Box Score

Post-Game Interview with Mary Gleason (video)

HOUSTON – Houston Baptist got 21 points from freshman Shanice Steenholdt, but the Huskies had no answer for Rice's Jessica Kuster, in HBU's 75-42 loss to Rice Wednesday evening from Rice's Tudor Fieldhouse.

Steenholdt scored a career-high 21 points on 7-of-17 shooting and nearly recorded a double-double, grabbing nine rebounds for HBU (0-3). She also had one assist and three steals. Joselyn Pugh also almost finished with a double-double, finishing with 10 points and eight boards. The eight rebounds were one shy of her career mark. Devyn Weymouth finished with two points and dished out a game-high four assists.

Kuster paced Rice (1-2) with 31 points and 19 rebounds, four points and one rebound shy of her career highs. She shot 13-of-18 from the floor, was a perfect 4-for-4 from the free-throw line and added two assists, three blocks and four steals. Christal Porter came off the bench to score 13 points and grab nine boards.

HBU got on the board first with a layup by Steenholdt 14 seconds in. The two teams traded baskets and after a jumper by Pugh, Rice scored the next nine points in a span of three minutes, to take a 13-4 lead with 14:48 remaining in the first half. Pugh's jumper on the ensuing drive cut the lead to seven, but Rice would come right back with a layup by Kuster to take a nine-point lead, 15-6, with 13:23 remaining.

Rice would then use a full-court press that the Huskies could not handle, as HBU only took 12 shots in the next eight minutes and the Rice lead exploded to 23, 31-8, with 6:23 left in the opening half. Of the 31 points, Kuster had 22.

With 4:06 remaining and Rice leading 35-12, the Owls took off the full-court press and the Huskies took advantage. The Huskies made a furious comeback in the final four minutes, erasing a 23-point deficit to 10, 35-25, at the break. Steenholdt scored seven of the Huskies' 13 points in the 13-0 Husky run, with the final points coming on a three-point play with a bucket and foul.

The second half featured more of Kuster and more of the full-court press, but the Huskies managed the press much better than the first half, as the Huskies had 19 first-half turnovers and just 10 in the second half.

Rice went on a 21-3 run to in the first 10 minutes of the second half, as Brianna Hypolite took over for the Owls, scoring six points in the first two minutes. The Owls, who hit five 3-pointers against the Huskies last season, hit their first trey at the 17:14-minute mark of the second half, off the hands of Kuster.

The Huskies tried to get back into the game, as Pugh hit a jumper, assisted by Olivia Madison, to bring the deficit to 27, 60-33, with 7:24 left in the game, but the lead was insurmountable, as the Owls came right back and hit a three by Amenemope McKinney.

The Huskies also had trouble on the boards towards the end of the game as, at one point, the Owls had three offensive rebounds, followed by a foul, followed by two more offensive rebounds, before the Owls scored their basket, all coming in a span of one minute.

The Huskies closed out the remaining minute of play with two 3-point plays, coming by Emily Jenkins and Steenholdt.

HBU will conclude its four-game road trip at Conference USA-member UTEP on Sat., Nov. 19, at 8 pm central.