Rice University
UAB
UAB Squeaks By Rice
1/18/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jan. 18, 2009
Houston -- UAB lost a 10-point lead late in the second-half but held on for a 69-68 road victory over Rice in Tudor Fieldhouse. The Owls (5-12, 0-4) were playing its second straight game without their starting point guard and leading scorer freshman D'Frantz Smart, who has now missed the last two games with an injured right foot. Rice was also without the services of its head coach, Greg Williams, who was admitted into St. Luke's Hospital for observation and tests after becoming ill on Saturday.
Associate Head Coach Carlos Quintero guided the Owls against the Blazers in Williams' absence.
Rice's Morgan Mayse tied the game up at 65 apiece with a three-point bomb with 1:23 left in the game, but the Blazers' Fatiha Salaam answered with a trey of her own from the left baseline corner. Amanda Scott then made 1 of 2 from the foul line to give UAB a 69-65 lead, but Mayse hit another trey, her third of the contest, off the glass from the left wing to bring Rice to within one with 35 seconds left. Scott, who was promptly fouled, then missed the front end of a one-an-one allowing the Owls one last chance.
Following a Rice time out, the Owls had not one but two chances to win it. Amenemope McKinney drove the lane and missed a short shot and Megan Elliott's rebound basket underneath missed its mark.
UAB (7-11, 2-3) was down 42-41, when it drilled three three-pointers (two by Amanda Peterson) to forge a 50-44 lead with 10:31 remaining. The Blazers held its biggest lead at 59-49 on a layup by Tamika Dukes with 7:15 left. Rice then went on an amazing 16 to 6 run to knot it up at 65 apiece. In that stretch, Mayse led Rice with 9 of her team-high 17 points with two treys, a bucket, and a free throw.
The Blazers were led by senior Britney Jones' 24 point-effort that was four-shy of her career-high. Jones canned 11 of 18 from the field with one three-pointer and one free throw. Peterson finished with 18 points on the strength of four baskets beyond the arc as UAB shot 48 percent from the floor.
Rice got double-digit efforts from Megan Elliott, in her first career-start, with 15 points (and 8 rebounds) and 11 points from senior guard Maudess Fulton. McKinney, starting at the point in place of the injured Smart, had an excellent game with a game and season-high 8 assists and only 1 turnover in 35 minutes of action.
The Owls now play at UCF on Thursday in Orlando, Fla., at 6 p.m. (Central).
