2017–18 Rice Owls women's basketball team

2017–18 Rice Owls women's basketball
WNIT, Second Round
Conference	Conference USA
Record	23–10 (10–6 C-USA)
Head coach	Tina Langley (3rd season)
Assistant coaches	Lee Aduddell Tasha Brown Winston Gandy
Home arena	Tudor Fieldhouse

2017–18 Conference USA women's basketball standings

	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
UAB	13	–	3		.813			27	–	7		.794
Western Kentucky †	12	–	4		.750			24	–	9		.727
Rice	10	–	6		.625			23	–	10		.697
Louisiana Tech	10	–	6		.625			19	–	12		.613
Middle Tennessee	10	–	6		.625			18	–	13		.581
Charlotte	10	–	6		.625			14	–	16		.467
UTEP	7	–	9		.438			17	–	14		.548
Florida Atlantic	7	–	9		.438			13	–	15		.464
Southern Miss	7	–	9		.438			15	–	15		.500
North Texas	6	–	10		.375			17	–	14		.548
UTSA	6	–	10		.375			9	–	21		.300
Old Dominion	6	–	10		.375			8	–	23		.258
FIU	5	–	11		.313			8	–	21		.276
Marshall	3	–	13		.188			9	–	20		.310
† 2018 C-USA Tournament winner As of 20 March 2018 Rankings from AP poll

The 2017–18 Rice Owls women's basketball team represented Rice University during the 2017–18 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Owls, led by third year head coach Tina Langley, played their home games at the Tudor Fieldhouse and were members of Conference USA. They finished the season 23–10, 10–6 in C-USA play to finish in a 4 way tie for third place. They advanced to the semifinals of the C-USA women's tournament where they lost to UAB. They revived an at-large bid to the Women's National Invitation Tournament where they defeated Texas State in the first round before losing to New Mexico in the second round.

Previous season

They finished the season 22–13, 8–10 in C-USA play to finish in a 3 way tie for eighth place. They advanced to the quarterfinals of the C-USA women's tournament where they lost to Middle Tennessee. They were invited to the WBI where they defeat Lamar, Texas–Rio Grande Valley, Idaho and UNC Greensboro to become champions of the Women's Basketball Invitational.

Roster

2017–18 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) So St. Anthony HS Long Beach, CA G 2 Sydne Wiggins 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) Fr Harrison HS Powder Springs, GA G 5 Lauren Grigsby 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) Jr Dekaney HS Spring, TX G 10 Wendy Knight 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) Sr Reagan HS San Antonio, TX G 13 Erica Ogwumike 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) RS So Cypress Woods HS Pepperdine Cypress, TX G 20 Shani Rainey 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) Sr Lovejoy HS Fairview, TX G 21 Gabrielle Stanton 5 ft 7 in (1.7 m) Jr Kingwood HS Kingwood, TX G/F 22 Nicole Iademarco 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) RS Jr The Woodlands HS Arizona State The Woodlands, TX F/C 23 Alexah Chrisman 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) Fr McAuley HS Lawrenceburg, IN F 24 Temi Alao 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) Fr Allen HS Allen, TX G 25 Kendall Ellig 5 ft 7 in (1.7 m) So Liberty Christian School Flower Mound, TX F 30 Olivia Ogwumike 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) RS Jr Cypress Woods HS Pepperdine Cypress, TX C 32 Nancy Mulkey  6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) So Cypress Woods HS Oklahoma Cypress, TX C 40 Gabby Ozoude 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) So Bellbrook HS Bellbrook, OH	Head coach Tina Langley (West Alabama) Assistant coach(es) Lee Aduddell (Abilene Christian) Tasha Brown (St. Ambrose) Winston Gandy (Maryland) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt Roster Last update: December 23, 2017

Schedule

Date time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Non-conference regular season
November 10* 3:00 p.m.		at Grand Canyon	W 69–59	1–0	GCU Arena (818) Phoenix, AZ
November 12* 2:00 p.m.		at Northern Arizona	W 88–83	2–0	Walkup Skydome (297) Flagstaff, AZ
November 18* 2:00 p.m.		Houston Baptist	W 67–45	3–0	Tudor Fieldhouse (576) Houston, TX
November 21* 6:30 p.m.		at Sam Houston State	W 79–50	4–0	Bernard Johnson Coliseum (554) Huntsville, TX
November 24* 2:00 p.m.		Little Rock	W 58–51	5–0	Tudor Fieldhouse (336) Houston, TX
November 26* 1:00 p.m., ESPN3		at Kansas	L 65–73	5–1	Allen Fieldhouse (1,546) Lawrence, KS
November 29* 7:00 p.m.		at No. 18 Texas A&M	L 76–82	5–2	Reed Arena (3,009) College Station, TX
December 9* 2:00 p.m.		Incarnate Word	W 60–43	6–2	Tudor Fieldhouse (562) Houston, TX
December 14* 7:00 p.m.		Louisiana–Monroe	W 63–47	7–2	Tudor Fieldhouse (423) Houston, TX
December 18* 7:00 p.m.		at Texas A&M–Corpus Christi	W 67–56	8–2	American Bank Center (331) Corpus Christi, TX
December 21* 2:00 p.m.		at Prairie View A&M	W 88–68	9–2	William J. Nicks Building (110) Prairie View, TX
December 30* 2:00 p.m., ESPN3		Columbia	W 67–44	10–2	Tudor Fieldhouse (802) Houston, TX
Conference USA regular season
January 5 7:00 p.m., beIN		at North Texas	W 50–49	11–2 (1–0)	UNT Coliseum (1,211) Denton,TX
January 7 2:00 p.m.		UTSA	W 83–52	12–2 (2–0)	Tudor Fieldhouse (651) Houston, TX
January 11 6:00 p.m.		at Florida Atlantic	W 67–53	13–2 (3–0)	FAU Arena (879) Boca Raton, FL
January 13 6:00 p.m.		at FIU	L 58–68	13–3 (3–1)	FIU Arena (346) Miami, FL
January 20 6:00 p.m.		at Charlotte	W 62–55	14–3 (4–1)	Dale F. Halton Arena (802) Charlotte, NC
January 26 7:00 p.m.		UTEP	W 56–42	15–3 (5–1)	Tudor Fieldhouse (681) Houston, TX
January 28 2:00 p.m., ESPN3		Old Dominion	W 53–45	16–3 (6–1)	Tudor Fieldhouse (643) Houston, TX
February 1 7:00 p.m., beIN		Southern Miss	W 62–56	17–3 (7–1)	Tudor Fieldhouse (626) Houston, TX
February 7 6:30 p.m.		at Louisiana Tech	L 55–75	17–4 (7–2)	Thomas Assembly Center (2,039) Ruston, LA
February 10 2:00 p.m.		Western Kentucky	W 73–58	18–4 (8–2)	Tudor Fieldhouse (945) Houston, TX
February 15 6:00 p.m.		at UAB	L 63–70	18–5 (8–3)	Bartow Arena (597) Birmingham, AL
February 17 2:00 p.m., ESPN3		at Middle Tennessee	L 41–51	18–6 (8–4)	Murphy Center (4,235) Murfreesboro, TN
February 22 7:00 p.m.		Marshall	W 87–44	19–6 (9–4)	Tudor Fieldhouse (586) Houston, TX
February 25 2:00 p.m.		at UTSA	L 58–62	19–7 (9–5)	Convocation Center (609) San Antonio, TX
March 1 5:00 p.m.		Louisiana Tech	L 62–70	19–8 (9–6)	Tudor Fieldhouse (1,514) Houston, TX
March 3 4:30 p.m., ESPN3		North Texas	W 47–45	20–8 (10–6)	Tudor Fieldhouse (3,524) Houston, TX
Conference USA Women's Tournament
March 7 11:30 a.m.	(5)	vs. (12) Old Dominion First Round	W 70–48	21–8	The Ford Center at The Star  Frisco, TX
March 8 11:30 a.m.	(5)	vs. (4) Middle Tennessee Quarterfinals	W 61–53	22–8	The Ford Center at The Star  Frisco, TX
March 9 5:30 p.m., Stadium	(5)	vs. (1) UAB Semifinals	L 55–67	22–9	The Ford Center at The Star  Frisco, TX
WNIT
March 15* 7:00 p.m.		Texas State First Round	W 71–60	23–9	Tudor Fieldhouse (320) Houston, TX
March 20* 8:00 p.m.		at New Mexico Second Round	L 73–93	23–10	Dreamstyle Arena (3,302) Albuquerque, NM
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time.

See also

2017–18 Rice Owls men's basketball team