Rice University
Texas A&M
Aggies Edge Owls 65-64
1/2/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jan. 2, 2006
College Station -
Samantha Stovall knocked down a three-pointer with one second to go, but it wasn't enough for the Rice Owls as they dropped a 65-64 decision to Texas A&M Monday at Reed Arena. In a game marred by 46 turnovers and 46 fouls, A&M improved to 11-2, while Rice fell to 4-7 overall.
"This was our final non-conference game," said Rice head coach Greg Williams. "We needed a really strong showing here after our loss at Marquette last Friday, and I thought we did a lot more things right this time out. We still had way too many turnovers and careless mistakes, though, and that is a problem we must correct heading into conference play. Tonight's game is one we could have won, and we will have to step up and win these kinds of games to do well in our league."
Lauren Neaves scored on a jumper with 15:27 to go in the first half to give Rice a 13-7 lead, and Krystal Frazier's free throw with 13:15 left gave the Owls their biggest lead of the game at 19-12. A'Quonesia Franklin and Danielle Gant both hit pairs of free throws to put the Aggies up 34-33 with 48 seconds remaining before Valeriya Berezhynska dropped in an artistic lay-up to give Rice a 35-34 half-time lead.
Rice shot a season-best 60.9 percent from the field in the first half, but the Owls were whistled for 17 fouls to nine for Texas A&M.
Franklin came out on fire to start the second half, helping the Aggies open up an eight-point lead at 55-47 midway through the half. Frazier hit four free throws to cut the lead to three at 57-54 with 8:06 to go, and her jumper with 2:26 on the clock pulled the Owls within one at 58-57.
Franklin and Takia Starks scored on mid-range jumpers to pad A&M's lead at 62-57 with 1:15 to go, but Kadie Riverin swished two free throws and Frazier scored on a short jumper after a steal to make it 62-61 to the Aggies. Franklin converted three of four from the charity stripe in the final 25 seconds before Stovall's desperation trey, and the Aggies held on for the win.
Neaves had her fourth double-double of the year for the Owls, scoring 12 points and grabbing 14 rebounds to go with three blocked shots. Frazier had a team-high 15 points and four steals for Rice, and Berezhynska chipped in 10 points. Riverin tied her career high with five assists. As a team, Rice shot a season-best 48.9 percent from the field and hit 77.3 percent from the line.
Franklin led all scorers with 21 points and had four assists, while Gant led Aggie rebounders with eight boards. A&M shot only 37.9 percent from the field and 60 percent from the free throw line.
Rice opens Conference USA play at home Friday, hosting Southern Miss at 7 pm at Autry Court.
