Rice University
Tulane
Owls Drop Tough Decision to Green Wave
2/3/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Feb. 3, 2007
Houston -
For the past 48 games, dating back to Dec. 17, 2005, Rice has made at least one three-point shot. That streak came to an end Saturday at Autry Court against Conference USA leaders Tulane, and it made all the difference in the world as the Owls went 0-11 from long distance and dropped a narrow 71-68 decision to the Green Wave.
Down 35-32 at the break, Tulane (19-4, 8-2) rallied in the second half and rode a 23-point performance by D'Aundra Henry. Lauren Neaves had her 47th career double-double for Rice (13-10, 6-4), scoring a game-high 27 points and grabbing a game-high 18 rebounds.
Samantha Stovall scored first for the Owls, and the teams traded buckets until Stovall's layup with 14:24 to go put Rice up 8-7. Neaves popped in a pair of layups to make it 12-9, and a jumper by Kadie Riverin with 11:24 left made it 16-11. Jami Montagnino drilled a trey for the Green Wave, and Jennifer Sands scored to tie the game at 16-16. Rice went on a 9-0 run to take a 27-18 lead after that, and another Riverin bucket with 4:32 on the clock made it 29-20 for the Owls. Tulane battled back with a three-pointer from Sasha Staidum and a jumper by Alendra Brown, and a Montagnino charity shot closed the gap to one at 31-30. Neaves finished off the half with a pair of baskets, and a Brown layup with three ticks left sent the Owls into the half with a three-point lead.
Montagnino gave the Green Wave their first lead of the second half on a layup with 17:50 to go, but Neaves knocked down another jumper and Krystal Frazier added a basket to make it 41-38 Rice. Tulane took the lead again at the 13:20 mark on a layup by Henry, and her bucket with 9:15 to go gave the visitors an eight-point lead at 56-48. Neaves scored on a layup and free throw, and Maudess Fulton added a charity shot to bring the Owls with two with 4:27 left, and another Neaves layup two minutes later cut the deficit to one at 65-64. Henry built the lead back to four on a basket and free throw with 47 seconds left, and Langford converted from the line to make it 71-66 for Tulane.
Neaves scored one more time on a tough jumper with four seconds on the clock, and the Owls caused a Henry turnover to get the ball back, but Frazier missed from long distance at the buzzer as the Owls lost to the Green Wave for the first time in four C-USA contests.
Turnovers also plagued the Owls, who gave up the ball 20 times, but Rice won the war on the boards 44-31. Riverin matched her career high with eight assists and was one of four Rice players scoring in double figures with 10 points. Frazier dropped in 12 points, and Stovall had 11 points and seven boards.
Rice goes on the road for the next two weeks, starting with a Friday game at Southern Miss.
