Rice University
Illinois State
Owls' Season Ends With Triple-Overtime WNIT Loss
3/15/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
March 15, 2007
Normal, Ill. -
Rice staged an incredible comeback after a horrific first half, but the Owls saw their season come to an end in triple overtime as Illinois State (22-10) scored 10 unanswered points in the final overtime to take a 71-61 win in the first round of the Women's National Invitation Tournament Thursday at Redbird Arena.
The Owls (19-14) were down 26-13 after an awful shooting performance in the first half, but Kadie Riverin and Valeriya Berezhynska sparked a dramatic comeback to tie the game at 53-53 at the end of regulation. Both teams scored six points in the first extra periood, but only scored two each in the second overtime to make it 61-61 after 50 minutes.
Riverin finished with a team-high 23 points despite fighting leg cramps late in the game, and Berezhynska had 15 points and 12 rebounds. Lauren Neaves had nine points and a game-high 18 rebounds in her final game for the Owls, and finished her career as the third-leading scorer in school history with 1,711 points, passing Marla Brumfield with her second point of the contest.
Kristin Cirone led the Redbirds with 22 points. Illinois State will play at South Dakota State Saturday.
