Rice University
Tulsa
Rice Rallies For Win at Tulsa
2/17/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Feb. 17, 2007
HOUSTON -- The Rice women overcame a poor-shooting first half and a 10-point deficit to rally for a 50-45 victory at Tulsa on Saturday afternoon in Conference USA basketball action.
Lauren Neaves and Samantha Stovall scored 15 points each, including critical shots down the stretch, to lead the way. Neaves also added 19 rebounds, including 12 off the defensive glass, along with five blocked shots and four steals.
Despite a first half that saw them shoot just 22.9 percent from the floor, the Owls only trailed the Golden Hurricane 20-16 at the break. Tulsa slowly pulled away from Rice in the second, taking a 38-28 lead with 6:50 to play on a Valerie Siemens jumper. Fifteen seconds later, Maudess Fulton got the ball to Neaves in the paint for a bucket to spark the Rice comeback.
Stovall connected on a three pointer at 6:04, then Kadie Riverin hit a pair of free throws at 5:40 to quickly cut the Tulsa lead to just three. The Golden Hurricane's Dana Idlet hit a free throw with 4:49 to go, but Rice's momentum would not be stopped.
Stovall stepped up again for the Owls, converting a jumper and the free throw, then Valeriya Berezhynska hit a layup to give Rice a brief lead, capping a 12-1 run. Idlet hit a jumper to end Tulsa's scoring drought and regain the lead. Berezhynska connected on one of two free throws ti knot the score at 41-41 with 3:11 to go, then Stovall scored another jumper at 2:20 to hand the Owls the lead for good.
The battle waged down through the closing seconds as Riverin put Rice up 49-45 with 17 ticks on the clock. Neaves then grabbed a defensive board and hit one of two ensuing free throws to ice the game.
For the game, Rice hit 11-17 from the charity stripe, all in the second half, while Tulsa was just 6-17 (35.3 percent).
The Owls close out the 2006-07 regular season at Autry Court next weekend, hosting UAB on Thursday at 7 pm and Memphis on Saturday at 5 pm.
