Rice University
Alcorn State
Owls Top Alcorn State in Hackerman Opener
12/8/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Dec. 8, 2006
Houston -
Kadie Riverin scored a game-high 14 points and Rice (6-3) used a 42-18 first half to defeat Alcorn State 72-51 in the first round of the 10th Gene Hackerman Invitational Friday at Autry Court. The Owls will meet Idaho State, 87-75 winners over Kent State, in Saturday's championship game at 7 pm. Alcorn State and Kent State will play in the consolation game at 5 pm.
After a Lauren Neaves layup to open the game, Rice forged an 8-5 lead with 17:00 left in the first half. The Owls then put together an 11-0 run, and another 9-0 run followed a bucket by Alcorn's Shawntawnee Collins.
Riverin's three-pointer with 59 seconds remaining gave Rice its biggest lead of the game at 42-16, and a pair of Rasaan Powell free throws sent the teams into the half with the Owls up 42-18.
A sloppy start slowed play in the second half, with Rice stretching its lead to as many as 36 points by the 10-minute mark. The Lady Braves staged an 8-0 run to claw back within 28 at 60-32 with 8:47 to go, but Samantha Stovall hit a layup and free throw and Emery Carter added a jumper to put the lead back at 33 a minute later.
With the Owls up 72-43 with 2:59 to go, Alcorn State scored the final eight points to end the game and drop to 3-3 on the year.
Valeriya Berezhynska scored 12 points and grabbed nine boards for the Owls, while Neaves added 11 points, nine rebounds and three blocked shots. Stovall had another strong showing, hauling down nine rebounds and dishing out five assists. The Owls shot 48.3 percent from the field, and held Alcorn State to 27.4 percent shooting.
Powell led Alcorn State with 13 points and nine rebounds, with Domonique Thomas also in double figures at 11 points. Tanika Nunez had a game-high four steals for the Lady Braves.
