Rice University
Houston
Women's Hoops Loses to Houston
1/26/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jan. 26, 2008
Houston at Rice Final Book (PDF Format) 
HOUSTON - Tiffany Loggins and Kadie Riverin scored 17 points each but it was not enough as the Rice women's basketball team had their second half comeback effort fall short 70-64 against Houston Saturday afternoon at Sharp Gym on the Houston Baptist campus.
Loggins poured in her 17 points off the bench on 6-of-9 shooting. The Houston native also grabbed six rebounds and added three steals in her best scoring effort since the season opener against Navy.
Riverin matched a regulation season-high playing 38 minutes en route to her 17 points, while fellow Canadian Tara Watts strung together her third double figure effort in four games totaling 14 points on 5-of-6 shooting.
Morgan Mayse contributed seven points and nine rebounds as Rice (8-12, 1-5 C-USA) was playing its sixth straight game without leading scorer and rebounder Valeriya Berezhynska.
"We kept our energy level up and I was proud of the way we hung in there in the second half," head coach Greg Williams said. "Tiffany didn't hang her head after not being in the starting lineup. It's something that we can build on. We're hoping to get Valeriya back this week and that will certainly help things. "
Houston (11-9, 5-1 C-USA) extended its 34-23 halftime lead to 47-29 with 14:03 to go on a Whitney James free throw. James finished with a season-best 14 points as the Cougars shot 45.6 percent from the floor.
The Owls responded with a 9-0 spurt over the next 3:03 capped by a pair of Watts free throws to pull within 47-38 at the 11:00 mark.
Rice continued to chip away and drew to 55-49 with 4:41 remaining on a steal and lay-up by Watts. The Cougars fired back on the next possession with a James three-ball from Tye Jackson as the shot clock ran down. Jackson tallied 15 points and distributed a game-high eight assists.
After starting the game 0-of-12 from three-point range, Loggins and Watts knocked down back-to-back three-pointers in the final minute. Watts' triple pulled Rice back to 68-64 with seven seconds left.
The Cougars sealed the game by knocking down all six of their free throw attempts in the final 41 seconds to secure the 70-64 victory. Courtney Taylor recorded 14 points and seven rebounds, while C-USA leading scorer Twiggy McIntyre was limited to 10 points on 3-of-8 from the floor.
"We knew we had to pick it up in the second half after the way we played in the first half," Riverin said. "We had a tough week of practice and wanted to show that we could pull through. We know we have a short bench. We have to keep up the intensity and keep moving forward."
Rice returns to the hardwood Friday at UAB with tip-off slated for 7pm. The Blazers travel on Sunday to Memphis. KTRU 91.7 FM and RiceOwls.com will carry all of the action live from Bartow Arena on the UAB campus with a 6:45pm CT pregame show.
