Rice University
Furman
Freshmen Pace Rice Past Paladins, 66-62
11/25/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
The freshman tandem of D'Frantz Smart and Brianna Hypolite both scored a career-high 17 points to lead the Rice women's basketball team to a 66-62 victory over visiting Furman Tuesday afternoon at Tudor Fieldhouse on the Rice campus.
Rice jumped out to a 10-6 lead in the opening minutes, but Furman's inside game began to frustrate the Owls. The Paladins went on a 12-3 scoring run to go up five and then traded baskets with the Blue & Gray before taking a 37-33 lead at the intermission. Eight-teen of Furman's 37 first half points were in the paint and the Paladin's 6-foot-4 senior center, Dallas native Katie Johnson, led the way with 13.
"Furman's a good basketball team and their post player gave us a lot of trouble," said Rice head coach Greg Williams. "I thought in the second half we were much better defensively. After giving up 37 in the first half and giving up horrendous percentages (.500 FG%) our defensive pressure and intensity was better. We began contesting shots and playing better defense. Defense ends up helping you on both sides of the ball."
Furman held the lead the second half, but the Owls would not let the margin stretch to more than six points. Trailing 46-41 lead with just over 13 minutes left in regulation, Hypolite sparked the Rice comeback.
The Owl rookie from Dickinson, Tex., intercepted a Furman pass and converted both free-throws when she was fouled trying to finish the break-away. Two minutes later, Smart grabbed a defensive rebound and found Hypolite open outside the arc. Hypolite drained a three-pointer and the game was tied, 46-46.
Rice was ahead by one with eight minutes left, 51-50, when the young duo gave the Owls some room on the scoreboard. Smart hit back-to-back three pointers and Hypolite added a field goal for a quick 9-0 Rice run.
The Paladins would not go away so easy. Furman began to foul late in the contest to slow down the tempo, the Owls answered with some steady shooting from the free-throw line. Freshman guard/forward Megan Elliott made four free throws down the stretch and finished with eight points. Furman was able to work the deficit back down to two, 63-61, with 23 seconds remaining. Veteran Tara Watts, however, hit two crucial attempts from the line that gave the team some space, 65-61.
Furman added a free throw in the last seconds, but Smart closed it out with a free throw of her own for a 66-62 final. Smart finished with career-highs in points (17) and assists (6). The standout from Chicago, Ill., hit four three-pointers and chipped-in five rebounds. Hypolite came off the bench to score 17 points on 7-of-13 shooting in 20 minutes of work. With the win the Owls improved to 3-1.
"It's good to win close games," coach Williams said. "Either team could have won, and for us to win with a lot of young kids on the floor is a good sign. We're really happy with (the freshmen's) performance. D'Frantz keeps getting better each game. Her defense was good and she stayed out of foul trouble. That was important in today's game. 'Bri' did a good job and did her part to help get us going. Hopefully they can continue to play at that level."
Furman's Katie Johnson led all players with 23 points. The Paladins out-rebounded Rice 42-37 and shot 41.8 percent from the floor, but dropped their second-straight game to fall to 3-2 on the young season.
The Owls next play on the road at Arkansas-Little Rock on Saturday, Nov. 29. Tipoff is slated for 4:30 pm.
"Arkansas-Little Rock is a very good basketball team," Williams added. "They run a motion offense and are very hard to defend. It's our first road game so that means we'll have to play that much better against a good team in a new setting."
