The Old Dominion women's basketball team played hard and at times well Friday night, but found 6-foot-9 Rice center Nancy Mulkey too much to overcome.
Outscored, 46-20, in the paint, ODU fell to the Owls, 77-66. Rice and ODU meet again Saturday at 4 p.m. at Chartway Arena.
Mulkey scored 21 points by making 10-of-13 shots and had eight rebounds and four assists. Jasmine Smith, a 5-7 guard, added 18 points and made four-of-five 3-point shots.
Rice (9-1, 5-0 C-USA) was the overwhelming preseason favorite to repeat as C-USA regular-season champions. Ranked 40th in the women's basketball NET ratings, the Owls' only loss came to Texas A&M, which was ranked tenth nationally at the time.