2018–19 Rice Owls women's basketball team

2018–19 Rice Owls women's basketball
C-USA regular season and tournament champions
NCAA tournament, first round
ConferenceConference USA
Ranking
APNo. 21
Record28–4 (16–0 C-USA)
Head coach
Assistant coaches
  • Winston Gandy
  • Lee Aduddell
  • Latara King
Home arenaTudor Fieldhouse
Seasons
2018–19 Conference USA women's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
No. 21 Rice 16 0   1.000 28 4   .875
UAB 12 4   .750 26 7   .788
Middle Tennessee 11 5   .688 23 11   .676
Western Kentucky 11 5   .688 20 15   .571
Old Dominion 10 6   .625 21 11   .656
Marshall 10 6   .625 17 15   .531
Charlotte 9 7   .563 18 14   .563
Southern Miss 9 7   .563 18 14   .563
North Texas 7 9   .438 18 16   .529
Louisiana Tech 6 10   .375 14 16   .467
UTEP 5 11   .313 9 22   .290
UTSA 2 14   .125 7 21   .250
FIU 2 14   .125 5 24   .172
Florida Atlantic 2 14   .125 5 25   .167
2019 C-USA Tournament winner
Rankings from AP poll


The 2018–19 Rice Owls women's basketball team represented Rice University during the 2018–19 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Owls, led by fourth year head coach Tina Langley, played their home games at the Tudor Fieldhouse and were members of Conference USA. They finished the season 28–4, 16–0 in C-USA play to win the C-USA regular season championship. They also won the C-USA women's tournament to earn an automatic trip to the NCAA women's tournament which was their first trip since 2005. They lost in the first round to Marquette in an overtime thriller. With 28 wins, they finished with the most wins in school history.

On February 18, 2019, the Owls entered the AP Top 25 at No. 25. It was the Owls' first time being ranked in the AP Poll in program history. Rice won the Conference USA tournament championship game over Middle Tennessee, 69–54. Nancy Mulkey was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player.[1]

Roster

2018–19 Rice Owls women's basketball team
Players Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Year Previous school Hometown
G 1 Tayler Bennett 5 ft 7 in (1.7 m) Jr St. Anthony HS Long Beach, CA
G 2 Sydne Wiggins 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) So Harrison HS Powder Springs, GA
G 5 Lauren Grigsby 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) Sr Dekaney HS Spring, TX
G 10 Jasmine Smith 5 ft 7 in (1.7 m) Fr The Kinkaid School Cypress, TX
G 11 Haylee Swayze 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) Fr Purcell HS Purcell, OK
G 13 Erica Ogwumike 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) RS Jr Cypress Woods HS
Pepperdine
Cypress, TX
G 20 Shani Rainey 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) RS Sr Lovejoy HS Fairview, TX
C 21 Arianna McCurry 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) Fr Roseville HS Roseville, CA
G/F 22 Nicole Iademarco 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) RS Sr The Woodlands HS
Arizona State
The Woodlands, TX
C 23 Alexah Chrisman 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) So McAuley HS Lawrenceburg, IN
C 24 Temi Alao 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) RS Fr Allen HS Allen, TX
G 25 Kendall Ellig 5 ft 7 in (1.7 m) RS So Liberty Christian School Flower Mound, TX
F 30 Olivia Ogwumike 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) RS Sr Cypress Woods HS
Pepperdine
Cypress, TX
C 32 Nancy Mulkey 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) RS So Cypress Woods HS
Oklahoma
Cypress, TX
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • (W) Walk-on

Roster

Schedule

[2]

Date
time, TV
Rank# Opponent# Result Record Site (attendance)
city, state
Non-conference regular season
Nov 7, 2018*
6:00 pm
at No. 20 Texas A&M L 54–65  0–1
Reed Arena (4,043)
College Station, TX
Nov 11, 2018*
4:00 pm
at UCLA L 50–59  0–2
Pauley Pavilion (1,353)
Los Angeles, CA
Nov 17, 2018*
2:00 pm
at Little Rock W 79–65  1–2
Jack Stephens Center (818)
Little Rock, AR
Nov 20, 2018*
7:00 pm
Texas Southern W 76–71  2–2
Tudor Fieldhouse (529)
Houston, TX
Nov 23, 2018*
2:00 pm
Georgia State W 66–49  3–2
Tudor Fieldhouse (383)
Houston, TX
Nov 25, 2018*
2:00 pm
McNeese State W 93–65  4–2
Tudor Fieldhouse (380)
Houston, TX
Dec 1, 2018*
2:00 pm
New Orleans W 67–56  5–2
Tudor Fieldhouse (1,621)
Houston, TX
Dec 8, 2018*
3:00 pm
at Prairie View A&M W 68–58  6–2
William Nicks Building (240)
Prairie View, TX
Dec 15, 2018*
4:00 pm, ESPN3
SMU W 66–52  7–2
Tudor Fieldhouse (2,152)
Houston, TX
Dec 18, 2018*
7:30 pm
vs. North Carolina
Carolinas Challenge
L 50–71  7–3
Myrtle Beach Convention Center 
Myrtle Beach, SC
Dec 20, 2018*
7:30 pm
vs. Coastal Carolina
Carolinas Challenge
W 56–52  8–3
Myrtle Beach Convention Center 
Myrtle Beach, SC
Dec 29, 2018*
1:00 pm
at Incarnate Word W 74–63  9–3
McDermott Convocation Center (247)
San Antonio, TX
Conference USA regular season
Jan 3, 2019
6:00 pm
at Southern Miss W 58–47  10–3
(1–0)
Reed Green Coliseum (982)
Hattiesburg, MS
Jan 5, 2019
2:00 pm, ESPN+
at Louisiana Tech W 61–51  11–3
(2–0)
Thomas Assembly Center (1,073)
Ruston, LA
Jan 10, 2019
7:00 pm
UTSA W 85–54  12–3
(3–0)
Tudor Fieldhouse (679)
Houston, TX
Jan 12, 2019
2:00 pm
UTEP W 76–42  13–3
(4–0)
Tudor Fieldhouse (661)
Houston, TX
Jan 19, 2019
2:00 pm, ESPN3
North Texas W 64–52  14–3
(5–0)
Tudor Fieldhouse (774)
Houston, TX
Jan 24, 2019
6:30 pm, ESPN+
at Middle Tennessee W 60–47  15–3
(6–0)
Murphy Center (4,053)
Murfreesboro, TN
Jan 26, 2019
2:00 pm
at UAB W 55–43  16–3
(7–0)
Bartow Arena (635)
Birmingham, AL
Jan 31, 2019
7:00 pm, ESPN+
Charlotte W 61–51  17–3
(8–0)
Tudor Fieldhouse (502)
Houston, TX
Feb 2, 2019
2:00 pm, ESPN3
Old Dominion W 48–42  18–3
(9–0)
Tudor Fieldhouse (737)
Houston, TX
Feb 7, 2019
6:00 pm
at Western Kentucky W 68–46  19–3
(10–0)
E. A. Diddle Arena (1,347)
Bowling Green, KY
Feb 9, 2019
11:00 am
at Marshall W 79–67  20–3
(11–0)
Cam Henderson Center (1,042)
Huntington, WV
Feb 14, 2019
7:00 pm, beIN
FIU W 76–44  21–3
(12–0)
Tudor Fieldhouse (654)
Houston, TX
Feb 14, 2019
2:00 pm
Florida Atlantic W 63–35  22–3
(13–0)
Tudor Fieldhouse (755)
Houston, TX
Feb 23, 2019
2:00 pm, ESPN+
No. 25 at North Texas W 59–47  23–3
(14–0)
The Super Pit (751)
Denton, TX
Mar 2, 2019
2:00 pm, ESPN+
No. 24 Louisiana Tech W 78–42  24–3
(15–0)
Tudor Fieldhouse (2,606)
Houston, TX
Mar 7, 2019
7:00 pm, ESPN+
No. 24 at UTSA W 72–46  25–3
(16–0)
Convocation Center (579)
San Antonio, TX
Conference USA Women's Tournament
Mar 14, 2019
11:00 am, ESPN+
(1) No. 24 vs. (9) North Texas
Quarterfinals
W 61–43  26–3
The Ford Center at The Star 
Frisco, TX
Mar 15, 2019
5:30 pm, Stadium
(1) No. 24 vs. (4) Western Kentucky
Semifinals
W 64–57  27–3
The Ford Center at The Star 
Frisco, TX
Mar 16, 2019
4:30 pm, CBSSN
(1) No. 24 vs. (3) Middle Tennessee
Championship Game
W 69–54  28–3
The Ford Center at The Star 
Frisco, TX
NCAA Women's Tournament
Mar 22, 2019*
1:00 pm, ESPN2
(12 C) No. 24 vs. (5 C) No. 18 Marquette
First Round
L 54–58 OT 28–4
Reed Arena 
College Station, TX
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
C=Chicago Region.
All times are in Central Time.

Rankings

Regular Season Polls
Poll Pre-
Season
Week
2
Week
3
Week
4
Week
5
Week
6
Week
7
Week
8
Week
9
Week
10
Week
11
Week
12
Week
13
Week
14
Week
15
Week
16
Week
17
Week
18
Week
19
Final
AP RV RV RV 25 24 24 24 21
Coaches RV RV RV RV RV
Legend
  Increase in ranking
  Decrease in ranking
  No Change
(RV)   Received Votes
(NR)   Not Ranked

See also

2018–19 Rice Owls men's basketball team

References

  1. ^ "MVP Mulkey helps No. 24 Rice women top MTSU for C-USA title". NewsTimes. March 17, 2019. Retrieved March 17, 2019.
  2. ^ "Rice University Women's Basketball :: Official Athletic Site". Riceowls.com.