Women's basketball squad prepares for new start in new home

By Yan Digilov     11/13/08 6:00pm

A new home, a new look, and five new freshmen on the court are all reasons that the 2008-2009 Owls are looking forward to the future. In their lone exhibition match last Thursday the Owls delivered a convincing 81-56 win against Houston Baptist University, showcasing the prospects for the coming season, before getting ready for their home opener against California State University-Northridge tonight. While both players and coaches are excited to prove themselves on the court as the first game inside the newly built Tudor Fieldhouse approaches, they are even more excited about the new court itself.

"To see the new building is really special," head coach Greg Williams said. "It was something that we heard about and discussed for many years, and now it has become a reality. Our players are probably more excited than I am. They've been without a locker room for about 18 months."

While Tudor Fieldhouse was under construction, the term "home game" was a misnomer. The squad was forced, at times, to drive up to thirty minutes for home games at the Merrell Center in Katy, Tex. They also saw a steep decline in attendance at the games. The new base of operations will be a return to normality for a squad that is be busy rebuilding and regrouping after losing several key starters.

---

---

The highest returning scorers from last year are junior guard Tara Watts and senior guard Maudess Fulton. Watts, who has had several caps on Canadian national squads, started all 32 games last year, but averaged only 8.1 points per game. Fulton, one of only two seniors on the squad, has the most experience on the team as a fifth year, but has never filled the role of a go-to scorer, averaging only 7.9 points last year.

65 percent of the team's offense graduated last year from the squad that had the second lowest scoring average in Conference-USA. "In the past two years we have graduated four 1,000-point scorers," Williams said. "We've only had 15 in the program's history. We're still trying to establish and figure out who's going to score points for us."

Some of those questions were answered in the match up against HBU. For most of the second half, the freshman additions handled the ball, and performed up to expectations. Freshman Candace Ashford led the Owls in scoring, alleviating some fears that their low-post presence had left when Valeriya Berezhynska (Will Rice '08) graduated in the spring after averaging 12.7 points per game.

Though the issue of finding a consistent scoring threat will loom throughout the season, the incoming class solved another issue that created problems for the team last year. Freshman point guard D'Frantz Smart, who was first runner up for Ms. Illinois Basketball 2008, started in the exhibition and exhibited maturity and confidence in leading the offense. Despite standing only 5 feet tall, she showed off her versatility with nine points, five steals, four rebounds, and four assists.

"Even though she [Smart] is a freshman, she has taken her role and ran with it," Fulton said. "She is confident, and that is what you need."

Smart's arrival also gives the team depth at the point guard spot. The Owls had only one true ball carrier by the end of last season, which resulted in a large number of turnovers.

Also in the freshman class are forward Brianna Hypolite, who led Dickinson High School as the Texas 4-A player of the year for 2008, and guard Amenemope McKinney. After redshirting due to a preseason injury last year, forward Megan Elliott is also expected to join the rotation.

With their new additions, the Owls are shaping up to be a young team with high potential that will need to work on consistency above all else.

"I really think our team could be a lot like the Dow Jones," Williams joked. "I think we probably will have some inconsistency since we have five freshmen in our top nine or ten-rotation. Hopefully, they'll be more consistent than inconsistent."

But Williams, like most coaches, will tell anyone that there is no single coaching solution for inconsistent play. It takes time for the players to adjust, and for the team's collective shape to form. That shape will come along faster with proper leadership from the older players.

For the first time since her freshman year, senior Emery Carter has the opportunity to play the role of leader. Tonight, she will play her first NCAA game without the knee brace she has worn since she was hurt in her sophomore year. Her performance will be just another variable that could mean the difference between success in a post-season tournament and a year of rebuilding.

Regardless of the Owls' post-season performance, this year's results will be the first real judge of coach Williams' success.

"It is a new beginning as our two seniors are the only two players left from Christie McKinney and her staff's recruiting era," Williams said. "So now it's up to us to try and sustain with the players that we brought in ourselves."

Williams first came to Rice in 1965 to play for the men's basketball team. The Hanszenite earned Southwest Conference Co-MVP honors in 1969 and spent several years on the coaching staff of the men's basketball team. After a long career coaching professional women's basketball, he returned to his alma mater four years ago. With a 51-46 record as head coach of the Owls, this season will be a defining point for the growth of the program.

"I knew when I accepted the job at Rice that I was inheriting an outstanding program that had not only a winning tradition but also several outstanding players," he said. "That was obvious with four of those players going over the 1,000-point barrier while we were here."

Now, Williams' team is the underdog, registering no votes for top finishers in the preseason poll of Conference USA team. With such a young team, though, winning the conference may not be the only mark of a successful season. Strong team performances against top teams like Baylor could potentially be signs of what is to come in the Greg Williams era. For now, though, the squad is focusing on getting used to their new home and one another.

"We have a new team, a new gym, and I feel like it's a new beginning," Fulton said. "I think we have a lot of talent. We are meshing well, and I am looking forward to seeing how we progress as a team."

Tonight's game at 7 pm will be the first sign of how the team is coming along. A large crowd is expected for the first NCAA game ever to be held in Tudor Fieldhouse. Assuredly, the sound of screaming fans and sight of friends and family will be both a welcomed return and a much-anticipated beginning.

---