In a game that had seeding implications for the C-USA Conference Tournament, the Rice Owls beat The UTEP Miners Women’s Basketball team 82-62 Thursday night at the Tutor Fieldhouse in Houston, Texas
Rice got off to a quick start in a game that whoever lost would be the sixth seed in the tournament and will have to play on Tuesday in the first round against UTSA. The Owls shot 53% from the field as opposed to the Miners’ 35% and that gave them a 26-15 lead at the end of the first quarter.
The game was decided in the second quarter as Rice started it on a 8-0 run which increased their lead by 19 points. The Miners continued to struggle from the field, in fact they got outscored 25-8 in the quarter which gave the Owls a 28 point lead at halftime.
With the biggest deficit the Miners faced all year, they tried their best to make a comeback. UTEP actually outscored Rice in the second half 39-31 but with the lead so big, it didn’t matter because the Owls still won the game by 20 points.
Rice was led by Malia Fisher’s 20 points. The Owls had four other players score in double figures. With the win Rice is guaranteed at least the 5th seed in Western Division of the C-USA tournament and they can still move into the 4th spot if they win on Saturday against UTSA
For the Miners, Avery Crouse tied a season high 15 points as she was the lone player in double figures. Mahri Petree scored 9 points and Katia Gallegos had 8 points.
With the loss the Miners are now 14-13 overall and 6-11 in C-USA. They will also be the 6th seed in the Western Division of the C-USA Tournament where they will face UTSA on Tuesday afternoon.
The Miners still have one game left in the regular season before the C-USA Tournament as they will travel to take on North Texas on Saturday afternoon. Tip off is at 2 pm and you can hear the game on the free UTEP Miners App with Mando Medina having the call.