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Thursday, March 28, 2024 — Houston, TX

Sports


SPORTS 11/30/21 11:50pm

Men Basketball goes 1-2, plays 3OT game in Gulf Coast Showcase

As many undergraduate students went home for Thanksgiving break, the Rice men’s basketball team spent their break participating in the Gulf Coast Showcase in Estero, FL where they won their first game but dropped the last two. In the first game last Monday, the Owls beat the University of Evansville 109-104 in three overtimes. However, following the win, the Owls did not have positive results for the remainder of the showcase as they lost to Oakland University 76-73 on Tuesday and were defeated by Fordham University 84-74 on Wednesday. After their Thanksgiving-week competition, the Owls are now 4-3 on the season. 


SPORTS 11/30/21 11:49pm

Volleyball heads to fourth consecutive NCAA tournament

Rice volleyball will face the University of San Diego tomorrow in the first round of the women’s volleyball NCAA tournament. This is the fourth consecutive season in which the Owls will be selected, after they received an at-large bid on Sunday night. Rice returns to the tournament after being forced to exit prior to their first match last year due to COVID-19 protocols. 


SPORTS 11/22/21 5:51pm

Women’s cross country stumbles at NCAAs

The Rice women’s cross country team fell short against the stiff competition of the NCAA Cross Country Championships Saturday morning. Racing at the Apalachee Regional Park in Tallahassee, FL, the Owls placed last out of 31 teams, in the program’s seventh overall appearance in the cross country championships. 



SPORTS 11/20/21 6:40pm

Volleyball advances to C-USA final

Rice volleyball took down Middle Tennessee State University on Saturday in straight sets to advance to their fourth straight Conference USA championship game, where they will face No. 18 Western Kentucky University. After the win, head coach Genny Volpe said that the team is playing some of their best volleyball right now as they look to clinch a spot in next month’s NCAA tournament.


SPORTS 11/17/21 12:14am

Volleyball looks to reach Conference USA hilltop

After going 17-5 during the regular season, and undefeated in conference play, Rice volleyball enters the Conference USA tournament on Friday as the No. 1 seed in the C-USA West on a 12-game win streak. On Friday, the Owls look to build upon their momentum in the first round, when they play the University of North Carolina, Charlotte. 


SPORTS 11/16/21 11:43pm

Forbes wins regionals, Women’s XC qualifies for NCAAs

Sophomore distance runner Grace Forbes followed up her conference title with a first-place finish at the NCAA South-Central Cross Country Regional on Friday in Waco, TX, helping the Rice women’s team to a second place finish. The result earned them a spot in this Saturday’s NCAA championships for just the seventh time in program history. 


SPORTS 11/16/21 11:42pm

Rice’s athlete-students

Varsity athletes aren’t the only Rice students who compete in sports at high levels. The Thresher talked to three students who participate in national competitions in sports that Rice doesn’t offer, on how they started their sport, their training and what their sport means to them.


SPORTS 11/16/21 11:41pm

Edmonds starts with split

Rice women’s basketball kicked off their season under first-year head coach Lindsay Edmonds last Tuesday night with a win against St. Edward’s University, before dropping their second game of the season to University of Louisiana, Lafayette on Saturday. These were the first games in charge of the Owls for Edmonds, who spent her last eight seasons as an assistant at North Carolina State University. 


SPORTS 11/16/21 11:37pm

Men’s Basketball falls in bayou battle

On Friday, Rice Men’s Basketball traveled down the road to the Fertitta Center to face off against No. 15 University of Houston. In the first battle between the Cougars and the Owls on the court since 2019, Houston emerged victorious 79-46, extending their winning streak against the Owls to seven.  


SPORTS 11/9/21 11:53pm

Soccer season of close games ends in penalty shootout

Rice soccer couldn’t survive their sixth straight overtime game last Wednesday morning, as they fell to Middle Tennessee State University in penalty kicks in the first round of the Conference USA tournament. The loss brought an end to a season that began with the Owls’ being nationally ranked entering the year for the first time in program history. According to head coach Brian Lee, while he is disappointed in the way the season ended, he always knew that last season would be a tough act to follow.


SPORTS 11/9/21 11:52pm

Volleyball caps undefeated conference season with sweep of UTSA

Ending their regular season on a strong note, Rice volleyball swept the University of Texas, San Antonio in their two-game series over the weekend at Tudor Fieldhouse. The Owls took all three sets in both matches against the Roadrunners, as Rice completed their second straight undefeated conference season and earned the No. 1 seed in the west division in the Conference USA tournament later this month. After closing their regular season with a 12 game win streak, head coach Genny Volpe said she was happy with the team’s improvement throughout the season. 


SPORTS 11/9/21 11:51pm

IM sports return from COVID-adjusted year

Student participation in intramural sports remains strong despite the challenge of navigating the COVID-19 pandemic. Since the beginning of the pandemic, IMs have been forced to adjust due to health and safety protocols. According to Chris Watkins, the assistant director of competitive sports and coordinator of intramural sports, he and his team have had to get creative in order to provide students with an opportunity to compete. 


SPORTS 11/9/21 11:49pm

Owls explore sponsorships with new NIL policy

A few months ago, the NCAA announced a long-awaited rule change that allows collegiate athletes in all sports to benefit from their name, image and likeness (NIL), including through sponsorship deals. Since then, many Rice student-athletes have taken advantage of the new policy by garnering partnerships and sponsorships with local and national companies. 



SPORTS 11/2/21 11:36pm

New look women’s hoops is ready for new season

When the calendar turns over into November, it not only means that Thanksgiving is right around the corner , but that it’s time to start the college basketball season. With the opening night at Tudor Fieldhouse set for this Tuesday, the Rice women’s basketball team looks to follow up on their WNIT championship last season with another strong year, but will have to overcome an offseason of turnover first.


SPORTS 11/2/21 11:34pm

Men’s basketball to rely on experience this year

Following last year’s quarterfinal exit in the Conference USA tournament and their 15-13 record, men’s basketball head coach Scott Pera and his team hope to have a more successful season as they continue to build the program for the future. Pera will be entering his fifth season as the head coach of the Owls and had his first winning season leading the Owls last year. 


SPORTS 11/2/21 11:31pm

Lindsay Edmonds knows it’s all about the people

Long before she was offered the head coaching job at Rice, Lindsay Edmonds knew the one thing she would focus on if she ever got a chance to take over a program of her own. “I learned from both [former James Madison University head coach] Kenny Brooks and [North Carolina State University head coach] Wes Moore how to do things the right way in your program and with the right people,” Edmonds said. “It was a non-negotiable for both of them so I know that’s how I want to run my program — [making] sure that I’m getting the right people here. It’s not just about basketball players, it’s about getting well-rounded [people].”


SPORTS 10/26/21 11:37pm

Soccer beats MTSU in overtime on senior day

Junior midfielder Delaney Schultz sent Middle Tennessee State University home in the 102nd minute on Friday night as she headed in a corner kick in the match’s second overtime period, earning Rice a 2-1 win. The victory snaps a two game losing streak for the Owls and improves their record on the season to 10-5-1.


SPORTS 10/26/21 11:33pm

Make no mistake, joining the AAC is a great move

The American Athletic Conference, as baseball hall of famer Yogi Berra famously said about the future, ain’t what it used to be. With the University of Houston, University of Cincinnati and University of Central Florida all leaving for the Big 12, the AAC will lose arguably its three most valuable members before Rice plays a game in their new conference. Those three were all key to the AAC’s push to become the sixth major conference: UCF made a legitimate College Football Playoff push with back to back undefeated regular seasons in 2017 and 2018, Houston made the men’s Final Four last year and Cincinnati is currently ranked No. 2 in the country in football. To make matters worse, the University of Connecticut, easily the best women’s basketball program in the country, left the AAC in 2020. The conference that Rice will join in a few years will be a far cry from the AAC of recent years.