Starting 5: Stover, Fisher, Austin, Bokunewicz, Jackson.

Not sure what this says about Crosthwaite and Swayze, but might mean the staff is being precautionary.

Man, this could get really ugly.

So, we've got a starting 5 consisting of not a single player who has started a college game before...and only a couple who have seen limited action.

This will be my only complaint about this all year...I won't bring it up again. ESPN+, which offers access to all matches from 5+ soccer leagues, hundreds of college games/matches basically every day, and streams of all network events (football, baseball, auto racing, basketball, etc.), costs $7 a month. CUSA, which sometimes just provides access to the in-stadium stream, costs $10 a month.

11-4 Rice early on. 7 already for the freshman Fisher, 4 for Austin.

Bellamy is the first Rice player off of what is a very, very short bench.

Or maybe not as short? Crosthwaite and Gooden into the game with 3 minutes left in the 1st.

23-4 Rice at the end of the 1st quarter. The talent discrepancy in WBB between D1 and D2 is more pronounced than on the men's side, but all in all a pretty dang good first quarter of the season regardless of opposition. 9 already for Fisher, 4 for Austin, 4 for Crosthwaite.

33-6 Rice. I don't know how we'll look against D1 opposition, but even without Swayze, at least we can beat teams that are much worse than us.

Looks like McCurry isn't dressed either.

46-16 at the half.

71-39 Rice. Second half hasn't been as good but that often happens when you go up big early.

Rice wins 84-41. Like Walt expressed at the top, I think we were all pretty nervous. Missing Swayze (and I thought Crosthwaite), new coach, young team, etc. But a really good performance regardless of opponent (except for FTs).

> Fisher: 9 points, 6 rebounds (set the tone early for us and dominated in the 1st Q)
> Bokunewicz: 13 points, including 3-5 from 3. We're going to need her to shoot well this year
> Austin: 18 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals. Some have mentioned that she looked very improved this year...now we have formal evidence of it
> Jackson: 4 rebounds, 6 assists, 5 steals. Didn't score much but did everything else we need out of her as the 1
> Crosthwaite: 14 points. Obviously going to need a lot of scoring from her this year
> Gooden: 9 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists. Another really good freshman debut

Never been happier to eat my words. Followed the game while out at dinner. I think the most encouraging thing-- and something you could see from the practices-- was the level of defensive intensity. Much more aggressive defensive scheme than under Tina. 14 steals and 4 blocks. Of course, that could come back to bite us against more seasoned teams given our relative short bench. We really need both McCurry and Swayze back in action in that regard.

As I've said before, Austin is the most improved player on the team. 18 points (7-11 FG), 6 boards (5 offensive), 4 assists and 3 steals. That's more in every category than she contributed in all of last season.

And Bellamy STILL can't hit a free throw if her life depended on it. Lindsey needs to have her shooting 100 FTs every day until she can hit 50% at the very least.

Great start Rice!

Not much of a test but love the up tempo, probably what we will need since we lack height. Also watched some of the SMU game and seems like SMU was especially happy with Wiggins shooting.

Looks like Washington doesn't play their first game until Friday.