BATON ROUGE – The Rice women's basketball team dropped a hard-fought 70-60 game against eighth-ranked LSU in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament. Rice entered the tournament as a 14 seed, while the Tigers were a three seed. The Owls' season concludes at 19-15.
Destiny Jackson led the Owls with 15 points, four assists, three rebounds and two steals, while Malia Fisher added 13 points, five rebounds, three steals and two assists. Sussy Ngulefac finished with 10 points and three rebounds, while Emily Klaczek rounded out the double-digit scorers with 10 points, three rebounds and two steals.
Fisher reached 1,000 career points during the game, the second Owl to reach the milestone this season (Jackson).
As a team, Rice shot 23-of-65 (35.4%) from the floor and 8-of-27 (29.6%) from three-point range.
The Tigers opened on a 7-0 run before Ngulefac got the Owls on the board. Jackson and Ngulefac continued the Rice run, getting the Owls within one point, but LSU closed the quarter strong to take a 12-6 lead.
Back-to-back three-pointers from Maya Bokunewicz and Fisher tied the game to open the second, with the Tigers responding to take a 20-14 lead. Trailing by nine points, Klaczek drilled a three-pointer, with Fatou Samb following with a layup, as the Owls cut the deficit to four. Down six, Klaczek sank another triple, this one as time was expiring on the shot clock, as Rice trailed 30-27 at halftime.
Fisher's basket cut the deficit to one in the opening seconds of the third quarter, as the two sides traded scores early. After LSU grabbed a five-point lead, Jackson hit a three-pointer to bring Rice within 40-38. The Tigers used a 13-4 run to close the quarter to take a 53-42 lead.
Another Jackson's three brought the Owls within single digits in the fourth quarter. After trading scores, an LSU layup gave the Tigers a 62-51 lead with 3:23 remaining. Bokunewicz answered with a triple, with Ngulefac's layup making it a six-point game with 1:56 left. Rice wouldn't get any closer, though, as LSU held on for a 70-60 win.