.png&type=webp)
Rice University Athletics
Rice v. Lousiana Tech Women's Basketball Notes
11/11/2000 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
- Release in PDF Format
GAME NOTES: Rice Lady Owls at Louisiana Tech
Sunday, Nov. 12, 2 pm
Quick Facts
Rice-Louisiana Tech
Sunday, Nov. 10, 2000, 2 pm (CST), Thomas Assemble Arena (8,000), Ruston, La. Second-round game of the preseason Women's National Invitation Tournament.
Radio/Internet
Broadcast via KTRU 91.7 FM and available on the internet (www.ktru.org) with Matt Thomas (play-by-play).
Television
None
Series
Sunday marks the first meeting between Rice and Louisiana Tech.
Contacting Louisiana tech
Head Coach: Leon Barmore. Career: 521-77, 19 seasons. At Louisiana Tech: same. Women's Basketball SID: Malcolm Butler. Office: 318-257-3144. SID Fax: 318-257-3757. E-Mail: mbutler@latech.edu
On The Web
Rice: www.RiceOwls.com
LaTech: www.latechsports.com
WAC: www.wacsports.com
Probable Starting Lineups (2000-01 scoring, rebounding averages)RICE LADY OWLSF 5 Jennifer Rigg 6-0, Jr.-Tr., Toronto, Ontario 2.0, 4.0rF 44 Aarika Florus 6-1, Jr.-2L, Mont Belvieu 13.0p, 2.0rC 22 Kenya Tuttle 6-1, Sr.-1L, Houston 8.0p, 7.0rG 21 Kim Lawson 5-7, So.-1L, Houston 8.0p, 2.0rG 24 Kara Liggett 5-10, So.-1L, Bristow, Okla. 5.0p, 2.0r |
Tip Off
Sunday's game is a second round matchup in the Women's National Invitation Tournament. Rice defeated South Carolina 61-56 Friday night at Autry Court to advance, while Louisiana Tech defeated Tennessee-Chatanooga 69-52 in Ruston, La... The game also marks the first between the two programs... Louisiana Tech will join the Western Athletic Conference on July 1, 2001.
Meet the Coaches
Rice: Cristy McKinney (North Carolina State, 1979) is in her eighth season as the head coach of the Rice women. During her tenure at Rice, McKinney has posted a 117-86 record, bringing her total as a head coach to 144-114. Last season, McKinney guided the Rice women to their most successful season ever. For the first time in history, the Lady Owls won the WAC tournament and received an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament where they advanced to the second round after an upset of ninth-ranked UC-Santa Barbara. The Rice women finished the year with a program high 22 wins for their third consecutive season with 20 or more victories. McKinney is assisted by eighth-year assistant coach Wooly Hatchell (South Carolina, 1982), fifth-year assistant Shanice Sandford (Oklahoma State, 1993) and first-year assistant Marla Brumfield (Rice, 2000).
Louisiana Tech: Leon Barmore currently has the best winning percentage in the history of the game (men's or women's) with a mark of .871. He has accumulated a 521-77 record in his 19 years with the Lady Techsters. Barmore is aided by associate head coach Kurt Budke and assistant coaches Stacey Johnson, Chris Long and Katie Cochran.
About the Lady Techsters
Louisiana Tech opens the season ranked eighth in the USA Today/ESPN coaches poll and ninth in the AP poll. The Lady Techsters rallied in the first half to defeat Tennessee-Chatanooga 69-52 in their first-round WNIT game. Brooke Lassiter led her team offensively with 20 points. Ayana Walker, the only returning starter from a year ago, was next with 15 points and a game high 14 rebounds.
The Last Time...
The last time the Rice women faced a team ranked in the top 10 was on March 18 at ninth-ranked UC-Santa Barbara in the NCAA tournament. The Lady Owls prevailed in a 67-64 upset over the Gauchos for their first win against a top-10 opponent.
The WNIT
After hosting a postseason Women's National Invitation Tournament game in 1999, the Lady Owls hosted South Carolina in the first round of this year's preseason WNIT. Rice is one of seven 2000 NCAA tournament participants in the 16-team field, including Louisiana Tech, Texas, Purdue and Virginia. The Lady Owls have a 2-2 record in the WNIT post-season tournament
Recap - Rice 61, South Carolina 56
True freshman Kate Beckler made her collegiate debut in high style, leading the Lady Owls with 19 points in a 61-56 victory over South Carolina in the opening round of the Women's National Invitation Tournament Friday at Autry Court. The first half saw a slow start by both teams. After the Lady Gamecocks took a 4-0 lead in the first three minutes, junior Aarika Florus got the Rice women on the board with a two-pointer with 16:33 on the clock. The Lady Owls took advantage of early South Carolina fouls by scoring their next six points at the free-throw line. Beckler then made her presence felt by nailing a three-pointer to give her team a five-point lead, their biggest of the half. The Lady Gamecocks began chipping away at the lead, eventually taking a nine-point lead with 2:32 remaining in the half. The Lady Owls returned the favor by clamping down on defense, not allowing another point and rallied to head into the lockerrooms trailing 28-27. Florus led the Lady Owls with eight points, going two for two from the floor and four for four from the charity stripe, while Beckler chipped in six, in the opening period. The battle continued in the second as the two teams swapped leads 13 times until the Lady Owls took the lead for good with 11:14 to go on a Beckler two-point bucket. After surging ahead by six points, the Rice women saw their lead drop to just two three times before Beckler helped put the game away on a trey with just 25 seconds left on the clock. Beckler finished the night hitting 5-12 from long range, setting the school record for three-point attempts in a game. Florus was next for the Lady Owls in scoring, finishing with a career high 13 points. Junior Jennifer Rigg, also playing her first game in the Blue and Gray, dished out a game high seven assists. Defensively, junior Daneesh McIntosh led Rice with a career-best eight rebounds, while sophomore Kim Lawson had four steals, also a career high.
Career Night
A number of Lady Owls started the year on a high note in the season opener, setting several career bests. Junior Aarika Florus, making just the second start of her career, had 13 points to nearly double her previous high of seven. Junior Daneesh McIntosh led the team with a best of eight rebounds, and sophomore Kim Lawson had four steals. Newcomers Kate Beckler and Jennifer Rigg set high standards for themselves in their first appearance in the BLue and Gray. Beckler, a true freshman, led the team with 19 points, hitting five three-pointers (the eighth most in game) on a school record 12 attempts. Rigg, a junior transfer, set up the Lady Owls offense by dishing out seven assists.
For Openers
After Friday's game, the Rice women are now 7-1 in season openers under head coach Cristy McKinney, including a perfect 4-0 record when tipping off the season at Autry Court. The Lady Owls are also a perfect 8-0 since McKinney's arrival in their first game of the year at Autry Court. Since joining the NCAA in 1982, Rice has recorded a 17-2 in season openers.
Exhibition Recap - Rice 75, Delta Kosice (Slovakia) 49
The Rice women built an early 11 point lead, but the Slovakian team twice closed the gap to one point before halftime, when Rice took a 30-28 lead into the lockerrooms. Senior Kenya Tuttle accounted for almost half of the Lady Owls offense in the first 20 minutes with 14 points. Tuttle also dished out three assists in the first half. The second half was a different story, though, as junior Jennifer Rigg, playing her first game in the Blue and Gray, quickly made her presence felt. The transfer from Canada hit consecutive three-pointers and scored Rice's first eight points of the second period in a minute and a half of action. The Lady Owls were not challenged again as their lead grew to the final 26-point margin. In addition to Rigg's team-high 19 points, Tuttle also scored in double-digits, finishing the game with 16 points and a game-high 10 rebounds. All 11 Lady Owls scored in the game and had at least one rebound as Rice controlled the boards, 52-35. Junior Aarika Florus had four assists to pace the team, while sophomore Kara Liggett snagged five steals.
The Lone Senior
After having four seniors on last year's 22-10 team, the Lady Owls will look for leadership from lone senior Kenya Tuttle this year. The 6-1 center is Rice's top returning scorer and rebounder, and started all 32 games last season.
Meet the Newcomers
Rice fans will see four new faces suiting up in the Blue and Gray this season. Juniors Jennifer Rigg (6-0, guard) and LaTonya Sam (5-9, guard) will finally make their debut after sitting out the 1999-200 season. Rigg is a transfer from SMU, while Sam comes from Stephen F. Austin State. Making their collegiate debuts on Friday are freshman Kate Beckler (5-8, guard) and Lindsey Maynard (5-10, guard). Beckler hails from Granada Hills, Calif., where she earned L.A. Times player of the year honors as a high school senior, while Maynard is from The Woodlands, having graduated from Oak Ridge High School. The Lady Owls have two other new faces that have to sit out this season after transferring. Elisa Inman (6-2, forward) comes to Rice from Purdue University, while Johnetta Hayes (6-4, center) returns to her native Houston after spending a year at Oklahoma. Both Inman and Hayes will have three years of eligibility remaining.
WAC Picks
The Rice women were predicted to finish fourth in the WAC by the league coaches, tallying 44 points and receiving one first-place vote. SMU is favored to successfully defend their 2000 regular season title, receiving six of the nine first-place votes and receiving 61 points. Hawaii was picked second with 51 points and one first-place vote, while TCU was tabbed for third with 47 points and a vote for first.
2000-01 WAC Women's Basketball Coaches' Preseason PollSchool (first-place votes) Points1. SMU (6) 612. Hawaii (1) 513. TCU (1) 474. RICE OWLS (1) 445. Nevada 386. Tulsa 317. Fresno State 298. UTEP 149. San Jose State 9 |
Hey, Isn't That...
Rice watchers will see a familiar face in an unfamiliar role on the sidelines this year. Former standout Marla Brumfield returned to her alma mater over the summer to take on assistant coaching duties for the 2000-01 season. Brumfield is Rice's all-time leader in steals with 311 and ranks in the top five in seven other categories. On April 25, she became the first player at Rice and in the WAC to be drafted into the WNBA, when she was selected in the second round by the Minnesota Lynx.
The 2000 NCAA Tournament
The Lady Owls' 67-64 win against ninth-ranked UC-Santa Barbara in the first round of the NCAA tournament was historical for many reasons. In addition to being their first victory in their first-ever NCAA tournament, the W was also the Lady Owls' first over a top-10 opponent. The last time they beat a ranked opponent was when they closed out the 1997-98 regular season with consecutive wins over 15th-ranked Hawaii and 16th-ranked Utah. The game also brought Rice's win total to 22, the most in a single season in program history. The victory marked the biggest upset of the NCAA tournament, as the 13th-seeded Lady Owls were the lowest seed to advance to the second round. In the second round, though, the Rice women were overpowered by North Carolina 83-50 to bring to an end the most successful season in school history.
The 2000 WAC Tournament
On March 10, Rice won the 2000 WAC Tournament title to claim the conference's automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament. The Lady Owls, the third-seeded team, defeated sixth-seeded Fresno State 65-47, second-seeded Hawaii 76-73 in the semifinals and top-seeded SMU 71-67 to claim their first conference crown. In the championship game, senior Marla Brumfield led all scorers with 27 points, including 16 in the first half, giving the Lady Owls their first NCAA Tournament berth. Rice led by as many as 21 points in the first half and 17 in the second half but had to hold off a late rally by SMU. Brumfield made two free throws with 35 seconds left to give the Owls a 67-61 lead, but a basket by SMU's Katie Remke and two free throws by Anika Calvert cut the margin to two with 10 seconds to go. Senior Kirra Jordan made two free throws with nine seconds left and Calvert scored with a second remaining, but Brumfield then sealed the win with two more free throws. Against Hawaii, the Lady Owls and the Wahine battled through 12 ties and combined to shoot 60-70 from the free-throw line, before Kim Smallwood secured the victory with a blocked Hawaii shot with seven seconds showing and draining two clutch free throws with three ticks left. Rice set a WAC tournament record by holding Fresno State to just 14.3 percent (3-21) shooing in the first half of their game, and equaled the record for fewest points allowed in a half with 12. After averaging 20.3 points over three games, Brumfield was named the tournament's MVP, while Jordan was also named to the all-tournament team.
