Lack of Confidence Hurting Owls

The Rice Owls (8-11, 1-4) are enduring a very tough stretch right now. The team has won just once in their last six games. Playing games without their best player, Valeriya Berezhynska (out with an injured left ankle), has obviously had a negative impact on the team; however, Val's injury combined with poor shooting has led to another problem -- no confidence.

Second halves have been abysmal for the Owls. Allowing runs of 29-0 and 25-4 simply should not be happening.

Have you ever seen a team go up by 17 points and lose that big lead in the same half?

You would have if you attended the January 13th game between the Owls and the Houston Lady Cougars. Rice led UH by 17 points in the first half before Houston tied the score by halftime.

Amazing!

Sunday's "home" loss to UCF (January 20th) may have been an even bigger step back for the team.

Owls head coach Greg Williams said, "Unfortunately, it was very similar to our other two (conference) home games against UTEP and Tulane. We're down one at halftime; come out and take a one point lead; and then the shots stop falling; and, they go on a 25 to 4 run. The shots just stopped falling. Time after time we're not scoring and it seems to effect us on the other end.

"We weren't being aggressive. In the second half, we didn't defend like we did in the first half. I was a very disappointing loss. It felt like we took a huge step backwards. I thought we made progress in the Houston game and the Southern Miss game. We talked about that at halftime; then we played very poorly in the second half."

One of the major disappointments has been the subpar play of the Owls' upperclassmen. Redshirt junior wing Maudess Fulton has struggled with her shot all season. Senior post Tiffany Loggins has battled a season-long slump. Senior Kadie Riverin has been inconsistent with her play.

"Kadie came off her best game of the year against Southern Miss with 22 (points); but, she struggled Sunday (versus UCF). No question Tiffany is struggling shooting the basketball. She's shooting under 30 percent on the year. Maudess is struggling shooting the basketball. She got into early trouble Sunday so that took her out of any rhythm that she could get in the game. So, the players that have experience we need to start playing like the experienced players they are and the way we know they're capable of playing.

"It's frustrating for them, too. They're mired in a slump; and, we can't seem to figure out how to get them out of it."

Rice hosts UH this Saturday, January 26, at 2pm. The game will be held at Sharp Gym on the campus of Houston Baptist University.

Berezhynska will not play in the game; and, she may be at least one more week away from playing.

"Won't play this week; and, probably questionable when we go on the road next week. It's unfortunate. This is the third time she's sprained that ankle; and, it's just beat up. The ligaments are stretched; and, we just can't seem to get it strong enough for Dawn (team trainer) to put Val back on the court. This injury has lasted a lot longer than any of us thought it would take."

Saturday's game is very important for Rice because they are currently tied with four other teams in C-USA with 1-4 records.

"We've got five teams that 1 and 4; so, that gap is really getting wide between the top five in the league and the bottome five. One of those teams is going to finish last. One of those teams is going to finish above those other four teams; and, hopefully it's going to be us. We've got a lot of work to do in order to be ready to play."