2023–24 Rice Owls women's basketball team

2023–24 Rice Owls women's basketball
AAC Tournament Champions
NCAA tournament, First Round
ConferenceAmerican Athletic Conference
Record19–15 (9–9 AAC)
Head coach
Assistant coaches
  • Lakevia Boykin
  • Nick Grant
  • Danyelle Grant
Home arenaTudor Fieldhouse
Seasons
2023–24 American Athletic Conference women's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
Tulsa 13 5   .722 25 10   .714
North Texas 13 5   .722 23 9   .719
Temple 13 5   .722 20 12   .625
UTSA 10 8   .556 18 15   .545
South Florida 10 8   .556 19 14   .576
Charlotte 9 9   .500 16 15   .516
UAB 9 9   .500 18 14   .563
Memphis 9 9   .500 13 17   .433
East Carolina 9 9   .500 19 14   .576
Rice 9 9   .500 19 15   .559
SMU 8 10   .444 14 16   .467
Florida Atlantic 6 12   .333 11 19   .367
Wichita State 5 13   .278 10 22   .313
Tulane 3 15   .167 12 20   .375
2024 AAC tournament winner

The 2023–24 Rice Owls women's basketball team represented Rice University during the 2023–24 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Owls, led by third-year head coach Lindsay Edmonds, played their home games at Tudor Fieldhouse in Houston, Texas as first year members of the American Athletic Conference.

Previous season[edit]

The Owls finished the 2022–23 season 23–9, 13–7 in C-USA play to finish in third place.[1] As the #3 seed in the C-USA tournament and receiving a first-round bye, they were upset by #6 seed UTSA in the quarterfinals.[2] They reieved an at-large bid into the WNIT, where they defeated BYU in the first round,[3] before falling to Oregon in the second round.[4] This was the Owls' final season as members of Conference USA, as they moved to the American Athletic Conference effective July 1, 2023.[5]

Roster[edit]

2023–24 Rice Owls women's basketball team
Players Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Year Previous school Hometown
F 1 Malia Fisher 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) Jr Hebron Christian Academy Dacula, Georgia
G 2 Emily Klaczek 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) Jr UAB Hoffman Estates, Illinois
G 4 Pace Rickard 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m) Fr Grand Rapids Christian High School Grand Rapids, Michigan
G 5 Destiny Jackson 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) Sr Mansfield Timberview High School Mansfield, Texas
G 11 Dominique Ennis 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) So King's Christian Collegiate Fort Erie, Ontario
G 12 Layla Conley 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) Fr John Marshall Harlan High School San Antonio, Texas
G 14 Maya Bokunewicz 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) Jr State College Area High School State College, Pennsylvania
G 20 Hailey Adams 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) RS Fr Tom C. Clark High School San Antonio, Texas
G/F 23 Kennedy Clifton 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) So Bishop Ireton High School Upper Marlboro, Maryland
G 24 Ashlyn Zhang 5 ft 7 in (1.7 m) So Flintridge Preparatory School South Pasadena, California
G 30 Jazzy Owens-Barnett 5 ft 7 in (1.7 m) So Frisco Liberty High School Plano, Texas
G 32 Trinity Gooden 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) Jr Choctaw High School Midwest City, Oklahoma
C 33 Fatou Samb 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) Sr California Houston, Texas
C 35 Sussy Ngulefac 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) Jr Samford Lilburn, Georgia
C 44 Shelby Hayes 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) So Cedar Park High School Cedar Park, Texas
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)

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

Roster
Last update: December 15, 2023

Schedule and results[edit]

Date
time, TV
Rank# Opponent# Result Record High points High rebounds High assists Site (attendance)
city, state
Exhibition
November 1, 2023*
7:00 pm
Angelo State W 101–47 
 26  Klaczek   8  Samb   5  Jackson  Tudor Fieldhouse 
Houston, TX
Non-conference regular season
November 6, 2023*
7:00 pm, ESPN+
Houston Christian W 70–38  1–0
 14  Ennis   10  Fisher   3  Jackson  Tudor Fieldhouse (622)
Houston, TX
November 9, 2023*
7:00 pm, ESPN+
at Abilene Christian W 69–58  2–0
 13  2 Tied   6  Fisher   3  Klaczek  Moody Coliseum (1,040)
Abilene, TX
November 12, 2023*
1:00 pm, ESPN+
at TCU L 42–67  2–1
 11  Ennis   5  Samb   2  3 Tied  Schollmaier Arena (1,788)
Fort Worth, TX
November 16, 2023*
7:00 pm, ESPN+
Georgia Tech L 75–78  2–2
 13  Jackson   7  2 Tied   3  Klaczek  Tudor Fieldhouse (1,088)
Houston, TX
November 19, 2023*
2:00 pm, ESPN+
Saint Mary's W 73–62  3–2
 26  Bokunewicz   9  Fisher   5  Fisher  Tudor Fieldhouse (541)
Houston, TX
November 25, 2023*
2:00 pm, ESPN+
at Stephen F. Austin L 56–67  3–3
 12  Jackson   7  Hayes   2  3 Tied  William R. Johnson Coliseum (751)
Nacogdoches, TX
November 29, 2023*
7:00 pm, ESPN+
Texas Southern W 74–44  4–3
 25  Ennis   7  Hayes   5  Ennis  Tudor Fieldhouse (591)
Houston, TX
December 2, 2023*
1:00 pm, ESPN+
at Texas A&M–Corpus Christi W 84–56  5–3
 14  Ennis   9  Fisher   5  Hayes  Dugan Wellness Center (824)
Corpus Christi, TX
December 9, 2023*
2:00 pm, ESPN+
No. 23 Gonzaga L 72–80  5–4
 16  Jackson   6  Hayes   3  2 Tied  Tudor Fieldhouse (1,367)
Houston, TX
December 16, 2023*
2:00 pm, ESPN+
Prairie View A&M W 85–59  6–4
 14  Owens-Barnett   8  Hayes   5  Gooden  Tudor Fieldhouse (765)
Houston, TX
December 20, 2023*
1:00 pm, ESPN+
at Houston
Rivalry
L 63–71 OT 6–5
 16  Ennis   10  Fisher   4  Jackson  Fertitta Center (1,033)
Houston, TX
AAC regular season
January 3, 2024
7:00 pm, ESPN+
Wichita State W 76–64  7–5
(1–0)
 17  Ennis   8  Adams   3  2 Tied  Fertitta Center (424)
Houston, TX
January 7, 2024
2:00 pm, ESPN+
at SMU W 65–63  8–5
(2–0)
 17  Jackson   10  Fisher   7  Jackson  Moody Coliseum (985)
University Park, TX
January 11, 2024
7:00 pm, ESPN+
Charlotte L 54–61  8–6
(2–1)
 14  Fisher   12  Jackson   2  2 Tied  Tudor Fieldhouse (697)
Houston, TX
January 14, 2024
12:00 pm, ESPNU
South Florida W 67–64  9–6
(3–1)
 23  Fisher   13  Fisher   6  Jackson  Tudor Fieldhouse (893)
Houston, TX
January 17, 2024
10:00 am, ESPN+
at East Carolina W 80–67  10–6
(4–1)
 19  Ennis   10  Fisher   7  Jackson  Williams Arena (5,552)
Greenville, NC
January 20, 2024
2:00 pm, ESPN+
at Tulane W 61–44  11–6
(5–1)
 16  Ennis   6  Bokunewicz   5  Jackson  Devlin Fieldhouse (982)
New Orleans, LA
January 24, 2024
6:30 pm, ESPN+
at Tulsa L 65–70  11–7
(5–2)
 17  2 Tied   9  Klaczek   3  Ennis  Reynolds Center (1,768)
Tulsa, OK
January 27, 2024
2:00 pm, ESPN+
Memphis L 66–73  11–8
(5–3)
 20  Jackson   12  Adams   3  2 Tied  Tudor Fieldhouse (841)
Houston, TX
January 31, 2024
7:00 pm, ESPN+
SMU W 69–60  12–8
(6–3)
 19  Ngulefac   9  Adams   7  Jackson  Tudor Fieldhouse (804)
Houston, TX
February 3, 2024
12:00 pm, ESPN+
at Florida Atlantic L 63–68  12–9
(6–4)
 16  Jackson   7  Ennis   3  Owens-Barnett  Eleanor R. Baldwin Arena (484)
Boca Raton, FL
February 7, 2024
6:00 pm, ESPN+
at South Florida W 69–59  13–9
(7–4)
 21  Owens-Barnett   7  Ennis   4  Jackson  Yuengling Center (3,005)
Tampa, FL
February 10, 2024
5:00 pm, ESPN+
Tulsa W 78–66  14–9
(8–4)
 17  2 Tied   12  Adams   4  2 Tied  Tudor Fieldhouse (814)
Houston, TX
February 14, 2024
7:00 pm, ESPN+
East Carolina W 75–57  15–9
(9–4)
 22  Fisher   9  Adams   5  Owens-Barnett  Tudor Fieldhouse (623)
Houston, TX
February 17, 2024
1:00 pm, ESPN+
at UAB L 74–87  15–10
(9–5)
 20  Fisher   8  Adams   6  Jackson  Bartow Arena (927)
Birmingham, AL
February 20, 2024
7:00 pm, ESPN+
at Memphis L 74–79 OT 15–11
(9–6)
 21  Ennis   6  Ennis   5  Fisher  Elma Roane Fieldhouse (881)
Memphis, TN
February 25, 2024
2:00 pm, ESPN+
Temple L 66–75  15–12
(9–7)
 24  Fisher   9  Jackson   6  Jackson  Tudor Fieldhouse (1,109)
Houston, TX
March 2, 2024
2:00 pm, ESPN+
North Texas L 54–63  15–13
(9–8)
 13  Ngulefac   10  Klaczek   7  Jackson  Tudor Fieldhouse (1,071)
Houston, TX
March 5, 2024
6:30 pm, ESPN+
at UTSA L 52–60  15–14
(9–9)
 30  Fisher   12  Fisher   2  3 Tied  Convocation Center (1,252)
San Antonio, TX
AAC tournament
March 10, 2024
6:00 pm, ESPN+
(10) vs. (7) UAB
Second Round
W 71–56  16–14
 20  Fisher   9  Ngulefac   4  2 Tied  Dickies Arena (1,483)
Fort Worth, TX
March 11, 2024
6:00 pm, ESPN+
(10) vs. (2) North Texas
Quarterfinals
W 61–59  17–14
 16  Jackson   10  Fisher   6  Jackson  Dickies Arena (1,602)
Fort Worth, TX
March 12, 2024
8:00 pm, ESPN+
(10) vs. (3) Temple
Semifinals
W 60–57  18–14
 17  Fisher   5  3 Tied   4  2 Tied  Dickies Arena (1,520)
Fort Worth, TX
March 13, 2024
6:00 pm, ESPNU
(10) vs. (9) East Carolina
Championship
W 61–41  19–14
 15  Ngulefac   11  Ngulefac   4  2 Tied  Dickies Arena (2,682)
Fort Worth, TX
NCAA Tournament
March 22, 2024
3:00 pm, ESPN
(14 A2) at (3 A2) No. 8 LSU
First Round
L 60–70  19–15
 15  Jackson   5  Fisher   5  Gooden  Pete Maravich Assembly Center (12,957)
Baton Rouge, LA
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
All times are in Central.

Sources:[6][7]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "2022-23 Women's Basketball Standings". Conference USA. Retrieved December 15, 2023.
  2. ^ "Owls Fall Late to UTSA in C-USA Quarterfinal". Rice University Athletics. Retrieved December 15, 2023.
  3. ^ "Slow start spells the end of the season for BYU in WNIT loss to Rice". Yahoo! News. Retrieved December 15, 2023.
  4. ^ "Oregon women keep rolling with rout of Rice to advance to WNIT Super 16". The Register-Guard. Retrieved December 15, 2023.
  5. ^ "American Athletic Conference Welcomes Six New Members". American Athletic Conference. Retrieved December 15, 2023.
  6. ^ "2023-24 Women's Basketball Schedule". Rice University Athletics. Retrieved December 15, 2023.
  7. ^ "Rice Owls 2023-24 Regular Season NCAAW Schedule". ESPN. Retrieved December 15, 2023.