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Rice University Athletics
Women's Basketball: Game Notes - Florida A&M
12/28/1999 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Rice (6-3) at Florida A&M (2-6)
Thursday, Dec. 30, 1999, 6 pm (CST), Jake Gaither Gym (3,350), Tallahassee, Fla. Non-conference game.
Radio/Internet
None
Television
None.
Series
Rice leads the series 1-0. The Lady Owls defeated the Rattlerettes 76-73 last season.
Contacting Florida A&M
Head Coach: Claudette Farmer (Florida A&M, 1979). Career: 166-101, 10th season. At FAMU: Same.
Women's Basketball SID: Azize Kilpatrick.
On The Web
Rice: www.RiceOwls.com
Florida www.famu.edu
WAC: www.wac.org
Probable Starting Lineup (1999-2000 scoring, rebounding averages)
RICE LADY OWLS (6-3, 0-0 WAC)Tip Off
F 23 Kim Smallwood 6.1p, 5.1rF 33 Kirra Jordan 13.1p, 7.3rC 22 Kenya Tuttle 6.4p, 6.1rG 21 Kim Lawson 5.6p, 1.0rG 25 Marla Brumfield 12.0p, 4.0r
Thursday's game marks the first on the road for the Lady Owls since Nov. 29, when they held off Sam Houston State 74-69 at Huntsville... Rice defeated Florida A&M in the two teams' only previous meeting, a 76-73 decision on Dec. 5, 1998 in the opening round of the Gene Hackerman Rice Invitational.
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 100-79 overall record which brings her total as a head coach to 127-107. 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).
Florida A&M: Claudette Farmer (Florida A&M, 1979) is in her 10th year as the head coach at her alma mater, where she has a 166-101 record. She is aided by assistant coaches Beverly Burnette, Oliver Hill and Chinita Olds.
About the Rattlerettes
Florida A&M is 2-6 this season and has not played since a 74-56 loss at Alcorn State on Dec. 11. Tomekia Peterson, the only player to start all eight games this season, leads the Rattlerettes with 8.4 points and 6.6 rebounds a game. She led her team with 18 points and 11 boards at Mississippi State in a 68-62 victory on Dec. 9. Glenda Lee leads the team with 2.88 assists a game and is second in scoring with 7.6 points.
Rice Recap
The Rice women opened the game against Cornell at Autry Court with a 13-0 run as they cruised past the Big Red to win 73-48.The Lady Owls forced six Big Red turnovers before Cornell got on the scoreboard with 14:14 to go in the first half. Cornell twice closed the Rice lead to nine, but could get no closer as Rice took a 36-18 advantage into the lockerroom after senior Jenny Cafferty drained a three-pointer at the buzzer. Overall, the Lady Owls shot .485 (32-66) for the game, after making .516 (16-31) of their shots in the second, to mark their best night from the floor in five games. Senior Kim Smallwood had her best shooting game of the year with 18 points, hitting nine-of-13 from the floor, to lead the Rice scorers. Cafferty and senior Marla Brumfield were next with 11 points each. Defensively, Smallwood and junior Kenya Tuttle had six boards a piece to lead the Rice rebounding efforts as the Lady Owls out-rebounded the Big Red 43-36. The Rice women also snagged a season-high 17 steals, with 10 players getting at least one.
Century Mark
Head coach Cristy McKinney earned her 100th Rice victory with the Lady Owls' 73-48 win against Cornell. Now in her seventh season at the helm for the Rice women, McKinney has amassed a 100-79 record, including a 59-21 mark at Autry Court. She has a 127-107 record in nine years as a head coach.
In the WAC...
The Lady Owls are continuing to prove their defensive prowess in the WAC. After leading the conference the last two seasons, the Rice women are again tops in the league in turnover margin, forcing 3.67 more turnovers a game than they relinquish. The team also leads in scoring defense, giving up 58.0 a game, and in three-point field-goal percentage defense, holding its opponents to just .250 from behind the arc. Individually, senior Jenny Cafferty is tops in the the league in three-point shooting percentage, hitting .457 (16-35), seventh in three-pointers a game (1.78) and cracked the top 30 in scoring with her 7.9 points a game. Seniors Kirra Jordan and Marla Brumfield also appear prominently in the conference standings. Jordan is fourth in rebounds (7.3) and blocked shots (1.0) and seventh in scoring (13.1). Brumfield is third in assists (4.56), sixth in steals (2.67), 10th in blocked shots (0.56) and 16th in scoring (12.0).
Transition Game
Seniors Kirra Jordan and Kim Smallwood have both changed positions this season. While Jordan has successfully returned to the power forward position, where she earned all-WAC honors as a sophomore, Smallwood has been learning to play the three position, a new place for her. If the Cornell game is any indication, she is finally beginning to feel comfortable with the transition. Against the Big Red, Smallwood led the team with a season-best 18 points and two blocks and tied for the team high with six boards and three steals. It was her best overall game since last year's finale at Arkansas, where she led the Lady Owls in the same for categories.
The Good, The Bad, and The Road
The road has not been the kindest place for the Lady Owls in recent history. Last season Rice was 7-8 when playing in unfriendly environments, and the team is 1-2 this season. Several players, though, have shot better in the three games on foreign floors this season. Senior Kirra Jordan and Jenny Cafferty and freshman Kara Liggett are all hitting more than half of their shots on the road. Cafferty is shooting .556 (10-18) from the floor and .600 (6-10) from behind the arc when on the road, but overall is hitting .463 (25-54) from the floor and .457 (16-35) from three-point land. Similarly, Jordan is shooting .515 (17-33) on the road and .460 (46-100) overall, while Liggett is .529 (9-17) away and .423 (22-52) overall.
Conference History
Since the start of the 1999-2000 season, senior Marla Brumfield has moved into the top 10 of two WAC all-time lists. She currently ranks sixth in steals wtih 246, nine behind Julie Krommenhoek of Utah (1994-98). Tamika Stukes of New Mexico (1994-98) is the WAC's all-time steal leader with 354. Brumfield is also 10th in free throws made with 320. Wyoming's Amy Burnett (1991-95) remains the WAC record holder with 597 made free throws in her career.
Millennium Milestone
With three consecutive free throws to start the scoring for the Lady Owls against Texas-Pan American, senior Kirra Jordan became just the 11th player at Rice to eclipse the 1,000-career points mark. After opening her final campaign with 905 points, Jordan has led the Rice women in scoring this season, totaling 118 over nine games, and bringing her career total to 1,023. Jordan has moved up to eighth among Rice's all-time scorers, just two spots below teammate Marla Brumfield's 1,329. Pat Krieger remains the most prolific scorer in program history, tallying 1,851 points from 1979-1982.
Magic Numbers
Through the first third of the season, several trends are developing which predict the success of the Lady Owls. In all six wins this season, the Rice women have turned the ball over fewer times than their opponents, but in the three losses, they have turned the ball over more times. The Lady Owls are also 4-0 when they hold their opponents' field goal percentage under .400 and 5-1 when they are equal or ahead in rebounds.
Campaign Trail
Senior Kirra Jordan has begun her campaign for post-season honors after returning to the power forward position, where she earned all-WAC honors as a sophomore. After spending last year playing small forward, Jordan is leading the Lady Owls with 13.1 points and 7.3 rebounds a game. She is shooting .460 (46-100) from the floor and .788 (26-33) from the charity stripe. The Missouri City native is also responsible for nine of Rice's 25 blocks this season, including three swats against both Illinois State and Memphis. Jordan has been her team's leading scorer in four games and top rebounder in five games, including two double-doubles.
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. The trio are 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 (246), fourth in field goal attempts (1,224) and field goals made (476), and fifth in free throws made (320) and free throws attempted (470). She is also currently the sixth most prolific scorer in Rice history with 1,329 points. Against Texas-Pan American, Jordan became just the 11th player at Rice to score 1,000-career points and has brought her total to 1,023, which ranks eighth all-time. Jordan has also moved up to fifth all-time in blocked shots with 68, and she ranks seventh in field goals made (405). She has also moved into the top 10 in free throws made, where she ranks eighth with 199. Despite missing most of her junior season with an injury, Cafferty ranks seventh all-time in three pointers made (65), needing three more to tie for sixth, and sixth in attempts (178).
Injury Update
Prior to Christmas, sophomore LaToya Brown was diagnosed with a stress reaction in her right tibia and missed the the Cornell. She is scheduled to be reevaluated the first week of January. Brown missed four games last season after suffering a hamstring pull at Colorado State.
TV Time
The Lady Owls have had two of their Western Athletic Conference home games picked up by Fox Sports Net-TV. The Tulsa game has been moved to Sunday, Feb. 13 at 2 pm, while the Hawaii match-up is now scheduled for Sunday, Feb. 20 at 3:30 pm.
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.
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.
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.
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.
