Soaring High
Houston-area talent help lift Rice Women's hoops to National Ranking
Feb 27, 2019, 8:11 pm
With the five former teammates back together, the chemistry has helped guide Rice. Via VYPE
Originally Appeared on VYPE
HOUSTON – When they were in high school, Olivia Ogwumike and Nancy Mulkey would talk about one day playing on the same college team.
Along with playing on the same high school team at Cypress Woods, where they won a state championship in 2015, Olivia, sister Erica and Mulkey also played on the same AAU team during the summer.
In the early 2010s, Erica and Olivia Ogwumike and Nancy Mulkey all suited up for Cy Fair Shock Elite along with The Woodlands' Nicole Iademarco.
"I just remember the fun times we had," Erica said. "Not even playing basketball sometimes. AAU you travel around the country, you play in the biggest tournaments and we would have fun just to go eat."
In that same organization, Kinkaid's Jasmine Smith played for the team just below at the time those four were there.
"It was funny because I remember them but they don't remember us," Smith, who is averaging 6.4 points per game, said with a laugh. "I was with the younger group, so we were their practice players. They made us better."
Now in 2019, after going their separate ways after high school, the group is back together at Rice University.
Erica, Iademarco, Mulkey and Smith, who is a freshman, are four of the starting five for the now-nationally ranked Rice Owls.
"We kind of talked about playing together in high school but didn't have the opportunity to right out," Iademarco said. "To be able to all transfer back home and play together has been a really special thing."
The story continues here
Most Popular
SportsMap Emails
Are Awesome
Listen Live
The Houston Texans have a big challenge in store as they look to start the season with a win against the Colts this Sunday. When these two teams met in Week 2 last year, the Colts dominated the Texans, despite losing their QB Anthony Richardson to a concussion after the first quarter.
Keeping Richardson contained on Sunday will go a long way in increasing the Texans' chances of coming home with a win. The Texans defense will have their hands full containing the Colts backs and tight ends in the passing game.
Scoring touchdowns with their wide receivers could prove difficult, as the Texans allowed the second-fewest TDs (10) to the receiver position in 2023.
Limiting running back Jonathan Taylor will also be a top priority. While the Texans had an elite defense against the run last season, they struggled with Taylor in Week 18 as he almost rushed for 200 yards.
Houston's D allowed only four carries to running backs in 2023 that went for 20 or more yards. Two of which were to Taylor in the final game of the regular season.
Finally, DeMeco Ryans and company have to find a way to get pressure on the QB. They only had one QB hit and zero sacks on Richardson and Garner Minshew the first time they faced off last year.
On offense, the Texans have two big x-factors to watch for on Sunday. The offensive line that suited up to play the Colts in Week 2 last season is completely different from this year.
The o-line was ravaged with injuries to start the 2023 campaign, so we expect a big jump in productivity in the trenches this year.
Another big addition in 2024 is the presence of running back Joe Mixon. The running game only produced 2 yards per rush in Week 2 against Indy last year, so there's clearly room for improvement.
Be sure to watch the video above for our in-depth preview of Texans-Colts!
And catch Texans on Tap (a Texans podcast) live on our SportsMapTexans YouTube channel following every game this season!