Usual starting 5. Jackson starts us off with a 3.

Austin hits a 3 with no hesitation. Looks like she has her confidence back from 3. Rice up 8-7 early.

10-9 Rice at the U5.

Rice kindly allows Charlotte to hang with them in 1Q.

Maybe someday we'll have a team with killer instinct.

15-15 end of 1Q. Some positives. Consecutive games in which Austin's stroke from deep looks good. Owens-Barnett hit another midrange jumper, feel for which she lost during her struggles. Still very soft in the paint defensively. Not sure there's a solution other than sending a double every time there's a paint touch and hoping they don't beat us shooting the ball.

I'd hardly call this us letting Charlotte hang around. I think they've been the better team. 17-17. Gooden is absolutely broken on offense. Missed a 3 badly then turned down a wide open 3 in favor of a long 2, which she also bricked. But on the positive side, good hustle to buy us an extra possession seconds later.

Threes just not falling for Rice. The looks are there (half of them have been wide open), and some of them are going halfway down, but they're not going through.

19-17 Charlotte at the U5. If you looked purely at shot quality in the 2nd quarter, Rice should have built this lead to 5+. Charlotte's perimeter defense has been woeful, but we're not making them pay.

Rice leads 29-26 at the half. Execution got progressively better as the quarter wore on. We were aided by a confusing (and at least to me incorrect) call that gave us a four-point possession.

6-0 start to the 3rd quarter for Charlotte and they're confident and talking. 32-29 Charlotte.

35-30 Charlotte, Rice TO. Austin pump fakes a wide open 3 and turns it over, leading to a Charlotte runout and layup. 9-1 Charlotte run to start the quarter. We're mired in one of those "all of a sudden one of the worst teams in the conference" stretches that pop up randomly.

I know 3’s aren’t falling but passing up wide open 3’s to pass the ball 6 feet to someone surrounded is maddening.

Another 3rd quarter dumpster fire. What is with this team and third quarters?

Now 39-30 Charlotte at the U5. Rice's two good offensive possessions of the quarter have resulted in kick outs to Jackson and Owens-Barnett, neither of whom is exactly an accomplished perimeter shooter. Everything else on both ends of the floor has been terrible.

Ennis is slowly getting more minutes, but Edmonds has to seriously think about her playing 25+ minutes a game. We desperately need her on the floor offensively if only to keep defenses honest.

Rice chipping away. 39-36 Charlotte.

Rice now 1-8 on FTs in the 3rd quarter, I think. But we've somehow cut the lead to 39-38. Charlotte has struggled with our pressing over the last few minutes.

For a game or two I thought Fisher might've found her shot, but it hasn't looked great again recently. Way off on a few jumpers tonight. But she's still finding ways to impact the game...a couple important hustle plays so far.

Charlotte leads 42-39 at the end of the 3Q. Lotta bad basketball being played by both teams. But good defensive effort to end the quarter by Rice. Held Charlotte to 3 points over the last 4 or so minutes.

Charlotte opens the quarter with a tough jumper in the lane, we start the quarter with a missed uncontested layup. Then we turn the ball over after a defensive rebound for no reason whatsoever. 46-39 Charlotte.

Charlotte throws up a prayer in the lane, goes in, Bellamy with a nice move in the post, blows an uncontested layup. They're making shots in the quarter, we're not.