The Rice women’s basketball team was sent off in style March 20 as the Owls flock to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, for the team’s first round matchup in the NCAA Tournament with Louisiana State University.
“I think everybody’s still on cloud nine and have been since we were cutting down the nets and that final buzzer went off in Fort Worth,” head coach Lindsay Edmonds said. “We’re just really excited, and this is a great opportunity for our young ladies. It’s an experience that they’re going to remember for the rest of their lives, so I think they’re all soaking it up.”
Rice, which earned a No. 14 seed in the tournament, will face the third-seeded and eighth-ranked LSU Tigers March 22 at the Pete Maravich Center. The game will be nationally broadcasted on ESPN with tip-off set for 3 p.m.
The Owls earned their fourth NCAA Tournament appearance in program history after being crowned champions of the American Athletic Conference in their debut season in the league. Rice (19-14, 9-9 AAC) entered the AAC tournament as a No. 10 seed, winning four games in four days against No. 7 Alabama-Birmingham (71-56), No. 2 North Texas (61-59), No. 3 Temple (60-57) and No. 9 East Carolina (61-41).
Edmonds said the Owls are once again embracing the underdog role against defending national champion LSU.
“Our backs have been against the wall for the last four games that we played, and no one has believed that we were going to do what we did except us,” she said. “So we’ve just got to continue having that mindset.
“(LSU is) a great team, they have a Hall of Famer coach, and it’s gonna be a big crowd. But why not us? There’s no pressure on us, so let’s go in there and have fun and play freely.”
“This is an opportunity for the world to know who Rice women’s basketball is, and we’re doing everything we can to be ready to show them,” junior guard Emily Klaczek said. “It’s a privilege that we’re even still practicing because not a lot of teams in the country get to right now. This is what we worked for all offseason and in the summer, and it’s finally here. So we’re going to make the most of it.”
For those who are unable to travel but still want to cheer the Owls on, a campus watch party will be held on Rice’s campus during the game, at the Brian Patterson Sports Performance Center Team Room. You can RSVP here. Click here to view a campus map.
Rice Athletics is also hosting a bus trip to the game, leaving Tudor Fieldhouse at 9 a.m. Friday and returning after the game. The bus ride is free; game tickets are on your own. Register at https://forms.gle/ GQsRnktXXzDuVhR1A.
To stay updated on the Owls’ tournament results, visit riceowls.com.
