.gif)
The Rice Lady Raiders’ basketball team has been grinding away all season making small improvements as the players grew in confidence and ability as the season went along. Unfortunately for Rice, their improvements did not translate into wins during the district season as they lost each of their first thirteen games in the district schedule. In a district with many solid teams and good offenses, the Lady Raiders often struggled to keep up the energy on both sides of the ball to be able to compete and keep games close. However, everything came together for Rice in the final game of the season. The Lady Raiders travelled to Industrial and claimed their first district win of the season and their third overall in a tight, 45-44 victory over the Lady Cobras.
The two teams played each other evenly throughout much of this game. After finishing the first quarter tied at seven, the Lady Raiders fell just behind by three points in the second quarter. They were outscored by one point in the third period as they went into the fourth quarter with a 33-29 deficit on the scoreboard. Rice went on to have their best quarter of the game with a 16-point fourth period led by Tricelle Fields who had eight points in the quarter. The Lady Raiders completed the comeback victory and finished with their tightest margin of victory this season.
Fields finished with 18 points to lead the team on offense. Tatianna Mills added 11 points as the duo has often finished as the top scorers for the team. Beautiful Johnson added nine points to help Rice have one of their best offensive outings of the year.
