FORT WORTH, Texas – The Rice Owls women's basketball team secured their fifth straight 20-win season (school record) under Rice head coach
Tina Langley with an 87-73 victory over the Fresno State Bulldogs Saturday evening in the WNIT Fort Worth Regionals semifinals.
Rice (20-4) advances to the Fort Worth Regional title game to face the winner of California Baptist/San Francisco on Monday at 7 p.m. from Wilkerson-Greines Activity Center, streamed on FloHoops.com.
The Owls' 87 points on Saturday were a season-high as they shot 50 percent (34-of-68) from the field, including an 8-of-17 performance (47 percent) from beyond the arc. Rice senior
Nancy Mulkey was unstoppable, scoring a season-high 28 points on 11-of-21 shooting (6-of-7 free throws) and added a team-best eight rebounds in 34 minutes.
Sophomore wing
Lauren Schwartz continued her late season surge by dropping 20 points on 8-of-14 from the field while junior point guard
Jasmine Smith picked up her second double-double in her last three games with 15 points, a career-high 10 assists, seven rebounds and four steals in 37 minutes. Junior guard
Haylee Swayze also made a big impact, scoring 14 points in 36 minutes in her first start of the season.
Rice outscored Fresno St. (17-11) 44-22 in points in the paint and won the battle of the boards, 40-34. The Owls moved the ball spectacularly, totaling 25 assists to just 10 turnovers.
The Owls have only advanced to the third round of the WNIT on one other occasion, doing so in the 1998-99 season when they fell to Arkansas, 76-70.
HOW IT HAPPENED
First Quarter
The Owls came out of the gates firing on all cylinders, outscoring the Bulldogs 25-13 in the opening quarter. Rice shot 65 percent from the field as a team as Smith and Schwartz each scored seven points apiece and Mulkey added six more.
Second Quarter
Rice would take a 46-32 lead into halftime after outscoring Fresno St. 21-19 in the second quarter as Mulkey added nine more points and Swayze contributed seven points.
Third Quarter
The Bulldogs managed to outscore the Owls 20-18 in the period behind 10 points from Hanna Cavinder, who finished the game with a game-high 22 points. Schwartz gave the Owls a boost with seven points while Mulkey added seven more as well.
Fourth Quarter
Fresno St. managed to pull to within 78-73 with 2:22 remaining but the Owls finished the game on a 9-0 run to advance to the championship. Swayze hit a back-breaking three-pointer, her second of the night, to give the Owls some breathing room. During the stretch, Rice held the Bulldogs to 0-for-3 from the field and three turnovers.