Sunday, March 9
Fort Worth, Texas
12 p.m.
Rice University
vs
UAB
Photo by: ©Juan DeLeon Creative
Owls Open AAC Tournament Against UAB
3/8/2025 11:07:00 AM | Women's Basketball
(9) Rice Owls (14-16, 7-11 AAC) vs. (8) UAB Blazers (16-14, 7-11 AAC)
Game 31 • Sunday, March 9, 2025 • 12 p.m. CT
Fort Worth, Texas • Dickies Arena
Video Stream: Click Here
Radio Stream: Click Here
Statistics: Click Here
Social Media Updates: @RiceWBB
AAC Tournament
Ninth-seeded Rice heads out to Fort Worth to defend its AAC title starting Sunday afternoon in the AAC Tournament Second Round game against eighth-seeded UAB. The winner will face top-seeded UTSA Monday.
Last Time Out
Rice fell in the final game of the regular season in a 68-56 defeat to North Texas Tuesday night at Tudor Fieldhouse. Dominique Ennis led the Owls with 12 points off of four three-pointers while adding five rebounds, four assists, two steals and a block. Freshman Aniah Alexis finished with 11 points, six rebounds and a block.
Rice vs. UAB
This is the 27th meeting between the two, with Rice holding a slight 14-12 series lead. The two split the season series this year, with the Owls winning the most recent matchup 73-48.
AAC Honors
Four Owls represent Rice on the 2025 American Athletic Conference postseason honors, with Malia Fisher (First Team) and Dominique Ennis (Second Team) earning spots on the AAC All-Conference teams. Fisher also received the Ambassador Award and was named to the All-Defensive Team. Aniah Alexis was named to the All-Freshman Team, while Victoria Flores earned a spot on the All-Newcomer Team.
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 12.7 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 12.2 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 1,277. 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 31 • Sunday, March 9, 2025 • 12 p.m. CT
Fort Worth, Texas • Dickies Arena
Video Stream: Click Here
Radio Stream: Click Here
Statistics: Click Here
Social Media Updates: @RiceWBB
AAC Tournament
Ninth-seeded Rice heads out to Fort Worth to defend its AAC title starting Sunday afternoon in the AAC Tournament Second Round game against eighth-seeded UAB. The winner will face top-seeded UTSA Monday.
Last Time Out
Rice fell in the final game of the regular season in a 68-56 defeat to North Texas Tuesday night at Tudor Fieldhouse. Dominique Ennis led the Owls with 12 points off of four three-pointers while adding five rebounds, four assists, two steals and a block. Freshman Aniah Alexis finished with 11 points, six rebounds and a block.
Rice vs. UAB
This is the 27th meeting between the two, with Rice holding a slight 14-12 series lead. The two split the season series this year, with the Owls winning the most recent matchup 73-48.
AAC Honors
Four Owls represent Rice on the 2025 American Athletic Conference postseason honors, with Malia Fisher (First Team) and Dominique Ennis (Second Team) earning spots on the AAC All-Conference teams. Fisher also received the Ambassador Award and was named to the All-Defensive Team. Aniah Alexis was named to the All-Freshman Team, while Victoria Flores earned a spot on the All-Newcomer Team.
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 12.7 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 12.2 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 1,277. 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.
Players Mentioned
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/ Women's BasketballWBB: Rice vs. Marshall Postgame Presser
Wednesday, March 09