Women's basketball looks for spark against familiar foes

By Yan Digilov     2/12/09 6:00pm

After completing half of the season's conference games, the women's basketball team has yet to register a win against a Conference USA opponent. Now, the team will be forced to put the past behind them and acquire a new attitude while playing against some familiar faces. The first of those attempts turned out to be a failure last week when the Owls (5-18, 0-10 C-USA) had consecutive games against cross town rival University of Houston. After losing a close game at Tudor Fieldhouse on Jan. 28, Rice delivered an unimpressive performance at Hofheinz Pavilion on Saturday.

It took the Owls four minutes to even hit the rim with a shot attempt, as the Cougars (15-7, 7-3 C-USA) took an early 12-0 lead in the rematch. For the rest of the game, Rice flashed the same inconsistency it has exhibited all year long with several scoring runs that put the Cougars in a defensive mode, but the visiting team could never climb back into real contention.

Head coach Greg Williams (Hanszen '70) was discouraged that his team did not show up mentally ready to play against their rival.

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"You are always surprised when that happens," Williams said. "It is not like we changed the starting lineup. We just played this team on Wednesday."

Rice's next four games will be rematches against C-USA opponents, and it will be a challenge for the coaching staff to maintain a positive attitude in the face of a ten-game losing stretch.

"The key for this weekend is knowing that we have a second chance to make amends," assistant coach Carlos Quintero (Baker '98) said. "That is what we are trying to do."

The Owls last played a complete, quality game 11 games ago, on Jan. 5 against George Washington University, flashing all the attributes that Quintero hopes they can show once again. The most obvious factor that has been lacking throughout their recent losing spree is a balanced offensive attack.

In the game against George Washington, freshman D'Frantz Smart was the high scorer with 22 points, followed by senior Maudess Fulton's 20 and junior Tara Watts's 14. Of those players, only Fulton has maintained a high level of play, allowing opponents to focus on preventing her from getting to the basket. The Owls have been sorely missing consistent play from anyone else on the squad.

"That is were we need to come together - consistency," sophomore center Melissa Wittmayer said. "Right now, we don't have one person that is doing everything. Probably the most consistent person is Fulton right now, with her attitude leading the team and the way she plays on the court."

Smart is still not taking part in full practices as she recovers from a foot injury. Before her injury, she was the leading scorer and regularly played 35-40 minutes per game. Since returning, she has not scored double-digits and has been uncharacteristically losing the ball with regularity.

"I am just getting back into basketball mode," Smart said. "I am slowly trying to get back, but it is a struggle. . My injury hasn't really healed itself yet. I am disappointed."

Along with putting points on the board, Smart regularly contributed to the intensity on the court, a characteristic that the team has missed as much as anything else.

"We are a really quiet team," Williams said. "We are an unemotional group. That is OK if you are executing, but we are not. Part of the reason we are not is because we aren't communicating."

The lack of emotion has manifested itself throughout the year, as the Owls have not been able to compose themselves in tight spots, something they last did against George Washington. With only one senior on the team, and a concomitant shooting slump from Watts, there has been a desperate need for a leader to step up and create a sense of urgency.

"It has been really rough and it has been embarrassing," Wittmayer said. "We don't really think about the fact that we are 0-10 until we are about to play the team. I don't feel like we are not trying; I feel like it is slipping through our fingers somehow. It has got to be that second half in the last five minutes when we just can't pull it together as a team."

But there does not seem to be anything that can motivate the team to come together. The young team is only hoping that after having played the squads before, they will be able to learn from the mistakes of the past.

The Owls played the University of Texas-El Paso last night, but the results of the match up were not available at the time of publication. UTEP (13-10, 6-4 C-USA) was responsible for the first loss of Rice's recent streak, due in large part to the individual effort of junior Jareica Hughes.

Tomorrow, Rice takes on the University of Tulane, who beat the Owls by 28 points two days after they lost to UTEP in early January. The Green Wave (14-10, 6-4 C-USA) are currently riding a three-game winning streak.

Several times before, the squad has approached conference games without the belief they can win. Quintero said he believes that eliminating this lack of confidence is the first step towards getting some key wins before the C-USA tournament begins in March.

"I think a lot of it is confidence," Quintero said. "With the results of some of the games that we have had . you tend to start doubting yourself. Self doubt, not being sure of yourself, is just going to cause you to go out and make those mistakes. You have to keep working on it, and more importantly, get that mental toughness to a higher level.

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