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January 12, 2007 > Sports > Owls halt five-game losing skid with 61-52 win at Tulane

Owls halt five-game losing skid with 61-52 win at Tulane

By Justin Hudson | Thresher staff

Coming off a 61-52 road upset of Tulane University, the women’s basketball team hopes to get on a roll at East Carolina University Sunday at 1 p.m. Last night, Rice (8-8, 1-2 Conference USA) hosted Marshall University, a team that had won four of its last six coming into the game.

Though the team has won three of its last four games, East Carolina (7-9, 2-1) has been horribly inconsistent all year. The Pirates knocked off Marshall, one of the top teams in C-USA, by 22 points Jan. 2 but lost to the University of Detroit Mercy and barely held off North Dakota State University at home. Guard Jasmine Young, C-USA’s 2005-2006 co-freshman of the year, and center Cherie Mills lead the Pirates’ offensive attack.

With the C-USA season now underway, the Owls, preseason favorites to win the conference, must get into a rhythm with a shorthanded roster. Three players — sophomore guards Whitney McCauley and Catherine Flores as well as sophomore forward Emery Carter - suffered ACL tears and are likely out for the season, possibly longer. Senior forward Lauren Neaves, Rice’s leading scorer and rebounder, went down with a hip injury in an 83-54 blowout loss to Kansas State University Dec. 29 and will be out until at least next week.

Senior guard Krystal Frazier, herself a victim of a season-ending Achilles’ tendon injury last season, said the recent rash of injuries is disappointing but has not broken the team’s resolve.

“It’s really hard seeing your teammates go down for different injuries,” Frazier said. “But, on the good side of things, we also know that we’re still a team regardless of if they fell or not and they still contribute to this team regardless if it’s not even on the court.”

The injuries, coupled with a difficult schedule and some inconsistent play, were all key factors in what turned out to be a winter break to forget for the Owls. Rice lost five straight games to start the break. Of those five, only one — a 91-86 overtime loss at the University of Houston Jan. 2 — was decided by single digits.

The recent stretch of play started out well enough for the Owls. Rice cruised to the Gene Hackerman Invitational championship before finals break, beating Alcorn State 72-51 and then moving on to defeat Idaho State 88-69. Rice took control of both games early, allowing Williams to make extensive use of his bench. After the layoff, the Owls traveled to Ruston, La. on Dec. 21 to meet with old rival Louisiana Tech University. During their final year in the Western Athletic Conference, the Owls challenged the Lady Techsters for conference dominance. Rice knocked Louisiana Tech out of the WAC tournament in 2005 en route to its most recent conference title. Even though Louisiana Tech has recently struggled, the Owls were unable to get their first win at Ruston, losing to the Lady Techsters 86-58. Five Louisiana Tech players scored in double digits, while the Owls shot 36 percent from the field and 17 percent from the three point line. Rice also had 24 turnovers.

A week later, things went from bad to worse for the Owls. In Miami for the Florida International University Sun and Fun Classic, the Owls fell to Kansas State and George Mason University. Against the Wildcats, Neaves broke Goya Qualls’ (Brown ‘82) school rebounding record despite clearly being hampered by her hip injury. In only 16 minutes of action, Neaves grabbed three rebounds and two points. Then, with Neaves on the bench, the Wildcats outscored the Owls 49-27 in the second half to run away with the game. While the Owls again struggled shooting, Kansas State could not miss. The Owls were held to 31 percent shooting from the field and 29 percent shooting from behind the arc. Even free-throw shooting was difficult for the Owls, who were an abysmal 9-19 from the free-throw line. Kansas State, on the other hand, shot 62 percent from the three point line, including hitting 10 out of 16 attempts in the second half.

The Owls could not rebound in the consolation game Dec. 30 against George Mason, falling 68-58 to the Patriots. Carter and junior center Valeriya Berezhynska combined for 30 points to keep Rice in the game, but the Owls could not overcome terrible shooting - they hit only 29 percent of its shots and made 1 of 16 three-pointers - and a double-double from Patriot guard Tracy Ann Holness, who scored 14 points and notched 10 rebounds.

The shorthanded Owls shot markedly better against cross-town rival University of Houston (4-10, 1-3) on Jan. 2 but still lost in overtime. Berzhynska again had a big game, scoring a career high 31 points, while junior forward Tiffany Loggins grabbed a career high 11 rebounds. Frazier scored a season-high 22 points and junior guard Kadie Riverin had 17 points and 6 assists. Rice, however, was unable to stop Cougar guard Tye Jackson, who scored 30 points, including a free throw with 5 seconds remaining in regulation that put the game in overtime. In the extra period, the Cougars jumped out to a five-point lead, and the Owls never recovered. Again, turnovers were the killer: 19 Rice turnovers led to 26 Houston points.

The Owls finished out their six-game road trip against two of the best teams in C-USA, the University of Texas-El Paso Jan. 5 and Tulane Jan. 7. Against UTEP (14-1, 3-0), Rice was able to stick around thanks to senior forward Samantha Stovall’s 13 points and Loggins’ 10 point-10 rebound performance. Late in the game, however, fatigue began to set in for the Owls. The Miners went on a 13-0 run in the final 5 minutes, 12 seconds to seal a 65-53 victory. Once again, turnovers and poor shooting sealed the Owls’ fate - Rice shot only 30 percent from the field and committed 22 turnovers, which led to 29 Miner points.

The beleaguered Owls finally got the win they were looking for at Tulane (12-4, 1-2). Berezhynska again stepped up in Neaves’s absence, scoring 19 points and taking down a career-high 19 rebounds. Rice had an 11 point first half lead, but Tulane eventually closed the gap early in the second half. Despite being in their third straight close conference game, the Owls stepped up when it counted the most. Rice’s defense helped to preserve the lead after junior guard Maudess Fulton made a three to give Rice a 50-48 lead with 5:37 left in the game. While the Owls could only shoot 37 percent field goals and 62 percent from the line, they held Tulane to an impressively low 29 percent shooting en route to their first win since early December.

Williams said the win at Tulane helped a team that was in dire need of a boost.

“With all the injuries we’ve had and the losses, it has been discouraging for everybody, and nothing solves some of those issues better than a win,” Williams said.

Though the odds are stacked against them, Rice is still confident that they can meet their goal of winning conference and a spot in the NCAA tournament. And such a comeback is not without precedent. Last year, the Owls overcame a slew of injuries and a 6-11 record to come within four points of a conference title. Riverin said the team is sure this year will follow the same pattern.

“We’re always confident that we can pull [conference] out,” she said. “We just had a little rough past month. Hopefully this win against Tulane will start our winning roll again and well be fine.”

Williams said he believes efforts similar to those shown at UTEP and Tulane are key if the Owls wish to break out of the mediocrity that has plagued them all season thus far.

“We’re a struggling 8-8, and we’ve been extremely inconsistent,” he said. “[But] I was encouraged by this weekend because we felt like we played … very solid, defensive basketball.”

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