Women's Basketball: Rice Overwhelms Texas-Pan American
12/11/1999 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Senior Kirra Jordan opened the scoring for the Lady Owls, making her first three free throws to notch her 1,000th career point and give her team a 3-0 lead. The Rice women pushed their early lead to nine before the Lady Broncs closed the gap to 15-10 with 8:32 to play in the half. The Lady Owls responded by breaking the game open with 22 unanswered points over the next 6:16 and never looked back.
Jordan led all scorers and rebounders in the game with 19 points and 10 boards for her second consecutive double-double. Senior Marla Brumfield was right behind her with 18 points, 15 coming in the first half, and led Rice with five assists and six steals. The pair combined to shoot 14-21 from the floor as the Lady Owls made 41.9 percent (31-74) of their shots for the game. Jenny Cafferty, also a senior, rounded out Rice's list of double-digit scorers, chipping in 10 points, all in the second half.
Defensively, the Lady Owls forced a season-high 34 turnovers while snagging 15 steals, which equals their season best. Rice also controlled the boards, 45-36, including grabbing 20 off the offensive glass, and produced four blocked shots.
Cheveron Terry led the way for the Lady Broncs with nine points, seven rebounds and three assists. Senella Baldwin also had nine points and added five boards in the losing effort. After making just 26.1 percent (6-23) of their shots in the first, the UTPA women improved to 39.1 percent (9-23) in the second and were 8-11 from the free throw line over the final 20 minutes of play.
The win improves Rice's record to 5-3 on the year, while the Lady Broncs fall to 1-8.
The Lady Owls now have a 10-day break for final exams before their next game. They will return to the court on Tuesday, Dec. 21 to host Cornell at 7 pm at Autry Court.
