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November 30, 2007 > Sports > Women’s basketball cools off with losses to Clemson, Colorado

Women’s basketball cools off with losses to Clemson, Colorado

By Justin Hudson | Thresher staff

On the road for the third straight weekend in a row, the women’s basketball team dropped both of its games last weekend at the Coors Classic in Boulder, Colo. Last Friday, Rice (5-3) was unable to overcome a double-digit deficit as it lost 62-59 to former coach Cristy McKinney and Clemson University. The next day, Rice failed to capitalize on a great start and fell 72-55 to host University of Colorado.

The Owls will once again be on the road this weekend. Tonight at 6 p.m., the Owls will take on Furman University (2-3) in Greenville, S.C. Rice will then travel to Winston-Salem, N.C., to take on Wake Forest University (5-1) at noon Sunday. Last weekend, the Demon Deacons upset 10th-ranked Texas A&M University en route to a victory in the Paradise Jam Tournament Nov. 24.

Rice began its recent road swing in impressive fashion by winning two of its first three games — the Owls won 81-55 over the California State University-Northridge on Nov. 16 and 49-39 over the University of Arkansas-Little Rock on Nov. 20, and they lost 79-71 to the University of California-Los Angeles on Nov. 18.

However, Clemson (4-3) proved to be perhaps the most intriguing opponent on the road trip. McKinney guided Rice to two NCAA tournament appearances during her 12-year tenure at the university.

Head coach Greg Williams (Hanszen ‘70) attributed the Owls’ early struggles against Clemson to the nervous energy of McKinney’s recruits — which includes the senior trio of center Valeriya Berezhynska, guard Kadie Riverin, forward Tiffany Loggins — going into the contest.

“It was a difficult game, because. … there was a lot of adrenaline [and] a lot of emotion,” Williams said. “It was hard for them to settle down and focus on relaxing [and] just letting the game come to them.”

The Owls struggled mightily from the field in the first half, shooting only 22 percent. Berezhynska started the game 0-11, and junior guard Maudess Fulton — another McKinney recruit — went only 1-6.

However, Rice stayed in the game because they held the Tigers to 31 percent shooting on their own. The Owls made a run in the second half, cutting a 12-point Tiger lead with 8:04 left down to four with under ten seconds left. Riverin, who had to sit out the Arkansas-Little Rock game with a sore ankle, then sent a crisp pass to Fulton, who drained the three-pointer to bring the Owls within one. But on the ensuing foul, Clemson’s April Parker put in two free throws, and the Owls could not set up a game-tying three-point shot.

Once again, Rice seniors led the way down the stretch. Berezhynska again stepped up in the second half, scoring 16 of her 21 points down the stretch. The center was also 13 from 15 from the free throw line.

The comeback was also sparked by 15 points from a healthy Riverin, who had sat out the Arkansas-Little Rock game with a sore ankle.

In the consolation game against Colorado (2-2), Rice played poorly on both sides of the ball, even though they started the game with a 13-4 lead. However, a 21-2 run by the Buffaloes would build up a double-digit lead from which the Owls could not recover. Rice faltered on offense, shooting only 29 percent in the second half, while Colorado shot 47 percent.

Furthermore, Loggins, Berezhynska and freshman center Melissa Wittmayer all fouled out against a physical Buffalo team.

“[That was] probably our most disappointing performance of the season,” Williams said. “[We] started the game out great … and then we stopped executing offensively. Foul trouble hurt us.”

End of article

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