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This season has been one focused on development for the Lady Raiders as they hope to build a winning program over time. While their development did not culminate into winning for Rice, they have allowed some of their young players to build confidence being on the court as the senior-less team battled through a strong district. Tatianna Mills is an upperclassman who seemed to have gotten stronger offensively as the season progressed. She has shown much improved output in their most recent games, scoring at least 15 points in each of their losses last week. The Lady Raiders will not have any postseason play to look forward to after their game against Industrial on Tuesday night, but they will be looking forward to trying to grow the program in future seasons.
Vs Palacios, L, 21-65
The Lady Raiders started their week with a tough game against Palacios on the last day of January. After nearly scoring double digits in the first quarter, they managed just three points in the second as they fell to an early deficit. It did not get much better for Rice offensively as they scored seven in the third and only two points in the fourth quarter. It was a struggle for the Lady Raiders defensively as well. They never held the Sharkettes to less than 15 points in any quarter.
Tatianna Mills had a strong performance for the Lady Raiders with her scoring effort. She had 14 points to lead the team and did a majority of their scoring. She got support from Tricelle Fields and Beautiful Johnson who provided the rest of the points for Rice.
Vs Edna, L, 33-64
Many of the same defensive difficulties the Lady Raiders had earlier in the week carried over into their Friday night game against Edna. After allowing 16 points in the first quarter and ten points in the second, Rice went into halftime with a 26-14 deficit on the scoreboard. The third quarter proved to be the period that put the game entirely out of reach for Rice. They gave up a game –high 26 points in the third as Palacios had one of their best periods of the season. Rice had some better results offensively as they picked up their scoring output. They managed a double-digit scoring effort in the fourth quarter, providing a third of their final score in that final frame.
The Lady Raiders were once again led by Tatianna Mills as she had an even stronger scoring game. She finished with 17 points as the team’s top scorer, followed by Beautiful Johnson with seven points. Aleah Conejo, Alejandra Palacios and Tricelle Fields combined for nine points as well.
