The SMU women’s basketball team hits the road this week with a pair of games beginning in Houston. The Mustangs will take on the Rice Owls in Houston tonight at Houston Baptist University, instead of at Rice, because Rice’s stadium is currently under renovation.

The Mustangs are currently 2-1 on the road in conference play, with their only conference road loss to Tulsa in January.

The Mustangs are currently 15-6 overall, and 5-3 in Conference USA after defeating Tulane at Moody Coliseum this past weekend. They will take on Rice for the 58th time in the school’s history. The Mustangs have played more games against the Owls than any other NCAA team, with SMU holding a winning advantage of 29-28 in the series.

Rice is currently 8-14 overall, and 1-7 in C-USA, earning a ranking of last place in Conference USA. The Owls are currently riding a four-game losing streak, having lost nine of their last 10 games, including a 62-56 loss to Memphis on Sunday.

While Rice is 1-3 on the road, the team has yet to win a conference game at home. Although its not Rice’s home stadium, HBU is still an advantage because it is located only 20 minutes away from Rice.

SMU and Rice split two games last season, with each team winning at home. The Mustangs are currently first in the conference for scoring offense, averaging 74.4 percent points per conference game. Rice falls second to last in the conference, posting only an average of 56.9 points per game, more than four points below Tulane.

The Mustangs also hold an advantage over the Owls in fieldgoal percentage and three pointers. While Rice comes in at 12th hitting only 34.9 percent of its field goals, and 22.9 percent of threes, SMU has been hitting 41.7 percent and 35.1 percent, respectively.

The Mustangs continue to be the best free throw team in the conference, shooting 77.1 percent from the line. Also improving to the No. 33 spot in the nation in scoring average, SMU has also improved to become the No. 34 offense in the nation.

Returning back to what could become a winning streak, the Mustangs will try to improve to a 6-3 record on the road. Senior post Janielle Dodds posted her highest scoring average against any previous C-USA team in last season’s two match-ups, posting an average of 23 points and 10 rebounds in each game.

Tip-off is scheduled tonight at 7.