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Sports

SPORTS 2/1/22 11:29pm

Schmidt reflects on coaching career after 200th win

By Savannah Kuchar

As of last week, Rice women’s tennis head coach Elizabeth Schmidt now has 200 career wins to go along with her six conference championships and nine NCAA tournament appearances. But according to Schmidt, it’s the people with whom she’s shared these accomplishments that have made them special.

SPORTS 2/1/22 11:25pm

Men’s basketball misses opportunity to knock off second place LA Tech

By Pavithr Goli

Last Thursday, the Rice men’s basketball team traveled to the Thomas Assembly Center in Ruston, LA to face off against then conference co-leaders, Louisiana Tech University. The Bulldogs defeated the Owls 80-63 in the first matchup between the two squads this season. The Bulldogs were able to sustain an Owls push at the beginning of the game and put together several significant runs to put the game out of reach. According to head coach Scott Pera, the Owls played with plenty of effort, but weren’t consistent enough.

SPORTS 2/1/22 11:23pm

Both T&F teams earn top-3 spots at UH indoor meet

By Jonah Lubin

The Rice men’s and women’s track and field teams both finished near the top of the leaderboard at this past weekend’s meet at the University of Houston, as the men’s team finished second out of ten teams and the women’s team finished third. 

SPORTS 2/1/22 11:18pm

Simpson-Sullivan discusses unlikely journey to stardom

By Reed Myers

Tara Simpson-Sullivan is a star by any standard. Last June, she earned a gold medal in the women’s hammer throw at the British Championships and placed fourth in the same event at the NCAA championships. Given her recent successes, it might surprise you to learn that she didn’t even know what the hammer throw was until one fateful meet when she happened to stumble upon it. 

SPORTS 1/25/22 11:48pm

Women’s basketball falls to Charlotte in their longest-ever game

By Daniel Schrager

The Rice women’s basketball team played the longest game in program history on Saturday, falling to the University of North Carolina at Charlotte in four overtimes. With Rice holding a lead in the final seconds of each of the first two overtime periods, the 49ers hit game-tying shots to keep the game alive. The deadlock was finally broken in the closing minutes of the fourth overtime, as the 49ers pulled away to an 88-83 win, dropping the Owls to 0-5 in conference play. According to head coach Lindsay Edmonds, even though the Owls didn’t get the win, they impressed her throughout the game with their grit and resolve.

SPORTS 1/25/22 11:47pm

Men’s basketball looks for statement win against LA Tech

By Pavithr Goli

The Rice men’s basketball team will play an important conference game against Louisiana Tech University on Thursday. Having won 11 and lost 7 games so far this season, the Owls will look to improve on their 4-3 Conference USA record when they play the Bulldogs, who are tied for first place in the conference, in Ruston, Louisiana. 

SPORTS 1/25/22 11:46pm

Swimming gets conference win against UNT on Senior Day

By Reed Myers

​​The Owls beat the University of North Texas last Saturday in their dual meet 175-119, to secure their first win of the season. In addition to the competition at the Gibbs Recreation and Wellness Center, the Owls celebrated their seven seniors during their senior day festivities. According to senior Marta Cano-Minarro, the meet is always an emotional one, but it was different this time as she was one of the swimmers being honored.

SPORTS 1/25/22 10:56pm

From conference championships to coaching Olympians: Victor Lopez reflects on his track & field journey

By Cadan Hanson

Fifteen years after retiring as the women’s track and field coach at Rice, Victor Lopez heard his name called during the induction ceremony for the Texas Track & Field Hall of Fame. As one of the seven members in the 13th class of inductees, Lopez now stands among the likes of nine-time gold medalist Carl Lewis and other Texas track and field legends. Although it is the most recent accolade for the retired track and field coach, it is just the latest of numerous awards and accolades that he earned throughout his career.

SPORTS 1/18/22 11:46pm

Men’s basketball gets outmanned by WKU

By Chloe Singer

On Thursday, the Rice men’s basketball team faced off against the reigning Conference USA regular season champions, Western Kentucky University, in Bowling Green, Kentucky. Despite holding a halftime lead, Rice fell 80-66 for their seventh consecutive loss to Western Kentucky.  The loss brought their record to 9-6 on the season, and dropped their conference record to 2-2.

SPORTS 1/18/22 11:43pm

Men’s indoor track and field season starts to heat up

By Pavithr Goli

This past Friday, the Rice men’s track team opened up their indoor season at the Leonard Hilton Memorial Invitational at the University of Houston. As a small meet, only 10 athletes represented the Owls at the competition last weekend. Despite the small number of participants, four Owls reached the podium. According to head coach Jon Warren, the meet was a perfect way to kick off the season. 

SPORTS 1/18/22 11:41pm

Women’s club ultimate talks nationals, upcoming season

By Reed Myers

Following cancellations due to COVID-19 that altered women’s club ultimate frisbee’s 2020 and 2021 seasons, they finally got a chance to play out their previous seasons this past fall. According to Hanszen College senior Amanda Lopatin, one of the team’s two captains, their participation in regionals this October was the first chance to play together as a team again for quite some time. 

SPORTS 1/11/22 11:01pm

Swimming loses to UH, SMU in first meet of 2022

By Pavithr Goli

The Rice swimming team was defeated by both the University of Houston and Southern Methodist University in their first meet since early December. The Owls lost to UH in their dual meet by a score of 181-104. In addition, SMU defeated the Owls by a final score of 164-98. According to head coach Seth Huston, despite the losses, he was proud of his team’s performance this weekend. 

SPORTS 1/11/22 11:00pm

Men’s basketball upsets UAB, goes 2-0 on weekend

By Cadan Hanson

The Rice men’s basketball team played their first two home games of the conference season over the weekend, leaving with two wins. On Thursday, the Owls defeated Middle Tennessee State University in a tight game, by a score of 65-61. Then, on Saturday, the Owls completed a comeback win against then-Conference USA West Division leader University of Alabama at Birmingham.  

SPORTS 1/11/22 10:59pm

Women’s hoops drops conference opener to MTSU

By Reed Myers

The Rice women’s basketball team made their long awaited return to play Friday afternoon when they opened their conference season on the road at Middle Tennessee State University. Friday’s contest marked the end of a 23-day gameless stretch which featured cancellations, postponements, and an extended Christmas break for the Owls. 

SPORTS 1/11/22 10:55pm

Two weeks of cancellations and postponements: COVID-19 surge hits Rice basketball

By Daniel Schrager

The recent surge of COVID-19 cases is bringing record numbers of infections across the country, and both Rice basketball programs are feeling its effects. During a stretch from mid-December to early January, the women’s team had three consecutive games either postponed or canceled due to COVID-19 cases within the program. Meanwhile, the men’s team saw two of its games get postponed over the same time period. According to women’s head coach Lindsay Edmonds, dealing with the surge in cases while preparing for conference play has been challenging for her team.

SPORTS 12/8/21 2:04pm

Volleyball falls to No. 2 Texas in round of 32

By Daniel Schrager

Rice volleyball’s season came to a close on Friday night as they failed to knock off No. 2 University of Texas, Austin in the second round of the NCAA tournament. The Owls fell by a score of three sets to none, despite keeping the first two sets close. After the match, head coach Genny Volpe said that the Owls played well enough to beat almost any team in the country, but the Longhorns proved to be too strong.

SPORTS 12/2/21 9:37pm

Volleyball sweeps San Diego in NCAA tourney, set for rematch with Texas

By Daniel Schrager

Rice volleyball will get another shot at No. 2 University of Texas, Austin after they swept the University of San Diego on Thursday in the first round of the NCAA tournament. The Owls took all three sets against the Toreros by at least five points, en route to the second victory in an NCAA tournament game in program history. After the game, head coach Genny Volpe said she was confident from the get-go. 

SPORTS 11/30/21 11:52pm

Does this count as progress? Football needs a more consistent formula

By Daniel Schrager

Most of the way through the 2019 season, I thought that Rice had some of the worst luck in all of college football. Through nine games, the Owls were winless, despite four one-score losses, including an eight-point loss to a Baylor University team that ended the season ranked in the top 15. All signs indicated that the Owls were much better than their 0-9 record and that their bad luck in close games was long overdue to flip. The Owls ended that season with a three-game winning streak, including two one-possession wins, appeared to confirm that theory.

SPORTS 11/30/21 11:52pm

Recap: Football ends season with comeback win over LA Tech

By Cadan Hanson

On Saturday, Rice football came back from a ten point deficit in the fourth quarter to defeat Louisiana Tech University 35-31 on Senior Day. The come-from-behind win snapped a four-game losing streak and tallied the Owls fourth win of the season, moving their record to 4-8 and 3-5 in Conference-USA.

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