PVU tops Rice 51 to 46
"Well, I thought it was one of the ugliest games I've ever coached," said Prairie View A&M's Cynthia Cooper - Dyke. "And, definitely one of the ugliest games I've ever seen."
Now, realize this: Prairie View won the game. PV defeated the Rice Owls 51 to 46 Friday Night at the William H. Nicks building (b.k.a The Baby Dome) in front of 247 fans.
The game was ugly. Both teams struggled offensively in the first half. After taking a 6 to 4 lead on a lay-up from guard Dominique Smith, Prairie View (5-7) did not score another point for nearly eight minutes. However, due to Rice's own inability to take care of the basketball or make any shots, the Lady Panthers trailed the Owls (7-6) 10 to 8 with 6:53 left in the first half.
The Lady Panthers tied the game at 17; then, PV's guards turned up the heat. Candice Thomas picked up one steal; then, Shavonne Smith picked up three steals (two by cleanly swiping the ball from Owls' guard Shyrelle Horne). The Lady Panthers converted the steals into points and took a 24 to 19 lead before Owls' freshman guard Brittney Hudson swished a three-point shot to trim the lead to 24 to 22.
Prairie View's Chari Smith closed out the first half scoring by splitting two free throws.
PV made just 9 of 31 from the field for 29.0% in the half. Rice shot slightly better: 38.1% (8 for 21); however, the Owls committed 17 turnovers.
The second half featured more poor shooting and more turnovers; but, the half was close and competitive throughout. Seven ties in the half with the last at 44 with 3:32 remaining in the game.
Therefore, the question was which team would make the plays down the stretch to win the game.
Answer: Prairie View.
Candice Thomas broke the tie with a driving lay-up to give the Lady Panthers a 46 to 44 lead. Then, following a turnover by Rice. Krystal Williams drained a jump shot for a 48 to 44 lead with 2:10 left in the ball game. Rice's Hudson turned the ball over once more; but, Prairie View failed to score.
Neither team scored for another 90 seconds; and, following yet another turnover by Rice and a missed shot by the Owls' PV's Shavonne Smith split two free throws to give Prairie View a 49 to 44 lead with only 36 seconds remaining.
Rice's Valeriya Berezhynska hit two free throws with 21 seconds remaining; however, Rice would not score any more. During the final 10 seconds, Chari Smith hit two out of four from the foul line for the final score.
Rice finished the game with 30 turnovers. The Owls shot 17 for 47 (36.2%) from the field. Kadie Riverin (12) and Tara Watts (11) led the Owls in scoring.
"We held a team to 51 points on their home court, said Owls head coach Greg Williams after the game. "We out shot them in all three categories: from the field; from 3; at the line. We out rebound them; and, you wonder 'How could this team lose?' And, obviously, it's 30 turnovers."
Prairie View shot 32.7% (18 for 55 including 0 for 8 from 3) from the field and made only 15 of 28 free throw attempts. Gattie Werema and Candice Thomas each scored 12 points to lead the Lady Panthers.
"It was important for us to play tough against a Conference USA opponent," said Cooper. "It was important for us to play tough in a game where every game counted and every defensive possession was important."
"I thought our young ladies came out and really played hard the entire game."
"I thought we struggled to finish around the basket. Defensively, we wanted to force turnovers and give ourselves another chance to score. The way I sell my team on defense is you get a free chance to run down and get a fast break and score in transition."
"We wanted to put pressure on the wings and front number 15 (Rice center Valeriya Berezhynska) and really do some different things differently. We went from a 2-3 zone to what we call a 'diamond' zone. Then, we went back to man-to-man; and, we pressed a little bit. We tried to give Rice different looks; but, at the end of the day, this was a gut win. This was a win on heart. I was very proud of our players."
"First, I want to give Cynthia a lot of credit," said Greg Williams. "She's done a great job with this program. They've played a really tough schedule. This game was only their second home game (this season.) We knew it was going to be tough coming in here. She's done a really great job. I give her a lot credit for where this program is right now.
"We were extremely sloppy and careless with the basketball. We had 17 turnovers at halftime. We didn't improve that much in the second half. Really, they didn't press us much. A lot of our turnovers were careless. They did a good job of course; but, we were careless with the ball. We weren't very tough with the ball. We through a lot of soft passes; and, they took advantage of it and that was the difference in the game. They were the more aggressive team getting to the free throw line a lot more times than we did. Most of the times in our wins this season we got the free throw line more than our opponent; but, tonight, we weren't even close. It all adds up to a very disappointing loss for us and a very good win for Cynthia and Prairie View."
Now, realize this: Prairie View won the game. PV defeated the Rice Owls 51 to 46 Friday Night at the William H. Nicks building (b.k.a The Baby Dome) in front of 247 fans.
The game was ugly. Both teams struggled offensively in the first half. After taking a 6 to 4 lead on a lay-up from guard Dominique Smith, Prairie View (5-7) did not score another point for nearly eight minutes. However, due to Rice's own inability to take care of the basketball or make any shots, the Lady Panthers trailed the Owls (7-6) 10 to 8 with 6:53 left in the first half.
The Lady Panthers tied the game at 17; then, PV's guards turned up the heat. Candice Thomas picked up one steal; then, Shavonne Smith picked up three steals (two by cleanly swiping the ball from Owls' guard Shyrelle Horne). The Lady Panthers converted the steals into points and took a 24 to 19 lead before Owls' freshman guard Brittney Hudson swished a three-point shot to trim the lead to 24 to 22.
Prairie View's Chari Smith closed out the first half scoring by splitting two free throws.
PV made just 9 of 31 from the field for 29.0% in the half. Rice shot slightly better: 38.1% (8 for 21); however, the Owls committed 17 turnovers.
The second half featured more poor shooting and more turnovers; but, the half was close and competitive throughout. Seven ties in the half with the last at 44 with 3:32 remaining in the game.
Therefore, the question was which team would make the plays down the stretch to win the game.
Answer: Prairie View.
Candice Thomas broke the tie with a driving lay-up to give the Lady Panthers a 46 to 44 lead. Then, following a turnover by Rice. Krystal Williams drained a jump shot for a 48 to 44 lead with 2:10 left in the ball game. Rice's Hudson turned the ball over once more; but, Prairie View failed to score.
Neither team scored for another 90 seconds; and, following yet another turnover by Rice and a missed shot by the Owls' PV's Shavonne Smith split two free throws to give Prairie View a 49 to 44 lead with only 36 seconds remaining.
Rice's Valeriya Berezhynska hit two free throws with 21 seconds remaining; however, Rice would not score any more. During the final 10 seconds, Chari Smith hit two out of four from the foul line for the final score.
Rice finished the game with 30 turnovers. The Owls shot 17 for 47 (36.2%) from the field. Kadie Riverin (12) and Tara Watts (11) led the Owls in scoring.
"We held a team to 51 points on their home court, said Owls head coach Greg Williams after the game. "We out shot them in all three categories: from the field; from 3; at the line. We out rebound them; and, you wonder 'How could this team lose?' And, obviously, it's 30 turnovers."
Prairie View shot 32.7% (18 for 55 including 0 for 8 from 3) from the field and made only 15 of 28 free throw attempts. Gattie Werema and Candice Thomas each scored 12 points to lead the Lady Panthers.
"It was important for us to play tough against a Conference USA opponent," said Cooper. "It was important for us to play tough in a game where every game counted and every defensive possession was important."
"I thought our young ladies came out and really played hard the entire game."
"I thought we struggled to finish around the basket. Defensively, we wanted to force turnovers and give ourselves another chance to score. The way I sell my team on defense is you get a free chance to run down and get a fast break and score in transition."
"We wanted to put pressure on the wings and front number 15 (Rice center Valeriya Berezhynska) and really do some different things differently. We went from a 2-3 zone to what we call a 'diamond' zone. Then, we went back to man-to-man; and, we pressed a little bit. We tried to give Rice different looks; but, at the end of the day, this was a gut win. This was a win on heart. I was very proud of our players."
"First, I want to give Cynthia a lot of credit," said Greg Williams. "She's done a great job with this program. They've played a really tough schedule. This game was only their second home game (this season.) We knew it was going to be tough coming in here. She's done a really great job. I give her a lot credit for where this program is right now.
"We were extremely sloppy and careless with the basketball. We had 17 turnovers at halftime. We didn't improve that much in the second half. Really, they didn't press us much. A lot of our turnovers were careless. They did a good job of course; but, we were careless with the ball. We weren't very tough with the ball. We through a lot of soft passes; and, they took advantage of it and that was the difference in the game. They were the more aggressive team getting to the free throw line a lot more times than we did. Most of the times in our wins this season we got the free throw line more than our opponent; but, tonight, we weren't even close. It all adds up to a very disappointing loss for us and a very good win for Cynthia and Prairie View."
posted by Kris G @ 9:09 AM
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