Women's basketball loses fourth straight

By Romil Patel 2/18/15 4:05pm

The Rice University women’s basketball team fell short to the University of Alabama, Birmingham, 75-59. The loss brought Rice’s record to 7-16 overall and 2-10 in Conference USA.

Senior forward Christal Porter led all Rice players with 21 points, 15 rebounds and three blocked shots in the loss. Sophomore forward Jasmine Goodwine also put up 15 points in the losing effort.

The Owls averaged a league-leading 43.6 rebounds per game entering the game, but the Blazers outrebounded them 38-35. UAB also shot 56 percent from the field while taking 10 fewer shots than the Owls. The Blazers outscored the Owls 40-26 in the paint.

According to Head Coach Greg Williams, Rice’s defensive play was the primary reason for the loss. UAB’s post players went 17-for-25 in the game, and Rice was outscored 26-40 from inside the paint.

“Our perimeter defenders also got beat one-on-one off the dribble for several layups, leading to our worst field goal defense of the season,” Williams said.

The Owls fought back after being down 34-25 at the half. Rice pulled the game to within six points with 17:28 remaining in the game, but was unable to close the gap. The Blazers went on a 9-0 run to go ahead 51-36. Rice made another run that cut the lead to 10, but UAB made a 8-0 run of its own to make it 62-44 with 9:34 remaining on the clock.

Coach Williams said he was happy with some things his team was able to do despite the loss.

“We just missed open shots,” Williams said. “We did shoot a few too quickly without enough ball movement … We did hit the offensive boards well.”

The Owls and Porter, who will be going for her seventh consecutive double-double, will try to bounce back at Tudor Fieldhouse when they host Florida International University (3-20). FIU is currently riding a 14-game losing streak and has won one game in their past 21 contests. The game will tip off on Thursday, Feb. 19 at 6 p.m.