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Brown Keys Rice to OT WAC Tournament Victory
3/7/2001 12:00:00 AM | Tulsa Hurricane
March 7, 2001
Junior LaToya Brown drilled a three-pointer with 4.2 seconds left in regulation to force overtime against Nevada, where the Lady Owls prevailed 60-56 on Wednesday to advance to the semifinals of the 2001 Western Athletic Conference Women's Basketball Tournament in Tulsa, Okla.
Both teams struggled to find their shots in the first half. Rice held Nevada without a basket for more than eight minutes, but the Wolf Pack stayed in the game by hitting nine-straight free throws. The Lady Owls shot just 18.6 percent (8-43) from the floor in the opening 20 minutes but trailed by just two points heading into the locker room. Nevada hit 21.4 percent (6-28) from the floor and was 10-11 from the free-throw line.
Nevada came out strong in the second half, running out to a 36-25 lead with 12:11 remaining. After a media timeout, the Rice women came storming back on a 12-1 to knot the score up at 37-37 with 8:30 to go.
The teams battled down stretch and, with Nevada clinging to a two-point lead senior Kenya Tuttle was called for a foul, sending Kate Smith to the charity stripe to shoot two with 22.9 seconds remaining. Smith missed the first and hit the second. Junior LaTonya Sam then missed a three-point attempt, but after Nevada grabbed the rebound junior Jennifer Rigg forced a quick turnover to give the Lady Owls the ball under heir basket 14 seconds left in regulation. Rice called a timeout to set up Brown's game-tying three pointer.
Freshman Lindsey Maynard stepped up in overtime, hitting a trey with 3:40 on the clock to put Rice up for good. Nevada stayed close and trailed by just two late, but Rigg drew a foul with nine ticks on the clock and nailed both free throws to ice the game.
Maynard led the Lady Owls with 11 points in just 15 minutes on the court, while Sam was the only other Rice player in double figure scoring, finishing with 10. Brown, Rigg and junior Daneesh McIntosh chipped in eight a piece. Brown also matched her career high of four assists to pace the Rice offense. The squad finished the game hitting 26.5 percent (22-83) from the floor.
Defensively, Tuttle led the Lady Owls with 13 rebounds, three blocks and three steals. Rigg also grabbed three steals and added nine boards.
Katie Golomb led Nevada with 16 points and eight blocks. Angie Heer and Smith chipped in 14 and 12 points, respectively. Smith also had a team best 13 rebounds followed by Golomb's 11. The Wolf Pack hit 29.8 percent (17-57) and were forced into 25 turnovers.
The win improves Rice's record to 18-11, while Nevada moves to 16-13.
The Lady Owls next face TCU, the regular season champs, Friday at noon in the first semifinal. The game can be heard on KTRU 91.7 FM and on the internet at www.ktru.org.
