By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay
San Antonio’s Hailey Adams produced 17 points and 14 rebounds in the top-seeded Rice Owls’ 71-67 victory over the No. 5 North Texas Mean Green Friday night in the semifinals of the American Conference women’s basketball tournament.
Victoria Flores scored 21 and Dominique Ennis had 19 as Rice (28-4) advanced to the finals for the third year in a row. Rice won the tournament championship in 2024 and finished as runner up to South Florida last season.
The Owls took control of the game in the third quarter when they outscored the Mean Green 27-11 for a 59-48 lead.
The Mean Green rallied and cut the deficit to two with 11 seconds remaining. But Flores went to the free throw line and made both with 6.1 seconds left for the game’s final points.
San Antonio’s Aysia Proctor had 12 points and six rebounds for the Mean Green.
She had to leave the game in the third quarter after taking a spill and hitting her head on the floor, but she returned to play and knock down a three in the last half of the fourth period.
All-conference forward Megan Nestor paced North Texas with 16 points and 10 rebounds. Guard Chania Price scored 10.
First half
The top-seeded Owls entered the tournament on a triple bye, starting Friday night in the semifinals at Birmingham, Ala.
The No. 5 Mean Green came into the semis on a roll after routing the nine seed FAU Owls 80-57 on Wednesday and then knocking off No. 4 Tulsa Golden Hurricane 76-73 on Thursday.
Despite falling behind by eight at the end of the first quarter, the Mean Green started playing harder in the second and raced to a 37-32 lead at the half.
Nestor and Proctor led with nine points. Nestor, the nation’s top rebounder, battled against Rice’s big frontcourt and pulled down six boards.
North Texas excelled defensively in the second quarter, holding Rice to two of 12 shooting from the field.
The Mean Green outscored the Owls 22-9 in the quarter, with Nestor producing seven.
Records
North Texas 19-14
Rice 28-4
Coming up
Rice vs. UTSA or East Carolina in the championship game, 8:30 p.m. on Saturday.
Notable
Proctor had to come out of the game with 34 seconds left in the third quarter after hitting her head on the floor in a battle for possession near the baseline.
After leaving the bench area to receive attention from the training staff, she re-entered the with less than five minutes left in the game.
Proctor played in high school at Schertz Clemens and in her first two years of college at UTSA. She received second-team, all-conference honors this season for the Mean Green.
Rice last played on March 7 in Houston when the Owls lost the regular-season finale 61-52 to the UTSA Roadrunners.
American Conference
Women’s basketball tournament
At Birmingham, Ala.
Tuesday
Game 1 — (9) FAU defeats (8) Charlotte, 74-70, overtime
Game 2 — (7) Temple defeats (10) Tulane, 86-77, overtime
Wednesday
Game 3 — (5) North Texas defeats (9) FAU, 80-57
Game 4 — (6) UTSA defeats (7) Temple, 59-51
Thursday
Game 5 — (5) North Texas defeats (4) Tulsa, 76-73
Game 6 — (6) UTSA defeats (3) South Florida, 62-51
Friday
Game 7 — (1) Rice defeats (5) North Texas 71-67
Game 8 — (6) UTSA vs. (2) East Carolina, 8:30 p.m.
Saturday
Game 9 (championship) — (1) Rice vs. Game 8 winner, 8:30 p.m.
Records
(1) Rice 28-4, 17-1
(2) East Carolina 22-9, 14-4
x-(3) South Florida 20-12, 13-5
x-(4) Tulsa 19-12, 11-7
x-(5) North Texas 19-14, 11-7
(6) UTSA 16-15, 9-9
x-(7) Temple 15-17, 8-10
x-(8) Charlotte 14-18, 8-10
x-(9) FAU 14-18, 7-11
x-(10) Tulane 11-20, 6-12
x-eliminated