Owls' Neaves says it's all or nothing"

Being named to the Conference USA First Team for 2007 is a nice honor; however, Lauren Neaves, Rice Owls senior post, has other plans -- Rice's winning the 2007 C-USA Tournament.

"It was good that managed to get a bye in the Tournament," said Neaves. "Considering we have such a small number (only nine healthy players) to play right now, so, every day of rest helps. I think we had a really good practice. Everyone is focused. I think we're all really encouraged by how much we beat UTEP by the last time we played them. (Rice defeated UTEP 84 to 31 on February 1.) I think we're starting the conference tournament off with a lot confidence which is good. I hope we continue what we've done in practice in terms of execution and focus."

During that blowout win UTEP was without star freshman point guard Jareica Hughes; however, Neaves said, "We almost beat them (UTEP won 65-52 on January 5) when I didn't play in the first game (in UTEP)."

In order for Rice to win the C-USA Tournament, Neaves believes "Everyone is going to have show up to play on this team. As you know, with our team, sometimes we have two or three having a good game and the rest not so good. It's really important for everybody to show up at their full potential, at 100%, ready to play. I think we have, by far, the most talent; but, whether or not we utilize is all at once is, I think, the key for us."

Despite playing with a broken nose (her fourth, by the way), Neaves summed up her feelings saying, "I feel excited. This is my last year (Neaves is a fifth-year senior); so, it's all or nothing."