Rice Owls ranked in AP top 25 for first time in program history

POSTED: February 18, 2019 -- 12:20 p.m. CST

Rice women's basketball has entered the Associated Press Top 25 for the first time in school history, the organization announced on Monday.

Out to their best start 25-game start ever, the Owls (22-3, 13-0) are ranked No. 25 after receiving votes for three consecutive weeks.

"Four years ago when I met Joe Karlgaard, it was clear we had a shared vision for what Rice women's basketball could become, and that was a nationally competitive program," Rice head coach Tina Langley said. "We are so grateful to all the young women and staff who believed and committed to taking this program to that level. With that being said, this is not our goal. Over the last four years, our focus has been on growth. It is one of our core values and has been our trademark for who we are and how we prepare. Our focus right now is on our next opponent. We will continue to take things one day at a time, one practice at a time, and if we continue to do that, we will become the best team we can be, and that is our goal."

Rice is in the midst of a program record 15-game winning streak, tied for the second-longest active win streak in the nation with Baylor and trailing only Oregon (17 straight wins).

Monday's honor is just the latest for the Owls during their historic season, having reached the 20-win plateau for a third straight year under Langley and compiling 67 wins (22, 23, 22) over the last three seasons, the greatest stretch in program history.

The Owls play at North Texas on Saturday (3 p.m.) on ESPN+ before returning home to host Louisiana Tech in the regular season home finale on Saturday, Mar 2. at 2 p.m.

NOTE:

I have ranked Rice on my ballot for the Hoopfeed.com / Sport Tours International Top 25 polls the last 2 weeks.

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