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Monday, March 18, 2024 — Houston, TX

Sports


SPORTS 2/28/23 10:51pm

Fast start propels WBB past Charlotte on Senior Day

Starting an all-senior lineup, the Rice women’s basketball team never trailed on their way to a 64-52 win over the University of North Carolina at Charlotte on Saturday. The Senior Day win improved Rice to 20-7 on the year and marked their eighth consecutive home win. 


SPORTS 2/28/23 10:50pm

Baseball sinks at Sunken Diamond, swept by No. 2 Stanford

The baseball team was swept by Stanford University, the No. 2 team in the country, last weekend. Despite the sweep, however, the Owls kept the first and third games of the series close, showing glimpses of what they hope to be a turnaround under second year head coach Jose Cruz Jr. According to Cruz, the opportunity to play against a top-ranked team this early in the season gave the Owls a spotlight to show what they have been building.


SPORTS 2/23/23 7:18pm

Baseball heads to No. 2 Stanford twenty years after CWS final

Twenty years ago, Stanford University was the second-best team in college baseball. The Cardinal finished that season as runners-up in the College World Series, falling short to a team from a small Texas school – Rice. Two decades later, Stanford is once again the No. 2 team in college baseball – this time according to the weekly D1Baseball poll and not postseason results – but the Owls haven’t sniffed the rankings in over half a decade.




SPORTS 2/21/23 11:57pm

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.


SPORTS 2/21/23 11:56pm

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.



SPORTS 2/21/23 11:52pm

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.


SPORTS 2/21/23 11:51pm

‘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.



SPORTS 2/15/23 12:13am

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. 



SPORTS 2/15/23 12:11am

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.


SPORTS 2/15/23 12:10am

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. 


SPORTS 1/31/23 11:41pm

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.



SPORTS 1/31/23 10:37pm

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.