Rice Women’s Basketball: Owls make history after top 25 berth

For the first time in school history, the Rice women’s basketball team is in the Associated Press top 25 at #25 after winning 15 straight games.

The Rice women’s basketball team has never really been a powerhouse in Women’s College Basketball. Yet, this season, they are having their best season in school history and are finally getting rewarded for it.

The Associated Press announced their Top 25 for this week and Rice comes in at number 25, a first for the Owls, the school announced. The Rice Owls are 22-3 on the year, are in in the midst of a 15 game winning streak, which is tied with the Baylor Bears for the second-longest winning streak in the country only trailing Oregon who has won 17 consecutive games.

The Owls are undefeated in Conference USA play (13-0) and are in first place in the conference. They have games by a margin of 17.4 points per game and were recently ranked 11th in the country in scoring defense has held opponents to below 70 points during their win streak.

Rice head coach Tina Langley who took over the program in 2015 said about the historic moment for the program,

"“Four years ago when I met Joe Karlgaard, it was clear we had a shared vision for what Rice women’s basketball could become, and that was a nationally competitive program,” Rice head coach Tina Langley said. “We are so grateful to all the young women and staff who believed and committed to taking this program to that level. With that being said, this is not our goal. Over the last four years, our focus has been on growth. It is one of our core values and has been our trademark for who we are and how we prepare. Our focus right now is on our next opponent. We will continue to take things one day at a time, one practice at a time, and if we continue to do that, we will become the best team we can be, and that is our goal.”"

Langley has led the program to it’s best three year stretch in school history, compiling 67 wins in three seasons including a Women’s Basketball Invitational title in 2017.

What Coach Langley has done has been nothing short of amazing. The former Maryland coach has come in and made Rice women’s basketball relevant on a national stage and it gives the academic powerhouse university another program to show the country that Rice can compete both in the classroom and on the field of play.

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Kudos has to go to Rice University athletic director Joe Karlgaard for finding the right coach at the right time to lead Rice women’s basketball for years to come. The future is indeed bright for Rice women’s basketball and will only get brighter.

The Rice women’s basketball team has been led by two Houston natives from Cypress Woods High School Erica Ogwumike and Nancy Mulkey. Ogwumike and Mulkey won a state championship together at Cy-Woods and then went to Pepperdine and Oklahoma, respectively.

Ogwumike and Mulkey, along with Ogwumike’s older sister Olivia Ogwumike transferred into Rice this year. Erica Ogwumike is averaging 16.3 points per game, 11 rebounds per game, and nearly 3 assist and 2 steals per game. Mulkey is averaging 12.2 points per game, 6.1 rebounds per game, and nearly 4 blocks per game.

These two Ogumwike sisters are just the latest in the Women’s basketball dynasty that already has older sisters Nneka Ogwumike, a former MVP, and Chiney Ogwumike, a former first overall pick in the WNBA.

Ogwumike and Mulkey have helped power this incredible run a.nd look to continue to do so. This run has been historic and extremely fun. So, congrats Ladies and go Owls!