Women's Basketball
Raina Perez
- Title:
- Assistant Coach
Raina Perez joined the Owls in June 2024, as an assistant coach. Perez came to Rice from UC Riverside, where she served as an assistant coach for one season.
During the 2023-24 season at UC Riverside, Perez helped lead the Highlanders to an 18-14 record, earning a trip to the WNIT, the team's first postseason trip since the 2015-16 season. UC Riverside finished the regular season winning 13 of its final 17 games and saw the program's largest season turnaround in program history with a 12-game win improvement.
Perez began her playing career at Northern Arizona, later transferring to Cal State Fullerton, before ending her career with Coach Edmonds at NC State as a graduate transfer.
While with the Wolfpack, she started in 59 games, averaging just over nine points per game in two seasons. Perez helped lead NC State to the Elite Eight in 2022 and had the game-winning shot against Louisville in the 2021 ACC Championship game. She was a 2021 All-AAC Honorable Mention and a top 10 finalist for the Lieberman Award, presented to the nation's best point guard.
At Cal State Fullerton, she was named the Big West Player of the Year in 2019-20, leading the league in scoring with 19.8 points per game, which ranked 14th nationally. Her freshman season she led all Big Sky freshmen in scoring with 10.1 points per game.
Perez graduated from NC State in 2022 with her Master of Youth, Family and Community Sciences. She earned her Bachelor of Arts in Sociology in 2020 from Cal State Fullerton.
A native of Buckeye, Arizona, Perez is the daughter of Jeffrey and Veronica Perez.
During the 2023-24 season at UC Riverside, Perez helped lead the Highlanders to an 18-14 record, earning a trip to the WNIT, the team's first postseason trip since the 2015-16 season. UC Riverside finished the regular season winning 13 of its final 17 games and saw the program's largest season turnaround in program history with a 12-game win improvement.
Perez began her playing career at Northern Arizona, later transferring to Cal State Fullerton, before ending her career with Coach Edmonds at NC State as a graduate transfer.
While with the Wolfpack, she started in 59 games, averaging just over nine points per game in two seasons. Perez helped lead NC State to the Elite Eight in 2022 and had the game-winning shot against Louisville in the 2021 ACC Championship game. She was a 2021 All-AAC Honorable Mention and a top 10 finalist for the Lieberman Award, presented to the nation's best point guard.
At Cal State Fullerton, she was named the Big West Player of the Year in 2019-20, leading the league in scoring with 19.8 points per game, which ranked 14th nationally. Her freshman season she led all Big Sky freshmen in scoring with 10.1 points per game.
Perez graduated from NC State in 2022 with her Master of Youth, Family and Community Sciences. She earned her Bachelor of Arts in Sociology in 2020 from Cal State Fullerton.
A native of Buckeye, Arizona, Perez is the daughter of Jeffrey and Veronica Perez.
WBB: Rice vs. Marshall Postgame Presser
Wednesday, March 09
