No. 14 Rice Owls fall in Women's March Madness despite pushing defending champs LSU to the limit

BATON ROUGE, Louisiana (KTRK) -- Rice was a 28.5-point underdog before tipping off with the defending national champions, the LSU Tigers.

While the No. 14 Owls fell in their first NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament game in five years, head coach Lindsay Edmonds and her players proved they could hang with the likes of superstar Angel Reese and company.

The American Athletic Conference tournament champs didn't fall behind by more than 11 points in their 70-60 defeat in Baton Rouge in the first round of the Albany 2 Region.

Malia Fisher and Destiny Jackson were golden for the Owls. Fisher scored 13 points while Jackson contributed 15 points.

However, it was Rice creating 24 turnovers that gave No. 3 LSU head coach Kim Mulkey fits down the stretch.

After a 12-6 score in the first quarter, both teams picked up the scoring, with Rice sinking five three-pointers in the second and trailing by just three at halftime.

Two other Rice Owls scored in double figures. Sussy Ngulefac and Emily Klaczek had 10 points each

Rice's only NCAA Tournament win was in 2000 when the Owls advanced to the second round after a No. 13-over-No. 4 upset.

The 19-14 Owls won four straight games in the AAC tournament to make it to Baton Rouge, where Friday's game took place.