Rice outlasts TSU, 76-71 for second win of season

Story and photo by Robert H Kelly
Copyright 2018 All Rights Reserved

HOUSTON, TEXAS (November 20, 2018) Trailing by 14 points in the third quarter, the Rice Owls outscored the Texas Southern Tigers 25-8 in the final seven and one-half minutes to take a 76-71 win in front of 529 fans at Tudor Fieldhouse on Tuesday evening.

TSU jumped out tp a 63-49 lead with 7:49 remaining in the game, but the Owls recovered from their third quarter slump and battled back to take their second win of the season The 2-2 Owls, whose two losses came against ranked teams, will look for their third win of the season on Friday afternoon (November 23) when they host Georgia State with a 2 p.m. tip off.

Erica Ogwumike (Cypress Woods HS, Cypress, Texas) led Rice with 20 points, followed by Jasmine Smith (The Kinkaid School, Cypress, Texas) and Lauren Grigsby (Dekaney HS, Spring, Texas), each with 16. Ogwumike was 11-of-12 from the freethrow line, with Smith shooting 7-of-8. Grisby was 4-of-5 from three-point range. Those stats contributed to 30 of Rice's 76 points. The Owls tallied 11 from behind the arc, to add to theor score.

The Tigers had three players in double figures; Marquia Turner (Hoover HS, Canton, Ohio) with 21 points, followed by Brenae Andrews (Grosse Pointe South HS, Detroit, Michigan) with 16, and Olivia Cunningham (Horn Lake HS, Horn Lake, Mississippi) with 15.

Next up for the 1-2 Tigers is a Friday, November 23 game against McNeese State in El Paso.