Rice broke out of the box with a 7-0 run to start the second half, and the Lady Owls never looked back in an 83-69 win over Louisiana Tech in a Western Athletic Conference women's basketball game Thursday night at Autry Court.
Trailing 40-39 at the break, Rice took the lead for good on Krystal Frazier's three-point field goal, then made it 44-40 on Michelle Woods' jump shot. After Lauren Neaves scored from the lane with 17:58 left, Rice would be on its way to its eighth consecutive win.
The Lady Owls (20-8, 13-4) had as much as a 12-point lead in the first half before the Lady Techsters rallied to take the lead. Lakiste Barkus led the Louisiana Tech charge to its halftime advantage with 14 points in the period.
But it was all Rice in the second half. Following the opening spurt, Rice built its lead steadily to its 14-point final margin. The Lady Owls outscored Tech 44-29 in the second half, making 54 percent of their field-goal attempts in the period.
Frazier led four Rice players who scored in double figures with 16 points, followed by Neaves with 14, Anne Peck with 13 and Eshombi Singleton with 10.
Neaves led Rice's rebounding effort with 14 as the Lady Owls dominated the boards 55-36. It was the sophomore's sixth double-double of the season. Her four blocked shots against Tech give her 146 for her career, passing Johnetta Hayes (142 in 2002-2004) for the Rice record.
Louisiana Tech (18-7, 14-3) was led by Tasha Crain with 19 points, Barkus with 18 and Erica Taylor with 10. The Lady Techsters shot only 29 percent (20 of 69) from the field for the game.
Louisiana Tech had already clinched at least a tie for the regular-season WAC title and the number-one seed in next week's tournament in Reno, Nev., prior to Thursday's game, but Rice can gain a tie for the title with a win over Southern Methodist Saturday at Autry Court (7 pm) and a La.Tech loss at Tulsa the same day.