Rice University
Wake Forest
Owls Edged 69-67 by Wake Forest
12/22/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Dec. 22, 2005
Houston -
Wake Forest had three players score in double figures and shot 64 per cent from the field in the second half Thursday night at Autry court to down Rice 69-67. Liz Strunk led all scorers with 22 for the Demon Deacons, who improved to 6-3 on the year. Rice, which shot 37.3 percent from the field, was led by Krystal Frazier's 13 points as the Owls dropped to 4-5.
"Once again, we just didn't shoot the ball well, and it hurt us," said Rice head coach Greg Williams. "We were three for 16 from the three-point line, and we missed a lot of shots we should have made close to the basket."
The Owls took a 33-29 lead into the half as Frazier scored nine of her 13 points in the first period. Rice led by as many as six points before Wake Forest whittled away the margin and tied it at 14-14 on a trey by Deirdre Naughton with 11:50 to go in the half. The lead changed hands several times after that until Tiffany Loggins scored on a lay-up with 5:10 left to put the Owls up for the remainder of the half.
Wake Forest cut the lead to one at 30-29 on a jumper by Corinne Groves with 2:31 on the clock, but Frazier went coast-to-coast on a lay-up with 1:12 to go to make it 33-29 at the buzzer.
Strunk hit a lay-up and a three-pointer to open the second half and put the Deacons in the lead by one with 17:26 remaining. Lauren Neaves dumped in three baskets and a free throw to give the Owls another lead at 40-36, and Samantha Stovall knocked down a jumper and a three-pointer to make it 45-41 Rice with 14:23 to go.
The Deacons opened up a six-point gap at the 9:08 mark after three lay-ups by Strunk, and stretched that lead to nine on a trey by Yolanda Lavender with 7:03 to go. Rice cut the lead to two on a lay-up and free throw by Loggins with 4:32 on the clock, and again on a jumper and free throw by Latrice Elder at the 1:27 mark that made it 67-65.
Cotelia Bond-Young swished a pair of free throws to make it 69-65, and Loggins scored on a lay-up to bring Rice back within two with 42 seconds left, but Frazier missed on a short jumper and Neaves couldn't put the rebound back up before the buzzer as the Owls lost at home for the second time this season.
Neaves and Loggins chipped in 11 points each for the Owls, and Neaves and Valeriya Berezhynska grabbed a team-high eight rebounds each. Bond-Young added 14 for the Demon Deacons, while Naughton had 13.
Rice returns to action Dec. 30 at Marquette.
