HOUSTON—Middle Tennessee women's basketball opened Conference USA with another statement win, beating Rice, 74-68 Tuesday afternoon.
Middle Tennessee (8-2, 1-0) scored 52 points in the second half after trailing Rice (9-1, 0-1) 22-27 at the break. Overall, the Lady Raiders hit 19 of 20 free throws, including shooting 15-of-16 in the second half.
Savannah Wheeler helped the Lady Raiders catch fire in the third, scoring nine points of a 13-4 run to give the Lady Raiders their first lead since the 6:23 mark in the second quarter. A run of 11 unanswered Lady Raider points gave the visitors their largest lead of the afternoon (60-53) with 4:24 to play.