Rice women’s basketball squad returns to Houston after taking home AAC conference title

HOUSTON – The Rice Owls are returning home after cruising to an American Athletic Conference title championship.

On Wednesday, Rice took down East Carolina, 61-41, to take home the conference championship and secure a spot in the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament.

The Owls had a competitive run through the AAC Tournament, beating North Texas and Temple by a combined five points. However, they had no issues in the championship, jumping out to an 18-3 lead in the first quarter and never looking back against ECU.

This marks Rice’s first conference title and trip to the Big Dance since the 2018-19 season. That year, the Owls earned a 12-seed in the tournament but lost in the first round against Marquette in overtime, by a score of 58-54.