With an eye on the future, Owls embrace postseason opportunity

If Rice is nervous as it prepares to play in the Women’s Basketball Invitational championship game, the Owls are doing a great job of not showing it.

But who could blame the Owls if they did have a case of the nerves, considering they are playing in their first postseason title game outside of a conference tournament.

“I actually think they’re having a great time,” Rice second-year coach Tina Langley said. “I think they’re really enjoying the opportunity. They love one another. They love playing together. Every day that we can spend together it’s a lot of fun and it’s a blessing.”

The Owls (21-13) will try to make program history with a victory over North Carolina-Greensboro (20-14) in the WBI final at 4 p.m. Sunday at Tudor Fieldhouse.

Coming off an 86-80 victory over Idaho on Thursday, Rice has hosted and won all three of its previous WBI games and now has a chance to raise a trophy in front of the home crowd.

The tournament has provided the Owls an opportunity to reach 20 wins for the first time since the 2004-05 season and only the eighth time in school history.

And this could be the start of something bigger.

While Rice will lose three seniors — Jasmine Goodwine, Maya Hawkins and Adaeze Obinnah — the cupboard is hardly bare, with sisters Erica and Olivia Ogwumike joining the team next season after transferring from Pepperdine and sitting out this season. Erica and Olivia, both of whom played at Cypress Woods, are the younger sisters of WNBA star players Chiney and Nneka Ogwumike.

Langley thought the WBI would provide a good education on what it is like to play deep into March even though the competition is not what it would be in the NCAA Tournament or even the NIT.

“We wanted to learn how to play in postseason play and how to prepare game after game when a lot of teams are done playing in the season, and that’s what we’re getting an opportunity to do,” Langley said. “The postseason is an honor. Whatever tournament you’re in, you want to compete and you want to be able to make it to the championship game. That’s what our team is learning to do, and hopefully that prepares us for the future as well.”