# 2018–19 Rice Owls women's basketball team

The 2018–19 Rice Owls women's basketball team represented Rice University during the 2018–19 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Owls, led by fourth year head coach Tina Langley, played their home games at the Tudor Fieldhouse and were members of Conference USA. They finished the season 28–4, 16–0 in C-USA play to win the C-USA regular season championship. They also won the C-USA women's tournament to earn an automatic trip to the NCAA women's tournament which was their first trip since 2005. They lost in the first round to Marquette in an overtime thriller. With 28 wins, they finished with the most wins in school history.
On February 18, 2019, the Owls entered the AP Top 25 at No. 25. It was the Owls' first time being ranked in the AP Poll in program history. Rice won the Conference USA tournament championship game over Middle Tennessee, 69–54. Nancy Mulkey was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player.

## Schedule

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| Nov 7, 2018* 6:00 pm | | at No. 20 Texas A&M | L 54–65 | 0–1 | Reed Arena (4,043) College Station, TX |
| Nov 11, 2018* 4:00 pm | | at UCLA | L 50–59 | 0–2 | Pauley Pavilion (1,353) Los Angeles, CA |
| Nov 17, 2018* 2:00 pm | | at Little Rock | W 79–65 | 1–2 | Jack Stephens Center (818) Little Rock, AR |
| Nov 20, 2018* 7:00 pm | | Texas Southern | W 76–71 | 2–2 | Tudor Fieldhouse (529) Houston, TX |
| Nov 23, 2018* 2:00 pm | | Georgia State | W 66–49 | 3–2 | Tudor Fieldhouse (383) Houston, TX |
| Nov 25, 2018* 2:00 pm | | McNeese State | W 93–65 | 4–2 | Tudor Fieldhouse (380) Houston, TX |
| Dec 1, 2018* 2:00 pm | | New Orleans | W 67–56 | 5–2 | Tudor Fieldhouse (1,621) Houston, TX |
| Dec 8, 2018* 3:00 pm | | at Prairie View A&M | W 68–58 | 6–2 | William Nicks Building (240) Prairie View, TX |
| Dec 15, 2018* 4:00 pm, ESPN3 | | SMU | W 66–52 | 7–2 | Tudor Fieldhouse (2,152) Houston, TX |
| Dec 18, 2018* 7:30 pm | | vs. North Carolina Carolinas Challenge | L 50–71 | 7–3 | Myrtle Beach Convention Center Myrtle Beach, SC |
| Dec 20, 2018* 7:30 pm | | vs. Coastal Carolina Carolinas Challenge | W 56–52 | 8–3 | Myrtle Beach Convention Center Myrtle Beach, SC |
| Dec 29, 2018* 1:00 pm | | at Incarnate Word | W 74–63 | 9–3 | McDermott Convocation Center (247) San Antonio, TX |
| Conference USA regular season ||||||
| Jan 3, 2019 6:00 pm | | at Southern Miss | W 58–47 | 10–3 (1–0) | Reed Green Coliseum (982) Hattiesburg, MS |
| Jan 5, 2019 2:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Louisiana Tech | W 61–51 | 11–3 (2–0) | Thomas Assembly Center (1,073) Ruston, LA |
| Jan 10, 2019 7:00 pm | | UTSA | W 85–54 | 12–3 (3–0) | Tudor Fieldhouse (679) Houston, TX |
| Jan 12, 2019 2:00 pm | | UTEP | W 76–42 | 13–3 (4–0) | Tudor Fieldhouse (661) Houston, TX |
| Jan 19, 2019 2:00 pm, ESPN3 | | North Texas | W 64–52 | 14–3 (5–0) | Tudor Fieldhouse (774) Houston, TX |
| Jan 24, 2019 6:30 pm, ESPN+ | | at Middle Tennessee | W 60–47 | 15–3 (6–0) | Murphy Center (4,053) Murfreesboro, TN |
| Jan 26, 2019 2:00 pm | | at UAB | W 55–43 | 16–3 (7–0) | Bartow Arena (635) Birmingham, AL |
| Jan 31, 2019 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Charlotte | W 61–51 | 17–3 (8–0) | Tudor Fieldhouse (502) Houston, TX |
| Feb 2, 2019 2:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Old Dominion | W 48–42 | 18–3 (9–0) | Tudor Fieldhouse (737) Houston, TX |
| Feb 7, 2019 6:00 pm | | at Western Kentucky | W 68–46 | 19–3 (10–0) | E. A. Diddle Arena (1,347) Bowling Green, KY |
| Feb 9, 2019 11:00 am | | at Marshall | W 79–67 | 20–3 (11–0) | Cam Henderson Center (1,042) Huntington, WV |
| Feb 14, 2019 7:00 pm, beIN | | FIU | W 76–44 | 21–3 (12–0) | Tudor Fieldhouse (654) Houston, TX |
| Feb 14, 2019 2:00 pm | | Florida Atlantic | W 63–35 | 22–3 (13–0) | Tudor Fieldhouse (755) Houston, TX |
| Feb 23, 2019 2:00 pm, ESPN+ | No. 25 | at North Texas | W 59–47 | 23–3 (14–0) | The Super Pit (751) Denton, TX |
| Mar 2, 2019 2:00 pm, ESPN+ | No. 24 | Louisiana Tech | W 78–42 | 24–3 (15–0) | Tudor Fieldhouse (2,606) Houston, TX |
| Mar 7, 2019 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | No. 24 | at UTSA | W 72–46 | 25–3 (16–0) | Convocation Center (579) San Antonio, TX |
| Conference USA Women's Tournament ||||||
| Mar 14, 2019 11:00 am, ESPN+ | (1) No. 24 | vs. (9) North Texas Quarterfinals | W 61–43 | 26–3 | The Ford Center at The Star Frisco, TX |
| Mar 15, 2019 5:30 pm, Stadium | (1) No. 24 | vs. (4) Western Kentucky Semifinals | W 64–57 | 27–3 | The Ford Center at The Star Frisco, TX |
| Mar 16, 2019 4:30 pm, CBSSN | (1) No. 24 | vs. (3) Middle Tennessee Championship Game | W 69–54 | 28–3 | The Ford Center at The Star Frisco, TX |
| NCAA Women's Tournament ||||||
| Mar 22, 2019* 1:00 pm, ESPN2 | (12 C) No. 24 | vs. (5 C) No. 18 Marquette First Round | L 54–58 $^{OT}$ | 28–4 | Reed Arena College Station, TX |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. C=Chicago Region. All times are in Central Time. ||||||

## Rankings

Legend :
| | Increase in ranking |
| | Decrease in ranking |
| | No Change |
| (RV) | Received Votes |
| (NR) | Not Ranked |