National stage beckons
Langley’s step-by-step task of rebuilding program takes leap forward as Owls belong at the dance
Ayear ago, there was no chance the Rice women’s basketball team would be given a spot in the NCAA Tournament. But coach Tina Langley knew her team was getting closer.
So she invited the whole Owls squad to her house to watch the Monday night selection show. The team had dinner together and casual but important conversation.
Langley, an assistant at Maryland when the Terrapins made the Final Four in back-to-back seasons (2014, 2015), wanted to answer any questions her players had about the selection show, seedings and the tournament.
“I wanted to have an open conversation and really give them that goal,” Langley said. “I wanted them to be able to ask anything and to understand what it would take to be one of those teams.”
After the show concluded, the team waited together before Rice accepted an invite to the WNIT. The night was an impactful one.
Fast forward a year, and the Rice women gathered again Monday to watch the selection show. But this time, instead of being huddled in their coach’s living room, the Owls met in the Bryan Patterson Center at Rice Stadium, an area reserved for special occasions.
The event ended up being a bit rushed, with the selection show airing at 4 p.m. instead of the origi-
nally scheduled 6 because the bracket was leaked on ESPNU earlier in the day.
Still, the university was able to make a big deal of the occasion with catered food and the attendance of athletic department officials, media and a few fans to celebrate the No. 12 seed the Owls received. It was their first NCAA Tournament berth since 2005 and only the third in school history.
Rice, ranked No. 21 in the latest Associated Press poll, has a school-record 21-game winning streak. The Owls will play Marquette in College Station on Friday.
They have come a long way since Langley’s first season as head coach in 2015-16. That team went 9-22, but Langley could tell she was on to something special.
As she readies this year’s squad — one that has a chance to make some noise in the postseason — she remembers that first one fondly.
“The first time I walked into the locker room and met them, I just knew,” Langley said. “I knew we could build something here. The kids were so incredible and just ready to jump right in.”
Langley decided from the start to be completely honest with her team. She knew that first season would be a challenge.
“I told them it was going to be difficult,” she said. “But if we committed to getting better every day, every game, by the end of the season we would be the best team we could be.”
The amount of respect she earned from that group went a long way. The Owls weren’t close to being an NCAA Tournament team, but Langley felt they were on their way.
She started recruiting players who would buy into the culture she and her staff were creating at Rice. They needed to be willing to work and grow. She wanted to find players who would mesh well with what she had and work together to build the program she envisioned.
And while she has found solid players from all over, Langley also has cultivated the talent in her own backyard. Six players on the roster hail from the Houston
area, including this season’s four top scorers.
Erica Ogwumike and Nancy Mulkey played (and won a state championship) at Cypress Woods. Nicole Iademarco played for The Woodlands and Lauren Grigsby for Dekaney.
Mulkey started her career at Oklahoma and Ogwumike at Pepperdine. Both transferred to be closer to home, reuniting in the process.
Mulkey — a 6-9 force in the post — had her pick when it came to where she would play. On Sunday, a day after Rice won the Conference USA championship, Mulkey posted a photo of her and Langley hugging on the court in Frisco with the caption “This is why I chose Rice.”
The bond Langley and her players have formed is obvious to anyone who watches. And the chemistry is carrying the Owls to reach their potential.
“I coach to be a part of young people’s lives, to help women become leaders,” Langley said. “It’s not about the trophies and the rings. It’s about people.”
It’s easy for Langley to remember that. She has a strong support system within the walls at Rice and among her family and friends.
Last year, the Owls won a game then lost one in the WNIT. When her team reconvened this season, she shared a thought. She’d heard Clemson football coach Dabo Swinney say something a year before when the Tigers won the national championship.
“He said they made every game seem like the biggest game of the year so that when they got to the biggest game, it wouldn’t be so bad,” Langley said. “We have been so in the moment for every game this year. We haven’t spent time looking backward or getting ahead of ourselves.”
Langley is thrilled about what’s next for her team. And while the Owls have surprised some people, Langley isn’t one of them. She’s known for a while something special was brewing within her program.
Rice is headed to the NCAA Tournament. And Langley and her Owls could be dancing for a while.