Malia Fisher and Dominique Ennis lead Rice over South Florida, 67-64

POSTED: January 14, 2024 -- 10:53 p.m. CST

HOUSTON, TX (Tudor Fieldhouse) -- The Rice Owls defeated the South Florida Bulls 67-64 Sunday afternoon in front of a national tv audience on ESPNU and 893 loud fans gathered inside Tudor Fieldhouse.

Rice (9-6 overall, 3-1 in the American Athletic Conference) outscored South Florida 22-15 in the 4th quarter to earn the victory. Rice junior forward Malia Fisher led the comeback with 12 points and 6 rebounds in the 4th quarter.

Fisher's athleticism and aggressiveness were on full display with her hustle on defense and crashing the glass to rebound missed shots.

"Malia Fisher did really, really well. Played hard; finished around the rim," Jose Fernandez, South Florida's Head Coach said after the game.

Fisher scored a career-high 23 points in the game and pulled down 13 rebounds to reach 500 rebounds in her Rice career.

"My decisiveness to have the ball in my hands," Fisher said after the game. "Just to take over the game. I know I'm a good player. Just get the ball and make plays for my teammates."

Dominique Ennis scored 9 of her 16 points in the first quarter to give the Owls a 21-20 lead at the of 10 minutes.

After the game, Ennis mentioned Rice learned from Thursday's tough home loss to the Charlotte 49ers.

"Dropping the game against Charlotte," Ennis said. "We came to the locker room and talked about 'Just one more step. One more rebound. One more stop. One more play and doing it for each other."

Rice overcame 26 points from South Florida freshman Vittoria Blasigh. Blasigh had a chance to tie the game in the closing seconds with a three-point try; but, Fisher tipped the shot to seal the win for the Owls.

"Oh, man! It feels good to come in here after a win and after a win like that," Lindsay Edmonds, Rice Head Coach said after the game. "Really proud of these young ladies. I'm so happy for them, they deserve it. We bounced back, things did not go our way Thursday. We could have came in here feeling sorry for ourselves, but we didn't. We bounced back in a big way and showed how dominant we can be, how impressive we can be, and how deep we are. Really, really proud of the grit and determination this group showed today."

Rice's next three games are on the road starting with a Wednesday morning match-up against the East Carolina Pirates. The Pirates won the AAC Championship last season.

NEXT:

Rice's next game is Wednesday, January 17, on the road, against East Carolina. Tip is scheduled for 10 am CT on ESPN+.

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