Rice to Face No. 8 LSU in NCAA Tournament
3/17/2024 7:55:00 PM | Women's Basketball
HOUSTON – The Rice women's basketball team is set to face the reigning national champions, No. 8 LSU, in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament. The Owls, who earned a 14 seed in the tournament, will face the third-seeded LSU Tigers in Baton Rouge, La., on Friday, March 22. The game will be nationally broadcasted on ESPN, with tip-off set for 3 p.m.
The Owls earned their fourth NCAA Tournament appearance in program history after being crowned champions of the American Athletic Conference in their debut season. Rice (19-14, 9-9 AAC) entered the AAC Tournament as a 10 seed, winning four games in four games against No. 7 UAB (71-56), No. 2 North Texas (61-59), No. 3 Temple (60-57) and No. 9 East Carolina (61-41).
Rice became the lowest seed in AAC Tournament history to win the championship, earning their first trip to March Madness since 2019.
LSU is 28-5 (13-3 SEC) on the season, making the SEC Tournament championship game before falling to No. 1 South Carolina. Kim Mulkey's Tigers are led by SEC Player of the Year Angel Reese, who leads the team with 19.0 points and 13.1 rebounds per game.
This is the sixth meeting in the series history, with LSU holding a 4-1 lead. This is the first matchup since the 2016-17 season, with the Tigers winning that matchup 66-55. Rice's lone win against LSU came during the 1998-99 season in a 64-57 home victory.
The winner of Rice-LSU will face the winner of sixth-seeded Louisville (24-9) and 11-seeded Middle Tennessee (29-4) on Sunday, March 24.
Owls in the NCAA Tournament
2000 – vs. No. 9 UCSB (W, 67-64), March 18
2000 – vs. North Carolina (L, 83-50), March 20
2005 – vs. No. 20 Georgia (L, 75-49), March 19
2019 – vs. No. 18 Marquette (L, 58-64 (OT)), March 22
Ticketing information can be found here: https://lsusports.evenue.net/events/WBB
The Owls earned their fourth NCAA Tournament appearance in program history after being crowned champions of the American Athletic Conference in their debut season. Rice (19-14, 9-9 AAC) entered the AAC Tournament as a 10 seed, winning four games in four games against No. 7 UAB (71-56), No. 2 North Texas (61-59), No. 3 Temple (60-57) and No. 9 East Carolina (61-41).
Rice became the lowest seed in AAC Tournament history to win the championship, earning their first trip to March Madness since 2019.
LSU is 28-5 (13-3 SEC) on the season, making the SEC Tournament championship game before falling to No. 1 South Carolina. Kim Mulkey's Tigers are led by SEC Player of the Year Angel Reese, who leads the team with 19.0 points and 13.1 rebounds per game.
This is the sixth meeting in the series history, with LSU holding a 4-1 lead. This is the first matchup since the 2016-17 season, with the Tigers winning that matchup 66-55. Rice's lone win against LSU came during the 1998-99 season in a 64-57 home victory.
The winner of Rice-LSU will face the winner of sixth-seeded Louisville (24-9) and 11-seeded Middle Tennessee (29-4) on Sunday, March 24.
Owls in the NCAA Tournament
2000 – vs. No. 9 UCSB (W, 67-64), March 18
2000 – vs. North Carolina (L, 83-50), March 20
2005 – vs. No. 20 Georgia (L, 75-49), March 19
2019 – vs. No. 18 Marquette (L, 58-64 (OT)), March 22
Ticketing information can be found here: https://lsusports.evenue.net/events/WBB
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