Rice Loses to UTA
HOUSTON, TX -- The Rice Owls played well in spurts Saturday versus the Texas-Arlington Mavericks; unfortunately, those good spurts were overshadowed by far too many bad minutes of basketball. Rice lost to the Mavericks 77 to 72 in front of 591 fans inside Rice's Tudor Fieldhouse.
D'Frantz Smart continued her stellar play leading the Owls with a team-high 26 points; nine assists; and eight rebounds. Smart scored 16 points in the first half thanks to 5 for 6 shooting from the field. She also dished out six assists in the opening 20 minutes to help the Owls lead the Mavericks 41 to 31 at halftime.
"Great first half. Horrible second half," said Smart after the game. "That's point blank. We came out after halftime with not much intensity. We came out like the game was over; and, in basketball, it's two halves."
UTA began the second half with a 15 to 2 scoring burst to lead the 46 to 43 with 16:25 left in the ball game. Mavericks' forward Candice Champion went to work in the post and dominated the Owls' defenders. Champion scored 14 points in the second half and made it look easy. Champion shot 6 for 7 from the field in just 14 second half minutes. She finished the game with a team-high 23 points.
Erin Dixon added 10 points and a game-high 18 rebounds for UTA. Shalyn Martin (11 points) and Tamara Simmons (12 points) also scored in double figures.
The Mavericks dominated the Owls in the paint. UTA outscored the Owls 36 to 22 in the paint; and, the truly bothersome thing for the Owls was their post players seemed defenseless how to stop the Mavericks from scoring down low.
"Quite honestly, we're a little shy in the post," said Owls head coach Greg Williams. "We're a little afraid of contact. We don't have enough toughness in there."
"We were giving them lay ups," said Williams. "Our post defense inside has not been good. We rotated five different post players. We didn't have the energy in transition."
The Mavericks scored 8 fast break points. Rice scored zero.
"We just played horrible defense (in the second half)," Smart added. "We stopped talking on defense. It was just horrible."
The Mavericks (3-4) led the Owls 66 to 57 with five minutes and 45 seconds remaining in the game before Smart keyed an 11 to 2 run to tie the game at 68 with 92 seconds left. Smart knocked down six free throws during the run and assisted on one of the two baskets as well.
However, Simmons answered the run by sinking two free throws to give the Mavericks the lead once again. With 55 seconds left in the game, Owls head coach Greg Williams was called for a questionable technical foul. Simmons made both free throws to give UTA a 74 to 70 lead; and, Rice never got any closer.
The Owls (3-3) take a break for final exams. Their next ball game is a home date with the UCLA Bruins on December 17. Tip is set for 5 p.m. The game is part of a scheduled double-header with the Owls' men's basketball team.
D'Frantz Smart continued her stellar play leading the Owls with a team-high 26 points; nine assists; and eight rebounds. Smart scored 16 points in the first half thanks to 5 for 6 shooting from the field. She also dished out six assists in the opening 20 minutes to help the Owls lead the Mavericks 41 to 31 at halftime.
"Great first half. Horrible second half," said Smart after the game. "That's point blank. We came out after halftime with not much intensity. We came out like the game was over; and, in basketball, it's two halves."
UTA began the second half with a 15 to 2 scoring burst to lead the 46 to 43 with 16:25 left in the ball game. Mavericks' forward Candice Champion went to work in the post and dominated the Owls' defenders. Champion scored 14 points in the second half and made it look easy. Champion shot 6 for 7 from the field in just 14 second half minutes. She finished the game with a team-high 23 points.
Erin Dixon added 10 points and a game-high 18 rebounds for UTA. Shalyn Martin (11 points) and Tamara Simmons (12 points) also scored in double figures.
The Mavericks dominated the Owls in the paint. UTA outscored the Owls 36 to 22 in the paint; and, the truly bothersome thing for the Owls was their post players seemed defenseless how to stop the Mavericks from scoring down low.
"Quite honestly, we're a little shy in the post," said Owls head coach Greg Williams. "We're a little afraid of contact. We don't have enough toughness in there."
"We were giving them lay ups," said Williams. "Our post defense inside has not been good. We rotated five different post players. We didn't have the energy in transition."
The Mavericks scored 8 fast break points. Rice scored zero.
"We just played horrible defense (in the second half)," Smart added. "We stopped talking on defense. It was just horrible."
The Mavericks (3-4) led the Owls 66 to 57 with five minutes and 45 seconds remaining in the game before Smart keyed an 11 to 2 run to tie the game at 68 with 92 seconds left. Smart knocked down six free throws during the run and assisted on one of the two baskets as well.
However, Simmons answered the run by sinking two free throws to give the Mavericks the lead once again. With 55 seconds left in the game, Owls head coach Greg Williams was called for a questionable technical foul. Simmons made both free throws to give UTA a 74 to 70 lead; and, Rice never got any closer.
The Owls (3-3) take a break for final exams. Their next ball game is a home date with the UCLA Bruins on December 17. Tip is set for 5 p.m. The game is part of a scheduled double-header with the Owls' men's basketball team.
posted by Kris G @ 5:47 PM
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