Amy Sanders led four Hawai'i players in double-figures with 18 points. The junior missed a 3-point attempt with seconds left that was rebounded by Jade Abele. Her putback did not fall as time ran out.

"We had good opportunities," UH head coach Jim Bolla said. "... but we had too many turnovers; the most we had all year."

Hawai'i committed 26 turnovers, which led to 30 Rice points.

"Even though we shot (43.3) percent, you're not going to win many games with that many turnovers," Bolla said.

Krystal Frazier had 16 points to lead Rice. Lauren Neaves added 13 points and grabbed seven rebounds.

Sophomore guard Janevia Taylor returned to action for the first time since Jan. 20 when she suffered a high-ankle sprain in pregame warmups as Hawai'i was preparing for UTEP.

Hawai'i is now 0-7 all-time in Houston and Rice improved to 7-0 at home this year.

The Owls moved into a four-way tie for second place in the conference.

"(This loss) really sets us back. We had a big opportunity to move into second place, now we're in fifth; that's a really big swing," Bolla said.