Utah Tech rallied late but could not overcome a second half double-digit deficit in falling at Rice, 82-71, on Wednesday night at Tudor Fieldhouse in Houston.

How it happened 
The Trailblazers (4-5/0-0 WAC) and Owls traded bucket-for-bucket to begin the game, but Rice broke an 8-8 tie with a 17-5 run over the final five-plus minutes of the first quarter, and the opening moments of the second, to open up a 25-13 lead with 8:31 to play until halftime.
 
Utah Tech quickly rebounded with an 8-2 spurt to pare the Owl lead to seven at 27-20 after an Aaliyah Ibarra lay-in at the 6:43 mark of the period. 
 
Rice (6-3) then countered with nine-straight points to up its lead to 16 before retreating to the locker room with a commanding 46-32 advantage at the intermission.
 
Facing their largest deficit of the night at 57-40 three minutes into the third quarter, the Blazers flipped the switch on offense, outscoring Rice 14-4 over the next five-plus minutes to cut the deficit to seven at 61-54 after two Calyn Dallas free throws.
 
Emily Isaacson knocked down her 199^th-career 3-pointer to kick start the rally, while Dallas converted a traditional three-point play and added a perimeter jumper of her own as she scored all eight of her points on the night during her team's run. 

However the Owls clapped back with seven-unanswered points over the final 1:33 of the frame seconds to extend their lead back to 14 at 68-54 as the game moved on to the final 10 minutes.
 
Down 73-62 with 6:41 to go, the Trailblazers rattled off a 9-0 run to make it two-possession game at 73-69 after an Ibarra 3-pointer with 3:45 left.
 
Unfortunately that would be as close as Utah Tech would get as Rice went on to score eight of the final 11 points of the night to come away with the home victory. 
 
Numbers to know
Ibarra led four Trailblazers in double figures with 14 points off the bench on 5-of-13 shooting with three 3-pointers. It marked the fourth-straight game the junior guard would lead the team in scoring. 
 
Brie Crittendon added 12 points on 4-of-7 from the floor with a pair of treys, while Chardonnay Hartley and Nicole Willardson both finished with 10 points apiece.
 
Willardson, whose 10 points were a season high, also pulled down a team-high eight rebounds and finished with three blocked shots and two assists. 

Utah Tech shot 34.3 percent from the floor (23-of-67), which included an 11-of-38 effort (.289) from the perimeter. The Blazers also went to the foul line 23 times, but only converted on 14 (.609) of their attempts. 
 
Malia Fisher led three Owls in double figures with 17 points off the bench, while Hailey Adams pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds to go with 12 points. 
 
Rice wound up shooting 33-of-69 (.478) from the field, 7-of-20 (.350) from 3-point country, and outrebounded Utah Tech by a 50-37 margin. 
 
Up Next
Utah Tech quickly heads back west for a Friday afternoon matinee at Boise State. Tip-off inside BSU ExtraMile Arena is set for 1 p.m. (MT).