Tulsa
Rice
Tulsa Women Drop 65-54 Decision to Rice
1/11/2001 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jan. 11, 2001
Houston, Texas - Rice had five players in double-figures as the Owls scored a 65-54 win against Tulsa at Autry Gymnasium in Houston, Texas. The Owls improved to 10-5 on the season and 2-1 in Western Athletic Conference play, dropping the Hurricane to 3-9 overall and 0-1 in league play.
Tulsa's Leela Farr was the games high scorer with 19 points, and added 11 rebounds for her second-double-double of the season. Farr connected on 11-of-12 from the free throw line.Athena Pirpich added 13 points, followed by nine points from Becky Heidotten. Freshman guard Kate Bechler led all Rice scorers with 16 points, while junior Aarika Florus had a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
Tulsa opened the game with a 4-0 run, and built a six-point lead at 10-4. The Owls evened the score at 12-12 at 11:34 remaining in the first half. Trailing 18-16 with 8:02 remaining in the first half, the Hurricane outscored the Owls 10-0 in the next seven minutes to take a 26-18 lead.
In the final 1:27 of the first half, Rice went on an 8-0 run to even the score at halftime, 26-26. Florus and Bechler each added a basket and two free throws.
"The 8-0 run before halftime was a difference-maker in this game. It was definately the turning point in the game," said Tulsa's Kathy McConnell-Miller.
Tulsa scored the first four points of the second half, but a Jennifer Rigg three-point basket at the 15:43 mark gave the Owls the lead for good at 33-32. Kenya Tuttle's layup with 5:54 left in the game gave Rice a 10-point lead at 52-42. The Hurricane then went on a 7-0 run behind a Pirpich three-point basket and layups from Farr and Shequinna Dinkens to cut the Owls lead to 52-49. In the final 1:30, Rice outscored the Hurricane 9-2 for the final 11-point margin.
For the game, Tulsa shot 34-percent from the field, while Rice shot 39-percent. From the free throw line, Tulsa hit 75-percent (18-of-24), while Rice connected on 20-of-23 for 87 percent. The two teams were even in the rebounding column with 35 each. Tulsa suffered 19 turnovers to 16 for the Owls.
Tulsa will host San Jose State on Sunday at 2:00 p.m. at the Reynolds Center.
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