Women's Basketball: Lady Owls at Texas Tech
11/22/1999 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Rice (1-0) at Texas Tech (1-0)
Tuesday, Nov. 23, 1999, 7 pm (CST), United Spirit Arena (15,000), Lubbock.
Non-conference game.
Radio/Internet
Radio broadcast on KTRU - 91.7 FM and internet at www.ktru.org with Craig Ackerman (play-by-play).
Television
None.
Series
Texas Tech leads 28-3. The Lady Raiders won the last meeting, a 79-57 decision on Dec. 6, 1998 at Autry Court.
Contacting Texas Tech Head Coach: Marsha Sharp (Wayland Baptist, 1974). Career: 407-129, 18th season. At TTU: Same.
Women's Basketball SID: Tammi Hoffman.
On The Web
Rice: www.RiceOwls.com
Texas Tech: www.goladyraiders.com and www.texastech.com
WAC: www.wac.org
Probable Starting Lineups (1999-2000 scoring, rebounding averages) RICE LADY OWLS (1-0, 0-0 WAC) F 23 Kim Smallwood 9.0p, 9.0r F 33 Kirra Jordan 9.0p, 11.0r F/C 22 Kenya Tuttle 7.0p, 8.0r G 21 Kim Lawson 5.0p, 2.0r G 25 Marla Brumfield 17.0p, 2.0rTip Off
Tuesday's game marks the first road appearance for the Lady Owls and the second home game for the host Lady Raiders... The meeting also marks the second game for Texas Tech its new facility, the 15,000 seat United Spirit Arena... The Lady Raiders hold a 28-3 series advantage over the Lady Owls, including a 79-57 victory in the championship game of the 1998 Gene Hackerman Rice Invitational, which brought Rice's 19-game home-winning streak to a close...
Meet the Coaches
Rice: Cristy McKinney (North Carolina State, 1979) is in her seventh season as the head coach of the Rice women. During her tenure at Rice, McKinney has posted a 95-76 overall record which brings her total as a head coach to 122-104. Last season, McKinney guided the Rice women to their second-straight NCAA post-season appearance, advancing to the quarterfinals of the 1999 Women's National Invitation Tournament. She has led the Rice women to six of their seven best finishes in league play. McKinney is assisted by seventh-year assistant coach Wooly Hatchell (South Carolina, 1982), fourth-year assistant Shanice Sandford (Oklahoma State, 1993) and third-year assistant Shane Brown (Eastern Kentucky, 1991.
Texas Tech: Marsha Sharp (Wayland Baptist, 1974) is 407-129 as she begins her 18th year at Texas Tech. She was the Big 12 coach of the year in both 1998 and 1999 and has led the Lady Raiders to 10 consecutive NCAA tournament appearances. Sharp is aided by long-time assistant caoch Linden Weese, also beginning his 18th year with the program, assistant coach Roger Reding, entering is 10th year at Texas Tech, and assistant Lance White, who has served as an assistant coach for the past three seasons.
The Last Time
Rice and Texas Tech last met in the championship game of the 1998 Gene Hackerman Rice Invitational. The Lady Raiders, ranked 12th at the time, brought to an end the Lady Owls, 19-game home-winning streak with a 79-57 victory. Marla Brumfield was Rice's top scorer in the game, tallying 15 points, while Kim Smallwood grabbed a team-high nine rebounds. Texas Tech was led by Angie Braziel's 26 points and nine boards. Of the current Lady Raiders, Keitha Dickerson was the leader against the Lady Owls with 11 points and six rebounds.
Rice Recap
The Lady Owls opened the 1999-2000 season in style, with a 66-51 victory over Illinois State on Nov. 19 at Autry Court. Senior Marla Brumfield kept her team in the game in the first half with 11 points and three steals, as the Lady Owls went into the lockerroom at halftime down 31-29. Rice held a solid 23-14 rebounding advantage at the break and forced 15 turnovers in the opening period, but never grabbed the lead. In the second, the Rice women stepped up their intensity. With 14:06 to play, senior Jenny Cafferty drained a three pointer to give the Lady Owls their first lead of the game. The Redbirds regained the lead briefly, but after a jumper by senior Kim Smallwood at the 13:12 mark, Rice never looked back. Brumfield finished the game with 17 points and a career-best seven steals, tying the mark for the fourth most steals in a game by an Owl. Cafferty also equaled her career best with a team-high three assists, while senior Kirra Jordan led the team with 11 rebounds, one off her career high.
For Openers
Since her arrival in 1993, the Cristy McKinney coached Lady Owls are 6-1 in season openers, with the only blemish on the record a 53-51 heartbreaker last season at Lamar. At Autry Court, the Rice women are a perfect 7-0 in home openers, including Friday's 66-51 victory over Illinois State, since McKinney took the reins.
Top Returners
The Lady Owls are returning their top three scorers from last year's 20-12 team. Senior Marla Brumfield has been Rice's scoring leader since her freshman year and averaged a team high 14.5 points a game last season. Senior Kirra Jordan finished last season averaging 11.0 points an outing. Kim Smallwood, also a senior, was third on the team in scoring with 10.0 a game and led the Rice women in rebounding with 6.6 a game.
Meet the Newcomers
Five players made their debuts in the Blue and Gray against Illinois State, including two familiar faces. Junior Kenya Tuttle had to sit out last year after transferring from Southwest Missouri State and has taken over the vacant starting center position. Redshirt freshman Sarah Bracken missed last season after having reconstructive knee surgery in November. At 6-3, she is the tallest player on the roster and will be a valuable reserve in the paint. Challenging the returners for playing time will be true freshmen Starla James, Kim Lawson and Kara Liggett. Also available to the Lady Owls in practice are two transfers who must sit out the 1999-2000 season. Jennifer Rigg came to Rice from Toronto, Ontario via SMU, where she was a starter the Mustangs' 1999 WAC tournament championship team. Joining Rigg is LaTonya Sam, who returns to Houston after a two-year stint at Stephen F. Austin State University.
Senior Record Watch
Now in their fourth year in the Blue and Gray, seniors Marla Brumfield, Jenny Cafferty, and Kirra Jordan are already a major part of the Rice history books and will be looking to improve on their current standings and break into new record lists. Brumfield currently ranks in the top 10 in nine career categories, including third in steals (229), fourth in field goal attempts (1,138) and field goals made (443), having surpassed former letter winner Brenda Conaway in the season opener, and fifth in free throws made (300) and free throws attempted (440). She is also currently the sixth most prolific scorer in Rice history with 1,238 points. With three blocks in the season opener, Jordan moved up to a tie for fifth all-time with 62, and she ranks ninth in field goals made (361). Over the course of her senior season, she will have an opportunity to enter the top 10 of six other categories, including becoming just the 11th person to score 1,000 career points as she currently has 914. Despite missing most of her junior season with an injury, Cafferty ranks 10th all-time in three pointers made (50) and attempted (149). She is recovered from last year's injury and is looking to pick up her shooting where she left off as a sophomore.
WAC Picks
In October, the Rice women were picked to finish third in the upcoming Western Athletic Conference season by league coaches, receiving 38 points. Rice is coming off a 20-12 season in which it finished third in the WAC Mountain Division with a 9-5 mark. Last season, the Lady Owls advanced to the WAC tournament semifinals before earning a berth in their second-straight WNIT. Hawai`i is predicted to win the WAC crown this year, receiving 45 points and five first-place votes from the league coaches. Rainbow Wahine coach Vince Goo returns 10 letterwinners and four starters from last year's squad, which tied for third in the WAC Pacific Division with a 9-5 conference mark, 17-10 overall. SMU was a close second to Hawai`i in the poll, receiving 43 points and two first place votes. The Mustangs finished second in the Mountain Division during the regular season with a 11-3 record, 20-11 overall, and claimed the 1999 WAC tournament title.
Team Points 1. Hawai`i (5) 45 2. SMU (2) 43 3. RICE OWLS 38 4. TCU (1) 33 5. Fresno State 22 6. UTEP 19 7. Tulsa 17 8. San Jose State 7Tournament Time
The Lady Owls are preparing to make their first of two regular season tournament appearances. The Rice women will spend Thanksgiving in Memphis, Tenn., where they face Samford in the first round of the University of Memphis Tournament on Friday, then either Memphis or Providence on Saturday. Rice's next home appearance will be Dec. 3-4 when it hosts the Gene Hackerman Rice Invitational, featuring Massachusetts, Michigan and New Mexico State.
Recovery Ward
Coach Cristy McKinney has three Owls available to her this year after they missed all or most of last season with injuries. Senior Jenny Cafferty returns to the Rice line-up after missing most of last season with costochondritis. Cafferty is one of the Owls' top three-point shooting threats, ranking in the top-10 at Rice in career three-pointers made, attempted and three-point shooting percentage, despite averaging just over 13 minutes a game. Recovering from reconstructive knee surgery are sophomore Daneesh McIntosh and freshman Sarah Bracken. McIntosh saw playing time in four games before suffering a torn ACL in early December, forcing her to miss her sophomore season while receiving a redshirt. Bracken had surgery over the 1998 Thanksgiving break and is making for her first appearance in a Rice uniform this year.
History Makers
In the four years since 1999 seniors Jennifer Hamilton, Suzanne Koy and Charonda Wilson came to Rice, and especially in the last two seasons since Ashley Duncan joined the squad, the Owls have set numerous single game and season records and have developed a winning tradition. As freshmen in 1995-96, Hamilton, Koy and Wilson struggled through Rice's seventh consecutive losing season, finishing the year 13-14. Over the past three seasons, the Owls have enjoyed three consecutive winning seasons, the best run since joining the NCAA. In 21 years, the program has a total of eight seasons of finishing above .500. As juniors, the foursome was a part of the Owls' best season ever as the team finished 21-9 overall and was a perfect 13-0 at Autry Court. During that memorable year, Rice set seven season records including games won (21) and win streak (seven games). In 1998-99, Rice set six single season records and topped four of its marks from the previous year. Overall, Duncan, Hamilton, Koy and Wilson have had a hand in setting 16 single game records.
Landmark Season
With their 62-60 overtime victory at Baylor, Rice reached the 20-win mark for the second consecutive season and only the third time in school history. In 1997-98, the Owls finished the year with a 21-9 mark, tying the school record for wins in a season. The only other time Rice has posted 20+ wins was in the 1981-82 season when the Owls finished 21-8 in their final year of AIAW competition. The 32 games played in 1999 also marked the longest season in Rice history.
Record Review
In 1998-99, the Lady Owls set six single season team records. Rice scored the most points in history, producing 2,120 points, in the longest season ever (32 games). The Lady Owls made more free throws on more attempts than ever before, going 458 of 677. The squad also took more shots than ever before, making 1,986 attempts from the floor, including 370 three-point attempts.
In the 1999 WNIT
Rice's 65-58 win against Miami marked the program's first-ever national post-season tournament victory. With the 62-60 overtime win at Baylor, the Lady Owls moved into the quarterfinals of the Women's National Invitation Tournament, where they fell to eventual WNIT champion Arkansas 76-70 in Fayetteville, Ark. Last year marked the second consecutive time the Rice women received a bid in the WNIT, and the first time for a Rice basketball team, men or women, to host a national post-season tournament. In 1998, the Lady Owls made their first post-season appearance since joining the NCAA when they lost in the first round of the WNIT at Oklahoma State, 75-52.
The Winning Numbers
During the 1998-99 season, the Lady Owls were a perfect 14-0 when they led at the half and a perfect 11-0 when they produced a higher shooting percentage than their opponents. Rice was also 13-2 when scoring 70 or more points. On the defensive side, the Owls were 15-1 when they held their opponent to fewer than 60 points. In general, when Rice won, it won BIG. With 20 victories last year, the Owls' average margin of victory was +18.7 points, and they won eight games by 20 or more points.
Marla's Milestone
By the end of the Air Force game at Autry Court on Jan. 16, junior Marla Brumfield found herself among elite company, joining the members of Rice's 1,000-career point club. With 16:16 remaining in the second half, Brumfield drained a three pointer and catapulted from tenth on the all-time scoring list to seventh. Through the first 20 years of the program, only nine Rice letterwinners finished their careers with 1,000 points or better. Pat Krieger, who played from 1979-82, remains the most prolific scorer in Rice history with 1,851 points.