Tulsa
Rice (WAC)
Tulsa Women Dispatch Rice, 74-61, Behind Mays' 16 Points
1/13/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jan. 13, 2005
Tulsa, Oklahoma - Sophomore Tandem Mays led all scorers with 16 points and four Golden Hurricane players reached double figures in Tulsa's 74-61 Western Athletic Conference win over Rice in front of 1,553 at the Donald W. Reynolds Center.
Mays exploded for 13 second-half points and helped Tulsa (11-3, 3-2 WAC) outscored Rice (9-7, 2-3 WAC), 45-32, in the second period. The Golden Hurricane improved to 7-0 at home this season and has now won nine consecutive games on its home court dating back to last season's final two victories at the Reynolds Center. The win also catapulted TU into a second-place tie in the WAC standings.
The game was tied at intermission, but Rice scored the first basket of the second half to take a one-point advantage, which turned out to be the Owls' only lead for the remainder of the game. Sophomore Jillian Robbins connected on two free throws and gave the Hurricane the lead for good at the 18:51 mark. However, the game remained close and TU never led by more than seven points over the next 5:29. Mays helped TU pull away when she was fouled on a made lay-up and she converted the free throw for the three-point play and ignited a 16-2 run.
By the 8:26 minute mark, and after back-to-back three-pointers by junior Kara Pongonis and freshman RyAnne Ridge, the Hurricane had built a 19-point lead. Rice chipped the deficit down to 12 points, but was never able to get any closer. TU sizzled from the field in the second half, hitting 57.7 percent of its field goal attempts. The 13-point win over the Owls marked the largest margin of victory for TU over the Owls since the two schools became WAC members in 1996-97.
For the second straight game, Tulsa had the hot hand from the field, connecting on 25 of 51 attempts for 51.0 percent, while the Hurricane's stingy defense held the Owls to just 23 of 62 field goals for 37.1 percent.
The Golden Hurricane turned in a balanced effort with four of its five starters scoring in double figures. Along with Mays, Robbins finished with 13 points, five rebounds, six blocks and six steals, while Pongonis and senior Becky Heidotten each turned in 11 points. Heidotten was TU's leading rebounder with eight boards. Tulsa committed 11 turnovers in the first half, but suffered just five miscues in the second half, while the Owls turned the ball over 10 times in the second half.
Lauren Neaves led Rice with 14 points, while Michelle Woods grabbed a game-high 14 rebounds. Maudess Fulton was the only other Lady Owl to reach double figures with 11 points. Rice out-rebounded TU, 39-36, and became just the third team this season to win the battle on the boards against Tulsa.
Rice led early in the first half, but not by more than two points. Tulsa gained the lead for the first time on a free throw by Pongonis and built an eight-point advantage, its largest lead of the first half. However, the Owls responded with a 13-5 run that tied the game at 17-17 with 7:42 remaining in the period. A lay-up by junior Emily Jaskowiak put the Hurricane ahead by two points and TU looked to take a lead into the locker room at halftime, but a jumper by Krystal Frazier with 0:02 remaining in the period tied the contest, 29-29, at intermission.
