Sports

Rice out-swims new-look AAC at conference, still finishes fourth

If it was only the American Athletic Conference swimming championships, Rice’s would be bringing home a championship trophy. Despite starting 369 points behind first place because they don’t have a diving team, the Owls claimed the most points in the pool and took fourth place overall in the first AAC meet in school history. The Owls tallied 1,136 points, behind first place University of Houston (1,311.5), second place Florida International University (1,300) and third place Southern Methodist University (1208.5). After the meet, head coach Seth Huston was happy with the Owl’s performance.

Simpson-Sullivan, Slinkman break conference records at C-USAs

This past weekend, both of Rice’s track and field teams traveled to Birmingham, Ala. to compete at the Conference USA Indoor Championships, where several athletes broke Rice and C-USA records and many others recorded personal bests. The women’s team, who had its best showing in three years, placed second in the conference and took gold in three events. The men’s team also had a strong performance, winning four events and placing third overall.

Baseball drops fireworks-filled opening series to Louisiana

Rice baseball lost their first two games against the University of Louisiana at Lafayette last weekend, winning the third to avoid the sweep. Rice was defeated 5-4 on Friday and 11-2 on Saturday, then overcame an early deficit to beat the Ragin’ Cajuns 12-8 Sunday afternoon.

After years of trying, Bloomgren finally landed JT Daniels

While he was in Mobile, Ala., preparing his team for Rice’s first bowl appearance in eight years, head coach Mike Bloomgren was also working on another project. JT Daniels, a former five-star recruit who started three games for the University of Georgia’s 2021 national championship team, had just entered the transfer portal and Bloomgren wanted to lure the then-West Virginia University quarterback to South Main.

‘Evolving daily’: Rice athletes navigate the NIL world

Since the NCAA introduced a new policy allowing student-athletes to profit off of their name, image and likeness more than a year ago, Rice athletes are increasingly agreeing to sponsorships with a variety of businesses. Student-athletes have had the opportunity to partner with everything from clothing stores, to food and drink brands, to restaurants. According to Quincy Olivari, a junior guard on the men’s basketball team, he’s used the new NIL rules to sponsor companies to which he feels a personal connection.

2-15-2023 Sports Cartoon: "Owl-American"

MBB falls to conference-leading FAU in high scoring affair

The Rice men’s basketball team fell 90-81 to Florida Atlantic University on Thursday. It was a matchup of the Owls, but ultimately Sammy and Rice were no match for Owlsley and FAU, who remained undefeated at home and moved to 23-2 on the season. The loss was Rice’s fourth consecutive in conference play, dropping the Owls to 6-7 record in Conference USA and 15-9 on the season. 

Five years later, Wayne Graham reflects on retirement, end of Rice tenure

Wayne Graham lives in Austin now. A lifelong Houstonian, the former Rice baseball coach decided to move three hours east in 2020 after spending nearly each of the first 84 years of his life in the Bayou City. But according to Graham, who left the Owls after 27 seasons in 2018, he doesn’t miss his hometown.

Smigelski hopes to build on breakout freshman season

When your name is mentioned in the same breath as former Rice Owl and MLB all-star Anthony Rendon, you’re in good company. For sophomore infielder Aaron Smigelski, that honor was bestowed early in his career, as he became the first Owl since Rendon to hit two home runs in a game three different times over the course of his freshman campaign.

Baseball regroups ahead of Cruz’s second season

When Rice baseball named Jose Cruz Jr. as their new head coach in June of 2021 — on the heels of the program’s first four consecutive losing seasons since the 1980s — the decision was lauded as a step in the right direction. The 2022 season, Cruz’s first at the helm, was anything but, with the Owls’ posting a 17-39 record and failing to appear in the Conference USA tournament for a third consecutive year. 

WBB splits weekend road trip at Charlotte, UAB

Last week, the Rice women’s basketball team flew east for a two-game road trip. Their first stop was a visit to the reigning Conference USA champions, the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, where they lost 66-61. For the second leg of their trip, the Owls took on the University of Alabama at Birmingham, where they bounced back from​​ Thursday’s loss with a 67-57 victory over the Blazers. After the trip, head coach Lindsay Edmonds was pleased with how the team was able to bounce back on Saturday after Thursday’s loss.

2-1-2023 Sports Cartoon: "Owl-American"

Freshman Maya Moise talks passion for lifting

Maya Moise’s path to becoming one of the top weightlifters in the state of Texas began four years ago, with a piece of missing cartilage. Moise started playing basketball at six years old and continued until early high school before her basketball career was cut short by an injured knee. The missing cartilage prompted a yearlong period of rest that culminated in Moise discovering a love for weightlifting.

After stretch of tough luck, Quincy Olivari’s shots are falling

Quincy Olivari got hit by a car once. Two summers ago, Rice’s now-junior guard was biking in Hawaii when a driver ran a stop sign and sent him flying onto the pavement. But according to Olivari, while he couldn’t dodge the car, he did dodge a proverbial bullet.

MBB hosts UNT with chance to prove they’re one of C-USA’s best

Currently in third place, the Rice men’s basketball team will have a chance to prove they belong among Conference USA’s best this weekend when they host the University of North Texas on Saturday at Tudor Fieldhouse. 

Even after cold-streak, WBB’s rebuild is still ahead of schedule

Rice’s women’s basketball team got off to a ridiculous start this year. The Owls won their first nine games, their best-ever start to a season in program history. They weren’t just beating up on an easy non-conference schedule either. The Owls beat a pair of power-five teams in Texas A&M University and Texas Christian University, in addition to a win over the American Athletic Conference’s University of Houston (although admittedly all three  of those higher-profile teams are having down years).

T&F indoor season gets off to fast start at UH meet

For the first time this year, both of Rice’s track and field teams were in action on the same weekend, competing at the University of Houston’s Robert Platt Invitational. The meet was the first of the indoor season for Rice’s men’s team and the second for the women’s team, which sent a few competitors to UH the previous weekend. Five Owls took gold over the weekend, and seven others medaled.

Ashlee Austin discusses her journey from bench to brilliance

If you watched any Rice women’s basketball games in the past two years, you’ve seen No. 22 with pink highlights hitting shots and making plays. But if you saw Ashlee Austin as a freshman, you would be shocked to see the transformation that the forward from Johns Creek, Georgia has gone through: from the last seat on the bench to the face of Rice women’s basketball.

Quiet confidence: Travis Evee wants the last shot

In Rice’s Jan. 14 home victory over conference rival University of Texas at El Paso, junior guard Travis Evee took the last shot and did not miss. With seven seconds on the clock and the Miners leading by one, Evee got the inbound pass from sophomore guard/forward Cameron Sheffield, drove the length of the court, jumped off his right foot just inside the three-point line and floated the ball in. The buzzer rang, and the game ended. Evee ran to hug his coach and celebrate.

Evee beats the buzzer as MBB bests UTEP in chaotic final minute

If momentum really is as powerful a force in sports as countless armchair coaches and talking heads would claim, someone forgot to tell Rice junior guard Travis Evee. Up by five with 30 seconds to go, the Owls men’s basketball team allowed a quick basket, turned the ball over, allowed another layup, turned the ball over once more and committed a foul with six seconds remaining to give the University of Texas at El Paso a chance to take the lead with two free throws. The Miners’ Tae Hardy hit both free throws, and Rice, now trailing by one, appeared on the verge of a collapse of somewhere between normal and epic proportions. But Evee told “uncle Mo” to sit down, driving the length of the court to sink a left-handed floater as time expired to give the Owls a whiplash-inducing 83-82 win.