Rice University
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UTEP
No. 24 UTEP Tops Women's Hoops
2/16/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Feb. 16, 2008
Rice at No. 24 UTEP Final Book (PDF) 
EL PASO - No. 24 UTEP used a 24-4 spurt over a 9:33 stretch during the middle of the second half en route to a 65-53 victory over the Rice women's basketball team Saturday evening at the Don Haskins Center on the UTEP campus.
The Miners (21-2, 12-0 C-USA) extended the nation's longest winning streak to 17 games. UTEP's 12-0 league start also eclipsed the 1997-98 Memphis squad as the best start in C-USA history.
A Morgan Mayse put back off of a Kadie Riverin missed jumper gave the Owls a 34-33 with 15:30 remaining in the second half.
UTEP used its transition offense and suffocating defense to go on their 24-4 run. Natasha Lacy, Jareica Hughes and Izabela Piekarska combined for 23 of the 24 points as the Miners surged ahead 57-38 at the 5:57 mark.
Lacy ended up with 23 points, while Hughes fired in 20 points. Piekarska tallied 16 points to go along with a game-high nine rebounds. The Miners limited Rice to a 4-for-24 shooting clip to start the second half.
"We played a very good first half and came out flat in the second half," assistant coach Carlos Quintero said. "UTEP made a run and rallied behind their fantastic atmosphere. We limited their transition game and executed our point of emphases in the first half. They regrouped and did a better job of attacking us in the second half."
Rice (10-16, 3-9 C-USA) fired back with 11 of the next 12 points capped by a Valeriya Berezhyska three-point play to make 58-49 with 3:05 left. Berezhynska battled for her game-high 24 points and converted 11-of-12 at the free throw line.
Riverin buried a mid-range jumper to bring the Owls back to 61-53 with 58 seconds to go. Riverin and Mayse added eight points apiece, while Tara Watts notched nine points. The Miners converted on all four of their free throw attempts for the final margin of 65-53.
"Val played hard and had to battle in a physical environment on the interior," Quintero said. "The problem for us was that no one came along with her. We need our guards to step up and hopefully this is a game that we can learn from."
Rice returns to the road Thursday at SMU. Tip-off is set for 7:00pm CT. The Mustangs (18-6, 8-3 C-USA) rolled in a 93-49 win over Memphis and play UAB Sunday for sole possession of second place in the C-USA standings.
"SMU is playing very good basketball right now," Quintero said. "We have another difficult road weekend ahead of us and have to learn to play tough game in and game out."
KTRU 91.7 FM and RiceOwls.com will carry all of the action live from Moody Coliseum with a 6:45pm CT pregame show.
