HOUSTON – It’s NCAA tournament time and the Rice University women’s program is heading to the tourney for the first time since 2019. The Owls will face defending national champion LSU in the tournament opener Friday at 3 p.m. at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center in Baton Rouge.
The Owls earned their fourth NCAA Tournament appearance in program history after being crowned champions of the American Athletic Conference in their debut season. Rice (19-14, 9-9 AAC) entered the AAC Tournament as a 10 seed, winning four games in four games to clinch the berth.
The Owls are led by Head Coach Lindsay Edmonds who has taken the Owls to new heights in her third season at the helm.
“ It’s so awesome to see your teams name on the screen on the NCAA Selection show,” said Edmonds. “That is something I’ll remember for rest of my life. It’s so cool to see my players and their energy and excitement. The opportunity to play basketball in March is such a privilege.”
Rice will face an LSU team that earned a No. 3 seed in this year’s tournament. The Women’s bracket was announced nationwide on Sunday night. LSU and Head Coach Kim Mulkey ended their season at the SEC tournament over the weekend suffering a loss to top ranked South Carolina in a 7 point setback.
LSU, 28-5, are led by SEC Player of the Year Angel Reese, who leads the team with 19.0 points and 13.1 rebounds per game. This is the sixth meeting in the series history, with LSU holding a 4-1 lead. This is the first matchup since the 2016-17 season, with the Tigers winning that matchup 66-55.
Rice’s lone win against LSU came during the 1998-99 season in a 64-57 home victory. The winner of Rice-LSU will face the winner of sixth-seeded Louisville (24-9) and 11-seeded Middle Tennessee (29-4) on Sunday, March 24.