze hit a pair of three-pointers as well as part of a 75 percent shooting performance from the team.
UP NEXT
The Owls advance to the C-USA quarterfinals to face the No. 1 overall seed Charlotte 49ers (19-9, 15-3) on Thursday, Mar. 10 at 11 a.m. CT. It will be a rematch of the 88-83 quadruple overtime loss the Owls suffered back on Jan. 22 in Charlotte. Thursday's game will be streamed on the Stadium platform.
Rice (14-12, 8-9) ran their winning streak to four straight and have now won seven of their last eight games overall, setting up a showdown on Thursday (11 a.m.) against the No. 1 overall seed Charlotte 49ers. The Owls have now reached at least quarterfinals round of the C-USA Championship in five consecutive tournaments.
Rice's 80 points were the most by an Owls team in C-USA Championship history, surpassing the team's previous record 79 points against Houston on Mar. 3, 2006. The Owls also set program records for both free throws made (25) and free throw percentage (92.6%) in a single game at the C-USA Championship, making 25-of-27 attempts.
The Owls had five players score in double-figures, led by sophomore forward Ashlee Austin's team-high 19 points. Austin, who was named C-USA Second Team on Monday, made 5-of-10 shots from the field and played a large role in the Owls' performance at the free throw line, converting 8-of-8 at the charity stripe.
Freshman sensation Malia Fisher notched her eighth double-double of the season with 17 points and 16 massive rebounds to go along with four assists and two steals in 32 minutes of action. The All-Freshman selection scored 10 points and secured five rebounds in the third quarter alone and her 16 rebounds were the third-most by an Owl in C-USA Championship history.
Reigning C-USA Freshman of the Week Maya Bokunewicz recorded her second double-double of the season with 13 point and 10 rebounds while fellow freshman guard Trinity Gooden tallied a season-high 13 points, making 8-of-9 free throw attempts. Sophomore forward India Bellamy added 10 critical points off the bench, converting 3-of-5 shots from the field and 4-of-5 at the free throw line.
The Owls limited Marshall (15-13) to just 37 percent shooting for the game and had a huge advantage on the glass, outrebounding the Herd 43-26.
"I'm so proud of these young ladies. We adopted a mindset of win the day about a month ago and ever since we took on that mentality I feel like the players have really bought in to that and it has gotten our momentum going and gotten us to where we are today. Being able to have a convincing win today just gives us even more confidence on what we're trying to do while we're here. We're definitely playing our best basketball."
First Quarter
Rice won a high-scoring opening quarter by a 20-17 margin, shooting 44 percent from the field as a team and making three three-pointers. Fisher and Austin got off to blazing starts, scoring seven points apiece on a combined 5-of-8 shooting from the floor and 3-of-3 at the free throw line. Bokunewicz and Gooden each connected from deep and the Owls outrebounded the Herd 11-6 in the quarter.
Second Quarter
The Owls dug in defensively in the period, holding Marshall to just eight points on 2-of-18 shooting, including a 1-of-9 effort from three-point territory. Meanwhile on the other end the Owls capitalized by getting into the penalty earlier, making all 12 of their free throw attempts in an 18-point quarter. Gooden went 6-of-6 from the line while Bokunewicz, Austin, and Bellamy all made a pair.
Third Quarter
Marshall was able to cut their deficit to 43-34 with 6:39 remaining but from that point on the rest of the game the Owls never allowed the Herd to get to within single digits. In addition to Fisher's 10-point/5-rebound effort in the quarter, Bellamy gave the Owls a lift with five points, including an old-fashioned three-point play. Rice outscored Marshall 19-16 in the quarter and 12-2 in the paint to take a 57-41 lead to the fourth.
Fourth Quarter
The Owls saved their best offensive quarter for last, scoring 23 points in the final 10 minutes behind eight more points from Austin. Haylee Swayze hit a pair of three-pointers as well as part of a 75 percent shooting performance from the team.
See you tomorrow!🙌#GoOwls👐 x #OWLin pic.twitter.com/6XfucncIsa
— Rice Women's Basketball (@RiceWBB) March 9, 2022
The Owls advance to the C-USA quarterfinals to face the No. 1 overall seed Charlotte 49ers (19-9, 15-3) on Thursday, Mar. 10 at 11 a.m. CT. It will be a rematch of the 88-83 quadruple overtime loss the Owls suffered back on Jan. 22 in Charlotte. Thursday's game will be streamed on the Stadium platform.
-RiceOwls.com-
Team Stats
Marsh
Rice
FG%
.367
.471
3FG%
.294
.333
FT%
.533
.926
RB
26
43
TO
11
16
STL
7
3
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
19
FGM
5
3FGM
1
FTM
8
Pts
17
FGM
8
3FGM
0
FTM
1
Pts
13
FGM
4
3FGM
3
FTM
2
Pts
13
FGM
2
3FGM
1
FTM
8
Players Mentioned
F
/ Women's Basketball
F
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's BasketballF
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's Basketball
G
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