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February 22, 2008 > Sports > Loss to UTEP stops women’s two-game win streak

Loss to UTEP stops women’s two-game win streak

By Justin Hudson | Thresher staff

Apparently all it took for the women’s basketball team to win another conference game was an audience. The Owls (10-16, 3-9 Conference USA) edged Tulane University 78-73 on national television in New Orleans, La., in a game that showed that Rice is ready to bounce back from a bad start to the conference season.

However, after falling victim to a 24-4 run in its next game, a 65-53 road loss to the University of Texas-El Paso last Saturday, the team knows it still has a long way to go if it wants to have any impact in the C-USA tournament next month.

Rice will continue its four-game road trip this week against both Southern Methodist University and Tulsa University. Yesterday, the Owls headed north to take on Southern Methodist University (19-6, 9-3 C-USA) in Dallas, Texas. SMU has solidified its spot as the conference’s second-best team with recent dominating performances against the University of Houston, Memphis University and the University of Alabama — only UTEP still stands in SMU’s way.

Tomorrow, the Owls face Tulsa University at 7 p.m. The Golden Hurricane (9-16, 5-7 C-USA) will also be looking for revenge, as the Owls defeated them 69-59 on Feb. 9 thanks to an 11-0 run in the game’s final five minutes.

Head coach Greg Williams (Hanszen ‘70) said he knows this weekend’s games will be a huge challenge for his team.

“We’re playing an extremely tough game against SMU,” Williams said. “They’re playing just lights-out basketball right now and they always play well at home. And of course Tulsa is very upset [because] they thought they could beat us here.”

Tulsa may not be the only one upset at Rice after last weekend — Tulane (14-11, 4-8 C-USA) was playing at home and riding a two-game winning streak entering last Thursday. However, the Green Wave failed to count on the resurgence of senior center Valeriya Berezhynska, who was big reason for Rice’s success at Tulane and early lead at UTEP. After struggling with foul trouble in her first two games back from an ankle injury, Berezhynska put together perhaps the best all-around game in school history. Berezhynska notched a triple-double — the first in Rice history — with 14 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists.

Berezhynska credited her high assist total against Tulane to her teammates’ ability to get open as she faced constant double teams.

“Everybody was being aggressive and decided to take charge and go to the basket,” Berezhynska said. “They were trying to double-team me, so the kick-outs were wide open and they just knocked down shots.”

Two days later against UTEP, Berezhynska again stepped up and had 11 of her game-high 24 points in the first half as the Owls went into the half leading 27-26.

Berezhynska’s performance earned her Conference USA Co-Player of the Week honors.

The win against Tulane was truly a balanced effort, with all five starters scoring double figures. Sophomore guard Tara Watts led Rice with a career high 20 points, many of them coming off of assists from Berezhynska. Watts shot 8-13 from the field, including a 4-7 mark from beyond the three-point line. Though only 2-6 from the field, senior point guard Kadie Riverin hit all eight of her free throw attempts to end the game with 12 points. Freshman forward Morgan Mayse, who was 8-13 from the line en route to 13 points, and redshirt junior guard Maudess Fulton, who was 6-8 from the field for 15 points, also contributed as the Owl starters combined for 74 of Rice’s 78 points.

However, the Owls’ offense did not have its spark against the Miners, shooting only 32 percent in the first half, with Berezhynska, Watts and Riverin being the only effective shooters on the floor. The trip combined to go 7-14 from the field for 21 points, while the rest of the team managed a meager 3-17 on the night. However, Rice’s defense also held the Miners in check to at least keep the Owls within striking distance. UTEP was shot only 33 percent, including 1-7 from behind the arc. This staunch defense allowed the Owls to go into the half leading 27-26.

Like the first half, the beginning of the second half was a back and forth affair, with the Owls regaining the lead at 34-33 with 15:30 left. At this point of the game, however, UTEP’s transitional offense and full-court press took over. The Miners went on a 24-4 run over nearly ten minute to end the Owls’ upset bid.

“It was disappointing because he had an opportunity to beat a nationally ranked team and were playing well enough to [win],” Williams said. “But that’s what great teams do. They have those kind of runs and that was the ball game.”

End of article

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