Rice University
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UTEP
Women's Hoops Falls to UTEP
1/6/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jan. 6, 2008
HOUSTON - Brittney Hudson poured in a career-best 18 points, while Morgan Mayse recorded her first career double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds, but the Rice women's basketball team lost a 77-54 decision to UTEP Sunday afternoon at Sharp Gym on the Houston Baptist University campus.
Rice (7-9, 0-2 C-USA) took a 35-34 advantage into the locker room before UTEP (11-2, 2-0 C-USA) put together a 29-0 run over the first 12 minutes of the second half. The Owls misfired on their first 18 shots of the frame and were playing without leading scorer and rebounder Valeriya Berezhynska for the second consecutive game.
"We seemed lethargic for some reason to start the second half," head coach Greg Williams said. "We tried everything we could (as coaches) to get different people different looks. I thought we ended up getting some good looks during that stretch, but the ball just didn't go in. We certainly have some things that we need to fix on both sides of the court."
UTEP had four players in double figures headlined by Izabela Piekarska, who tallied 19 points, six rebounds and a game-high four blocks. Natasha Lacy and Kasia Krenzel tacked on 13 and 12 points for the Miners, while Brittany Jones added a career-best 11 points off the bench.
Rice jumped out to a 17-9 lead after Kadie Riverin knocked down a mid-range jumper with 12:23 remaining. Riverin finished with 11 points, a game-high five assists and three steals.
The Miners charged back behind 10 points from Lacy and Piekarska before finishing a 21-5 spurt with a three-pointer from Jones at the 6:21 mark to go ahead 30-22.
Rice regrouped behind Hudson, who scored seven straight points of her own over a 1:05 span to close the gap to 30-29 with 4:20 left. The Sugar Land native recorded a put-back off an offensive rebound, converted a steal into a lay-up and knocked down three consecutive free throws.
An Emery Carter lay-up with 33 seconds to go gave Rice a 35-34 edge going into the locker room.
"We knew Brittney was building a foundation and it's good to see things starting to happen for her in game situations," Williams said. "She struggled with some things early on (in the season) but kept working hard. She was a big part of why we had a halftime lead."
Mayse notched her first career double-double behind seven points and six rebounds in the second half. The 11 points and 10 rebounds are career-highs for the Athens native.
"Morgan is someone who is capable of playing that way," Williams said. "I thought she settled into a nice rhythm during the second half."
Rice continues conference play Sunday against crosstown rival Houston. Tip-off against the Cougars is slated for 2pm CT at Hofheinz Pavilion on the UH campus.
"We're disappointed about not getting some more production out of our upperclass people," Williams said. "They're the ones with experience. We need them to step up because we're not going to finish high in this conference with freshmen leading us game-after-game."
KTRU 91.7 FM and RiceOwls.com will carry all of the action live against Houston with a 1:45pm CT pregame show.
