Rice University
Louisiana Tech
Owls Edged by Louisiana Tech in Championship Game
12/4/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Dec. 3, 2005
Houston -
Lauren Neaves had a game-high 22 points and a game-high 14 rebounds, but it wasn't enough for Rice as Louisiana Tech had five players score in double figures to lead the Lady Techsters to a 79-75 win over the Owls in the championship game of the Gene Hackerman Invitational Saturday at Autry Court.
Tech's Tasha Williams, who was named the tournament MVP, had 17 points, four assists and three steals as Tech hit almost 47 percent from the field and 70 percent from the free throw line. Rice found no charity at the line, hitting only 21 of 35 attempts, but the Owls improved their field goal shooting in the second half, connecting on 50 percent of their attempts in the period.
Ty Moore's jumper early in the game gave Tech the lead, and the Louisiana school kept that lead until the 2:24 mark in the first half when Rosyland Jeffries hit a jumper for Rice to tie the game at 34. Eboni Mangum knocked down a free throw and Amber Metoyer swished a short jumper to put Tech up before Neaves popped in a lay-up with 38 seconds remaining to draw the Owls within one at 39-38.
Shan Moore's jumper with 17:48 left in the game put the Lady Techsters up by nine early in the second half and they maintained at least a five-point margin until Neaves canned a short jumper with 12:10 to go to bring the Owls within four. The 6-2 junior hit another field goal and Latrice Elder pulled Rice within one at 61-60 with 9:49 left before Jeffries hit two shots in a row to tie the game at 64 with 7:01 to go.
Williams put Tech up by three with a pair of free throws and then put in a lay-up with 35 seconds on the clock to increase Tech's lead to 76-73. A pair of Shan Moore free throws made it 79-73 with only 17 seconds left, and the Owls couldn't close that gap enough despite two Krystal Frazier free throws.
Ty Moore finished with 15 points and a team-high 12 boards for Tech, while Shan Moore added 14 and Metoyer had 11. Mangum ended the game with 10 points, and the Owls' Valeriya Berezhynska had 14 in the loss.
The win moved Louisiana Tech to 3-1 on the year, while Rice fell to 3-3. The Owls return to action at Stanford on Dec. 17.
Besides Neaves and Williams, players named to the all-tournament team were Shan Moore, Tech's Aarica Ray-Boyd, Davidson's Jessica Mitchell and Texas-San Antonio's Destiny Brown. UTSA defeated Davidson 75-69 in the consolation game.
