2018–19 Rice Owls women's basketball team

The 2018–19 Rice Owls women's basketball team represented Rice University during the 2018–19 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Owls, led by fourth year head coach Tina Langley, played their home games at the Tudor Fieldhouse and were members of Conference USA. They finished the season 28–4, 16–0 in C-USA play to win the C-USA regular season championship. They also won the C-USA women's tournament to earn an automatic trip to the NCAA women's tournament which was their first trip since 2005. They lost in the first round to Marquette in an overtime thriller. With 28 wins, they finished with the most wins in school history.

2018–19 Rice Owls women's basketball
C-USA regular season and tournament champions
NCAA tournament, first round
Conference	Conference USA
Ranking
AP	No. 21
Record	28–4 (16–0 C-USA)
Head coach	Tina Langley (4th season)
Assistant coaches	Winston Gandy Lee Aduddell Latara King
Home arena	Tudor Fieldhouse
Seasons ← 2017–18 2019–20 →

2018–19 Conference USA women's basketball standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
No. 21 Rice †	16	–	0		1.000			28	–	4		.875
UAB	12	–	4		.750			26	–	7		.788
Middle Tennessee	11	–	5		.688			23	–	11		.676
Western Kentucky	11	–	5		.688			20	–	15		.571
Old Dominion	10	–	6		.625			21	–	11		.656
Marshall	10	–	6		.625			17	–	15		.531
Charlotte	9	–	7		.563			18	–	14		.563
Southern Miss	9	–	7		.563			18	–	14		.563
North Texas	7	–	9		.438			18	–	16		.529
Louisiana Tech	6	–	10		.375			14	–	16		.467
UTEP	5	–	11		.313			9	–	22		.290
UTSA	2	–	14		.125			7	–	21		.250
FIU	2	–	14		.125			5	–	24		.172
Florida Atlantic	2	–	14		.125			5	–	25		.167
† 2019 C-USA Tournament winner Rankings from AP poll

On February 18, 2019, the Owls entered the AP Top 25 at No. 25. It was the Owls' first time being ranked in the AP Poll in program history. Rice won the Conference USA tournament championship game over Middle Tennessee, 69–54. Nancy Mulkey was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player.^[1]

Roster

2018–19 Rice Owls women's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Year Previous school Hometown G 1 Tayler Bennett 5 ft 7 in (1.7 m) Jr St. Anthony HS Long Beach, CA G 2 Sydne Wiggins 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) So Harrison HS Powder Springs, GA G 5 Lauren Grigsby 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) Sr Dekaney HS Spring, TX G 10 Jasmine Smith 5 ft 7 in (1.7 m) Fr The Kinkaid School Cypress, TX G 11 Haylee Swayze 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) Fr Purcell HS Purcell, OK G 13 Erica Ogwumike 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) RS Jr Cypress Woods HS Pepperdine Cypress, TX G 20 Shani Rainey 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) RS Sr Lovejoy HS Fairview, TX C 21 Arianna McCurry 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) Fr Roseville HS Roseville, CA G/F 22 Nicole Iademarco 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) RS Sr The Woodlands HS Arizona State The Woodlands, TX C 23 Alexah Chrisman 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) So McAuley HS Lawrenceburg, IN C 24 Temi Alao 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) RS Fr Allen HS Allen, TX G 25 Kendall Ellig 5 ft 7 in (1.7 m) RS So Liberty Christian School Flower Mound, TX F 30 Olivia Ogwumike 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) RS Sr Cypress Woods HS Pepperdine Cypress, TX C 32 Nancy Mulkey 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) RS So Cypress Woods HS Oklahoma Cypress, TX	Head coach Tina Langley (West Alabama) Assistant coach(es) Winston Gandy (Maryland) Lee Aduddell (Abilene Christian) Latara King (Florida Memorial) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt Roster

Schedule

^[2]

Date time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Non-conference regular season
Nov 7, 2018* 6:00 pm		at No. 20 Texas A&M	L 54–65	0–1	Reed Arena (4,043) College Station, TX
Nov 11, 2018* 4:00 pm		at UCLA	L 50–59	0–2	Pauley Pavilion (1,353) Los Angeles, CA
Nov 17, 2018* 2:00 pm		at Little Rock	W 79–65	1–2	Jack Stephens Center (818) Little Rock, AR
Nov 20, 2018* 7:00 pm		Texas Southern	W 76–71	2–2	Tudor Fieldhouse (529) Houston, TX
Nov 23, 2018* 2:00 pm		Georgia State	W 66–49	3–2	Tudor Fieldhouse (383) Houston, TX
Nov 25, 2018* 2:00 pm		McNeese State	W 93–65	4–2	Tudor Fieldhouse (380) Houston, TX
Dec 1, 2018* 2:00 pm		New Orleans	W 67–56	5–2	Tudor Fieldhouse (1,621) Houston, TX
Dec 8, 2018* 3:00 pm		at Prairie View A&M	W 68–58	6–2	William Nicks Building (240) Prairie View, TX
Dec 15, 2018* 4:00 pm, ESPN3		SMU	W 66–52	7–2	Tudor Fieldhouse (2,152) Houston, TX
Dec 18, 2018* 7:30 pm		vs. North Carolina Carolinas Challenge	L 50–71	7–3	Myrtle Beach Convention Center  Myrtle Beach, SC
Dec 20, 2018* 7:30 pm		vs. Coastal Carolina Carolinas Challenge	W 56–52	8–3	Myrtle Beach Convention Center  Myrtle Beach, SC
Dec 29, 2018* 1:00 pm		at Incarnate Word	W 74–63	9–3	McDermott Convocation Center (247) San Antonio, TX
Conference USA regular season
Jan 3, 2019 6:00 pm		at Southern Miss	W 58–47	10–3 (1–0)	Reed Green Coliseum (982) Hattiesburg, MS
Jan 5, 2019 2:00 pm, ESPN+		at Louisiana Tech	W 61–51	11–3 (2–0)	Thomas Assembly Center (1,073) Ruston, LA
Jan 10, 2019 7:00 pm		UTSA	W 85–54	12–3 (3–0)	Tudor Fieldhouse (679) Houston, TX
Jan 12, 2019 2:00 pm		UTEP	W 76–42	13–3 (4–0)	Tudor Fieldhouse (661) Houston, TX
Jan 19, 2019 2:00 pm, ESPN3		North Texas	W 64–52	14–3 (5–0)	Tudor Fieldhouse (774) Houston, TX
Jan 24, 2019 6:30 pm, ESPN+		at Middle Tennessee	W 60–47	15–3 (6–0)	Murphy Center (4,053) Murfreesboro, TN
Jan 26, 2019 2:00 pm		at UAB	W 55–43	16–3 (7–0)	Bartow Arena (635) Birmingham, AL
Jan 31, 2019 7:00 pm, ESPN+		Charlotte	W 61–51	17–3 (8–0)	Tudor Fieldhouse (502) Houston, TX
Feb 2, 2019 2:00 pm, ESPN3		Old Dominion	W 48–42	18–3 (9–0)	Tudor Fieldhouse (737) Houston, TX
Feb 7, 2019 6:00 pm		at Western Kentucky	W 68–46	19–3 (10–0)	E. A. Diddle Arena (1,347) Bowling Green, KY
Feb 9, 2019 11:00 am		at Marshall	W 79–67	20–3 (11–0)	Cam Henderson Center (1,042) Huntington, WV
Feb 14, 2019 7:00 pm, beIN		FIU	W 76–44	21–3 (12–0)	Tudor Fieldhouse (654) Houston, TX
Feb 14, 2019 2:00 pm		Florida Atlantic	W 63–35	22–3 (13–0)	Tudor Fieldhouse (755) Houston, TX
Feb 23, 2019 2:00 pm, ESPN+	No. 25	at North Texas	W 59–47	23–3 (14–0)	The Super Pit (751) Denton, TX
Mar 2, 2019 2:00 pm, ESPN+	No. 24	Louisiana Tech	W 78–42	24–3 (15–0)	Tudor Fieldhouse (2,606) Houston, TX
Mar 7, 2019 7:00 pm, ESPN+	No. 24	at UTSA	W 72–46	25–3 (16–0)	Convocation Center (579) San Antonio, TX
Conference USA Women's Tournament
Mar 14, 2019 11:00 am, ESPN+	(1) No. 24	vs. (9) North Texas Quarterfinals	W 61–43	26–3	The Ford Center at The Star  Frisco, TX
Mar 15, 2019 5:30 pm, Stadium	(1) No. 24	vs. (4) Western Kentucky Semifinals	W 64–57	27–3	The Ford Center at The Star  Frisco, TX
Mar 16, 2019 4:30 pm, CBSSN	(1) No. 24	vs. (3) Middle Tennessee Championship Game	W 69–54	28–3	The Ford Center at The Star  Frisco, TX
NCAA Women's Tournament
Mar 22, 2019* 1:00 pm, ESPN2	(12 C) No. 24	vs. (5 C) No. 18 Marquette First Round	L 54–58 OT	28–4	Reed Arena  College Station, TX
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. C=Chicago Region. All times are in Central Time.

Rankings

Main article: 2018–19 NCAA Division I women's basketball rankings

Regular Season Polls

Poll	Pre- Season	Week 2	Week 3	Week 4	Week 5	Week 6	Week 7	Week 8	Week 9	Week 10	Week 11	Week 12	Week 13	Week 14	Week 15	Week 16	Week 17	Week 18	Week 19	Final
AP													RV	RV	RV	25	24	24	24	21
Coaches																RV	RV	RV	RV	RV

Legend

		Increase in ranking
		Decrease in ranking
		No Change
(RV)		Received Votes
(NR)		Not Ranked

See also

2018–19 Rice Owls men's basketball team

References

1. "MVP Mulkey helps No. 24 Rice women top MTSU for C-USA title". NewsTimes. March 17, 2019. Retrieved March 17, 2019.
2. "Rice University Women's Basketball :: Official Athletic Site". Riceowls.com.