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January 25, 2008 > Sports > Owls’ momentum stifled by UCF

Owls’ momentum stifled by UCF

Crosstown rivalry resumes tomorrow as Rice takes on UH at Sharp Gym

By Justin Hudson | Thresher staff

Just when it seemed the women’s basketball team was starting to play to its potential, a second-half collapse last Sunday erased any semblance of momentum the Owls had gained. Thanks to a 24-5 run in the second half, Rice (8-11, 1-4 Conference USA) fell to the University of Central Florida 68-49 in Houston Baptist University’s Sharp Gym last Sunday.

Rice must regain its footing in time for tomorrow’s game against the University of Houston, which starts at 2 p.m. in Sharp Gym. Only two weeks ago, the Owls dropped a 71-66 nail-biter to the Cougars (10-9, 4-1 C-USA) after leading for all but three minutes of the game. The Cougars have now won four straight games in conference play thanks to their dominance on the boards — they are second in C-USA with 43.7 rebounds per game.

“They are playing very good basketball right now,” head coach Greg Williams (Hanszen ‘70) said. “They are going to be coming out with swagger and confidence.”

But the news is not all doom and gloom tor Rice: Three days before losing to UCF, the Owls snapped a previous five-game losing streak with a 64-58 win at the University of Southern Mississippi. If the Owls hope to have a shot at downing the Cougars, they will need to perform as well as they did against Southern Miss.

As in previous games during the losing streak, Rice hung tight with its opponent throughout the first half. The Owls found themselves down 32-26 with 1:58 left, but senior point guard Kadie Riverin and freshman forward Morgan Mayse helped the team go on a 10-2 run and take a 36-34 lead at the break. Rice shot exceptionally well in the half, hitting 52 percent of their shots from the field.

But just as in its previous conference games, Rice went cold during the second half, shooting a miserable 6-28 from the field — just 21 percent.

But despite their offensive shortcomings, the Owls did not panic, opting instead to turn up the pressure on the defensive end. The Golden Eagles shot only 27 percent while committing 11 turnovers down the stretch, and Rice held Pauline Love, the second leading scorer in C-USA, to six points on 3-15 shooting. The Owls also made their free throws, hitting 15 of 19 during the half, and most importantly, five of six during the final 2:28 of the game.

Rice was not as fortunate against in its next game against UCF (8-10, 1-4 C-USA). The first half was a back-and-forth affair. Sophomore guard Tara Watts helped pace the Owls with 11 points in the half while Mayse and fellow freshman guard Memri Carmon contributed five points apiece, and Rice trailed 27-26 at halftime.

As the second half began the Owls clamped down on defense, forcing the Golden Knights to miss their first 10 field goals and holding them to only two points over the first six and a half minutes.

Unfortunately for Rice the team again fell victim to offensive malaise. UCF’s first field goal of the half marked the beginning of the 24-5 run that put the game out of reach.

Defensive lapses also killed Rice toward the end. The Golden Knights finished the game making 11 of 16 as Rice lost control of the post and was unable to prevent easy UCF baskets. Any hopes of a late comeback were thwarted as UCF easily navigated Rice’s pressure defense, forcing the Owls to foul. The Golden Eagles were particularly potent from the free-throw line, going 17-20 in the second half.

Watts, who finished the game with 13 points and 4 assists, said she was perplexed at the Owls’ season-long struggles finishing games.

“We have to figure out a way to keep our energy up in the second half like we did last game at Southern Miss,” Watts said. “When our defense starts to struggle and we’re not getting easy lay-ups like we did in the first half, it starts to affect the offense. It went downhill fast.”

Williams noted he was discouraged with the lack of consistency his team has shown throughout the season.

“We can’t seem, other than [Mayse], to get a player to be consistent from one game to the next,” he said. “It’s very frustrating, but we just got to keep trying to plug away.”

End of article

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