Tuesday, March 4
Houston, Texas
7 p.m.
Rice University
vs
North Texas
Owls Close Regular Season Against North Texas
3/3/2025 3:25:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Rice Owls (14-15, 7-10 AAC) vs. North Texas (22-7, 14-3 AAC)
Game 30 • Tuesday, March 4, 2025 • 7 p.m. CT
Houston, Texas • Tudor Fieldhouse
Video Stream: Click Here
Radio Stream: Click Here
Statistics: Click Here
Home Tickets: Click Here
Social Media Updates: @RiceWBB
Regular-Season Finale
The Owls close the regular season Tuesday night against North Texas before heading to the AAC Tournament this weekend. Tickets can be purchased at Ticketmaster or by calling (713) 348-OWLS (6957) for further assistance.
Last Time Out
Rice fell in the team's final road contest of the regular season in an 83-63 defeat to Temple Friday night at the Liacouras Center. Freshman Aniah Alexis led Rice with 15 points on 6-of-9 shooting while adding three rebounds and an assist. Sussy Ngulefac added 10 points, on 4-of-4 shooting, with three rebounds and a block.
Rice vs. North Texas
This is the 27th meeting in the series, with the Owls holding a 16-10 lead in the matchup. The Owls fell on the road to UNT earlier this season.
Conference Honors (2-17)
Aniah Alexis earned her second conference honor of the season after being named AAC Freshman of the Week. Alexis added another strong week to her freshman campaign, netting a career-high 20 points on 9-of-12 shooting on the road against South Florida. She also finished with six rebounds and four assists. She followed that game with 11 points on the road against Wichita State.
Stellar Defense
Rice held Florida Atlantic to a season-low 39 points, shooting just 18.2% (10-of-55) from the floor. The FG% is the second lowest overall and lowest conference field goal percentage by a Rice opponent in school history.
Gone Fishing
Malia Fisher dropped a career-high 32 points against Tulane. Since the start of conference play, Fisher is averaging 13.1 points, 6.8 rebounds and 1.2 blocks per game. Fisher has recorded three 20+ point games and one 30+ point game during AAC play.
Floor General
Since joining the starting lineup to open conference play, Victoria Flores has averaged 12.4 points per game, ranking 13th in the AAC. She has four 20+ plus games in the stretch, including a career-high 26 points against Tulsa.
Block Party (2.0)
The Owls tied a season-high with 10 blocks against UAB, matching the mark set earlier this season against Memphis. The mark against the Tigers was the most in a single game for Rice since recording 14 against SMU in 2019. Six Owls finished with a block against UAB, with Dominique Ennis and Emily Klaczek setting career highs with two blocks each.
Year Four
Shelley Pennington and Friends Head Coach Lindsay Edmonds enters her fourth year at the helm for Rice. Through her first three seasons, Edmonds has achieved the most wins (56), became the first head coach to open their Rice WBB career with back-to-back-to-back winning seasons, and was the fastest coach to win a conference title in program history.
Fisher Reaches 1,000
Malia Fisher became the 26th athlete in program history to surpass 1,000 career points, doing so in the NCAA Tournament against LSU. Currently, Fisher ranks 11th all-time in points with 1,273. To reach the top 10 in points, Fisher will have to reach 1,329 points.
Preseason Polls and Honors
Rice was picked tied for second in the AAC Preseason Coaches' Poll. South Florida was the preseason favorite (eight first-place votes), while North Texas (three votes) and Rice (two votes) were tied for second. Malia Fisher was named the 2024-25 AAC Preseason All-Conference First Team after leading the Owls to the NCAA Tournament a season ago.
Champions of the AAC
Rice debuted in the AAC as champions, winning four games in four days to claim the first-ever AAC title in Rice Athletics history. Led by AAC Third Team selection and All-Tournament MVP Malia Fisher, Rice took down East Carolina 61-41 to become the lowest seed (10) to ever win the AAC Tournament.
Kuster to be Inducted into CUSA Hall of Fame
Rice women's basketball all-time great Jessica Kuster is set to be inducted into the Conference USA Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2024. She is Rice basketball's all-time point scorer (2,081), while leading Rice WBB and CUSA in career rebounds (1,376) and career double-doubles (67). Kuster is the only athlete in program history to average a double-double in all four seasons, one of two female athletes in CUSA history. Kuster is also the only player in CUSA history to be named to both the First Team All-Conference and the All-Defensive Team all four seasons. She is also the only four-time recipient of the Hackerman Award in school history, presented to the team MVP. Kuster becomes the fifth Rice inductee and the first Rice women's basketball inductee in the CUSA Hall of Fame.
Game 30 • Tuesday, March 4, 2025 • 7 p.m. CT
Houston, Texas • Tudor Fieldhouse
Video Stream: Click Here
Radio Stream: Click Here
Statistics: Click Here
Home Tickets: Click Here
Social Media Updates: @RiceWBB
Regular-Season Finale
The Owls close the regular season Tuesday night against North Texas before heading to the AAC Tournament this weekend. Tickets can be purchased at Ticketmaster or by calling (713) 348-OWLS (6957) for further assistance.
Last Time Out
Rice fell in the team's final road contest of the regular season in an 83-63 defeat to Temple Friday night at the Liacouras Center. Freshman Aniah Alexis led Rice with 15 points on 6-of-9 shooting while adding three rebounds and an assist. Sussy Ngulefac added 10 points, on 4-of-4 shooting, with three rebounds and a block.
Rice vs. North Texas
This is the 27th meeting in the series, with the Owls holding a 16-10 lead in the matchup. The Owls fell on the road to UNT earlier this season.
Conference Honors (2-17)
Aniah Alexis earned her second conference honor of the season after being named AAC Freshman of the Week. Alexis added another strong week to her freshman campaign, netting a career-high 20 points on 9-of-12 shooting on the road against South Florida. She also finished with six rebounds and four assists. She followed that game with 11 points on the road against Wichita State.
Stellar Defense
Rice held Florida Atlantic to a season-low 39 points, shooting just 18.2% (10-of-55) from the floor. The FG% is the second lowest overall and lowest conference field goal percentage by a Rice opponent in school history.
Gone Fishing
Malia Fisher dropped a career-high 32 points against Tulane. Since the start of conference play, Fisher is averaging 13.1 points, 6.8 rebounds and 1.2 blocks per game. Fisher has recorded three 20+ point games and one 30+ point game during AAC play.
Floor General
Since joining the starting lineup to open conference play, Victoria Flores has averaged 12.4 points per game, ranking 13th in the AAC. She has four 20+ plus games in the stretch, including a career-high 26 points against Tulsa.
Block Party (2.0)
The Owls tied a season-high with 10 blocks against UAB, matching the mark set earlier this season against Memphis. The mark against the Tigers was the most in a single game for Rice since recording 14 against SMU in 2019. Six Owls finished with a block against UAB, with Dominique Ennis and Emily Klaczek setting career highs with two blocks each.
Year Four
Shelley Pennington and Friends Head Coach Lindsay Edmonds enters her fourth year at the helm for Rice. Through her first three seasons, Edmonds has achieved the most wins (56), became the first head coach to open their Rice WBB career with back-to-back-to-back winning seasons, and was the fastest coach to win a conference title in program history.
Fisher Reaches 1,000
Malia Fisher became the 26th athlete in program history to surpass 1,000 career points, doing so in the NCAA Tournament against LSU. Currently, Fisher ranks 11th all-time in points with 1,273. To reach the top 10 in points, Fisher will have to reach 1,329 points.
Preseason Polls and Honors
Rice was picked tied for second in the AAC Preseason Coaches' Poll. South Florida was the preseason favorite (eight first-place votes), while North Texas (three votes) and Rice (two votes) were tied for second. Malia Fisher was named the 2024-25 AAC Preseason All-Conference First Team after leading the Owls to the NCAA Tournament a season ago.
Champions of the AAC
Rice debuted in the AAC as champions, winning four games in four days to claim the first-ever AAC title in Rice Athletics history. Led by AAC Third Team selection and All-Tournament MVP Malia Fisher, Rice took down East Carolina 61-41 to become the lowest seed (10) to ever win the AAC Tournament.
Kuster to be Inducted into CUSA Hall of Fame
Rice women's basketball all-time great Jessica Kuster is set to be inducted into the Conference USA Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2024. She is Rice basketball's all-time point scorer (2,081), while leading Rice WBB and CUSA in career rebounds (1,376) and career double-doubles (67). Kuster is the only athlete in program history to average a double-double in all four seasons, one of two female athletes in CUSA history. Kuster is also the only player in CUSA history to be named to both the First Team All-Conference and the All-Defensive Team all four seasons. She is also the only four-time recipient of the Hackerman Award in school history, presented to the team MVP. Kuster becomes the fifth Rice inductee and the first Rice women's basketball inductee in the CUSA Hall of Fame.
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/ Women's BasketballWBB: Rice vs. Marshall Postgame Presser
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