Owls struggle to gain momentum on road trip

By Yan Digilov     1/8/09 6:00pm

After a five-game road trip that seemed even longer after numerous double digit losses, the women's basketball team may want to heed one of golf's oldest bits of advice: step up and swing without thinking about it. That is exactly what they did upon coming home to Tudor Fieldhouse on Monday, facing George Washington University only 24 hours after an embarrassing 31 point loss to University of Texas-San Antonio.

"We don't want to lose by 30 points every night," senior guard Maudess Fulton said. "We knew we had to make a change. We always talk about it, but today was one of the days were we actually made the change."

Fulton had an explosive 20 points against GW. Freshman point guard D'Frantz Smart led the team with 22, and junior Tara Watts also hit double digits with 14.

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After dominating on both sides of the court for most of the game, the Owls were forced to prove how badly they wanted a win when the Colonials pulled within four points with less than three minutes left.

"It was a pretty scary moment, to be honest," head coach Greg Williams said. "Maudess made a play . She attacked the basket and finished, which she hadn't been doing."

After getting the ball back, sophomore Morgan Mayse came up big with a three-pointer to put the game out of reach. Mayse was struggling to gain back her confidence prior to the game, having scored only 10 points in three games since Christmas.

"We need her to play a little bit better," Williams said. "She did get on the boards and hit a big three. I am glad to see her take it; she will sometimes shy away from taking an important shot."

Mayse was not the only one passing up shots in previous games and also not the only one just missing. But on Monday, the contrast was night and day, as the Owls built up a 44-28 lead against their visitng opponents.

In the first half, Rice shot 55 percent from the field on 33 shots. More importantly, their offense was moving well enough to give them quality shots from all over the floor. Though they were without freshman forward Meghan Elliot, the Owls were also able to get strong shots from under the basket, and kept GW's strongest threat - their post players - at bay.

Also on exhibit was the play of Smart, who showed that she has ossified her spot on as a team leader, despite her young age. With eight minutes left in the first half, Smart called for an isolation play and drove to the basket, evading a triple team to put in a lay-up and make a free throw shot to complete the three-point play. Not soon after, she made consecutive buckets, first with a floating layup from a drive to the basket, and then calling for the ball from Fulton to sink a shot from far beyond the arc.

"Who could have predicted D'Frantz to play like she is playing?" Williams asked. "We knew she was good, but we didn't think she would be our leading scorer. She is our third-leading rebounder at 5 feet . She is playing out of her mind."

Though the win did much to give the team their confidence, it remains to be seen which Owl squad will show up to start conference play tonight against Tulane.

On Dec. 21, Rice dropped a hard-fought away game in overtime against Lafayette College by a score of 79-76 after suffering decisive 18- and 10- point losses to University of California-Los Angeles (10-3) and Hofstra (8-4) University, respectively.

Then, the team's performance vacillated again in the Ole Miss Holiday Classic in Oxford, Miss on Dec. 29-30. After taking advantage of a struggling University of Tennessee-Martin (2-11) squad, the Owls advanced to play the University of Mississippi (11-4) in the finals of the tournament.

From the beginning of the game, Ole Miss took a lead ran away with it. The Owls shot 23 percent from the floor, and the final score, 81-48, told the rest of the story.

Next, the Owls traveled to play University of Texas-San Antonio (7-6). "I thought we were prepared to play UTSA," Williams said. "I was so wrong." The starting five contributed for one total assist and 16 turnovers. Smart had two points, and no other player on the team hit double digit scoring numbers.

Though the Owls lost by a score of 81-50, they were down by as many as 42 points at one point in the second half.

"That blowout really changed our mentality and how we approach games," Smart said. "It was embarrassing to us, and most importantly it was embarrassing to our coaching staff and to Rice University."

Despite the disappointing end to the road trip, the Owls subsequently rebounded against GW at home. The contrasting play leaves a lot of questions up in the air as conference play starts, and games start to count for postseason bids.

First, injury has sidelined Elliot and freshman guard Amenemope McKinney. Elliot is expected to return soon, and her help in the post will be vital for the Owls to survive the difficult conference competition. Freshman Candace Ashford and sophomore center Melissa Wittmayer also need to show the skill that has come through at times in the season.

The offensive flow has been linked, inextricably, to the performance of the team's young point guard. Smart saw 39 minutes of play in the game against GW, and did not seem to let up for a second.

If the Owls are to be successful in the next match against UTEP, who went 16-0 in conference last year, they will need their veterans to play as well as Smart has.

Both Fulton and Watts have been struggling to provide the offensive production that they have shown themselves capable of in the past.

"You expect a little inconsistency out of freshman," Williams said. "The frustrating thing is that our more experienced players have been on a rollercoaster."

But the chances of all factors coming together like they did on Monday are as high as are the chances of them playing like they did in San Antonio. Williams said that he knew from the beginning of the season that his young team would be inconsistent, but this is an extreme. He has not been able to find a way to motivate the women to play to their potential.

"We have been playing really well in practice," Fulton said. "It has just been about making the shots in the game, transferring it all into game situations. I feel like we just need one game to get us going. We have all the pieces, but we need people to just step up."

The game at GW may have been that game, but the Owls have followed strong performances with disappointment before.

Those questions will be answered in El Paso today and in New Orleans against Tulane on Sunday.

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