Jan. 19, 2010

Rice Game Notes in PDF Format

RICE (8-9, 2-2) at Memphis (10-7, 3-1)
Sat., Jan. 23, 2010 • 11 a.m. CT
FedEx Forum (18,119) • Memphis
Radio: KTRU 91.7 FM • Clifton Morris, play-by-play
Internet: http://www.ktru.org • Television: CSS

Rice vs. Memphis
The Owls are 3-3 in the series vs. the Tigers. Memhis won 72-69 last season as Megan Elliott led the Owls with 17 points and Emery Carter had 15 rebounds in the game played in Houston.

Quick Look at the Owls
Rice is now 2-2 in league play after winning two close games last weekend. The Owls won 63-61 over Marshall as Morgan Mayse scored a game-high 16 points and Jackie Stanley posted her third straight double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds. Rice then won 77-74 over then league-leader East Carolina as Morgan Mayse and Jessica Goswitz each scored 15 points. Jackie Stanley leads the team in scoring at 14.9 ppg, while Morgan Mayse follows at 10.9 Mayse (5.6 rpg) is also second to Stanley (7.4 rpg) in rebounding. Tara Watts leads Rice with 27 three-pointers made. D'Frantz Smart leads the squad with 63 assists and 35 steals.

8 Wins
With two victories last weekend, Rice now has eight wins on the season which surpasses last year's seven-win total. The Owls also have two wins in Conference USA play to also match last season's two-win total.

Stanley Stars
Jackie Stanley had three straight games (UTEP, Tulane, and Marshall) in which she has recorded a double-double. She has led the Owls in scoring seven times this season and has scored in double-digits in 11 games as well. Stanley also leads Rice with five double-doubles and 11 blocks.

Stanley's 14.9 scoring average is the highest by an Owl since Lauren Neaves averaged 15.5 ppg in 2007.

Rice Double-Doubles
Jackie Stanley
24p, 11r vs. Long Beach State
36p, 14r Sam Houston State
25p, 13r at UTEP
11p, 11r at Tulane
11p, 11r vs. Marshall

D'Frantz Smart
18p, 11r vs. UTSA

Stanley Player of the Week - Dec. 7
Sophomore Jackie Stanley earned Conference USA's Player of the Week (Dec. 7) for her performance in the Gene Hackerman Invitational. Stanley tallied 18 points and 8 rebounds in the win over UT-Pan American and followed that effort with career and game-highs of 36 points and 14 rebounds in the championship game vs. Sam Houston State. Stanley's 36 points vs. SHSU is the second-highest in C-USA this season and is tied as the fourth-most points scored ever by an Owl.

Rice Single-Game Scoring Leaders
1. Brenda Conway vs. PVAM (12-9-95) 43
2. Pennie Goff at Texas A&M (1-8-83) 41
3. Pennie Goff vs. P.Quinn (11-30-82) 37
Amelia Cooper at SMU (1-1-89) 37
4. Jackie Stanley vs. SHSU (12-5-09) 36
Lauren Neaves vs. SMU (3-4-06) 36
Amelia Cooper vs. McNeese St. (11-29-88) 36v

aMAYSEing
Forward Morgan Mayse is having a fine season. The junior is second on the team in scoring and rebounding at 10.6 ppg and 5.7 rpg. Mayse scored a season-high 17 points at Lamar and she had a season-high 11 rebounds vs. UT-Pan American. Mayse has led the Owls in scoring in three games and has been the team's top rebounder in four games. She has scored in double-digits in a team-high 11 games this season.

Goswitz Got Game
Freshman Jessica Goswitz's collegiate career is off to a fine start as she scored in double-digits in her first two collegiate games. Goswitz tallied 12 at UT-Arlington in 38 minutes of action with five rebounds and followed up with 10 points at No. 8 Texas A&M. She scored in double-digits for the third time with 10 at Lamar. She is fifth on the team in scoring at 7.7 ppg, second in assists (46), and second in steals with 26. Goswitz scored a season-high 15 points vs. East Carolina and grabbed a season-high 7 rebounds vs. Northwestern State. She leads Rice in minutes played with 493 (29.0 mpg).

Goswitz C-USA FOTW
Jessica Goswitz was named Conference USA Freshman of the Week (Dec. 7) after averaging 7 points, 4.5 assists, 4.0 rebounds in Rice's two wins during the Gene Hackerman Invitational last week. She led the Owls with nine assists and a team-high five steals. She scored seven points against both UT-Pan American and Sam Houston State. Goswitz also had six rebounds against SHSU and six assists vs. UTPA.

High-Scoring Owls in Williams Era
Rice's 90-point output vs. Hofstra was the most points scored since the Owls tallied 91 vs. Sam Houston State in 2006. Below is a listing of the highest scoring games in the Greg Williams era at Rice:

92-57, W at Rider, 11-12-06
92-91, W (2OT) Mississippi, 11-17-06
91-48, W SHSU, 11-27-06
90-71, W Hofstra, 12-30-09
88-69, W Idaho State, 12-9-06

Watts Starting
Tara Watts has started the last 79 games. Watts started all 32 games as a sophomore (2007-08) all 30 games a year ago, and in the first 8 games this season. She is fourth on the squad in scoring at 7.8 ppg and first in three-pointers made (27). Watts has scored in double-digits in six games this season. She scored a season-high 16 at George Washington, 13 at Lamar and 13 vs. UMass. Wattas scored 12 vs. Marshall including three treys and she tallied 11 points at SFA. She now ranks fourth all-time at Rice in career three-pointers made. She was in double-digit scoring five times last season. She poured in a season-high 20 points at Lafayette, while scoring 14 vs. George Washington, 13 vs. CS-Northridge, 10 at Hofstra, and 15 vs. Houston. She led the team with 39 made three-pointers.

Rice Career Three-Pointers
1. Jessica Garcia (1993-1997) 147
2. Kara Liggett (2000-03) 142
3. Tara Watts (2007-present 125
4. Jenny Cafferty (1997-2000) 123
5. Leslie Tassin (1985-89) 102

W's Add Up, Has TO's Drop
Rice is averaging 14.8 turnovers in its eight victories with a 12.4 scoring margin. In games in which it has lost, Rice is averaging 20 turnovers per game. The Owls have won only one game when it committed more turnovers than the opponent (25 to UTSA's 12). The Owls are 6-1 when they commit fewer turnovers than the opposition and 1-7 when they commit more turnovers (see sidebar on right). Rice committed a season-low nine turnovers vs. East Carolina.

Get Smart
Rice sophomore guard D'Frant Smart has been named as the Conference USA Player of the Week (Jan. 18) after helping the Owls capture a pair of C-USA home wins over Marshall (63-61) and East Carolina (77-74) last weekend. She produced a team-best eight assists (4.0 APG) and nine steals (4.5 SPG), as well as connected on 9-of-10 free throws for a team-best percentage of .900. The 5-0 guard also averaged 3.5 rebounds per game.

Smart scored 14 points and had a game- and career-high seven steals and five assists in the upset win over ECU. The Chicago, Ill., native recorded 12 points, with the aid of a pair of 3s, had four rebounds, three assists and two steals against Marshall. This is Smart's first C-USA Player of the Week honor this season. She was named Rookie of the Week once last year.

Smart nearly had a triple-double with a game-high 18 points, 11 rebounds, and 7 assists in the contest vs. UTSA. She had posted back-to-back season-highs in scoring with 16 points in the win over Northwestern State and a team-high 24 points in the win over Hofstra with 7 assists and 3 steals. She leads Rice with 28 steals and in assists with 58 and is third in scoring at 8.2 ppg. She finished 2009, second on the squad in scoring at 10.8 ppg, while leading the Owls in scoring 8 times. A member of the C-USA All-Freshman team, she was fifth in C-USA in assists (4.52) and first in steals (2.64). She had a career-high 12 assists in the win over Tulsa. She scored 20 or more points in three games last year. She scored a team season-high 26 points vs. UT-Arlington, 22 vs. George Washington and 20 vs. UCLA. Smart dished out 9 assists vs. UTA and she had 7 at Lafayette. She had a career-high 7 steals vs. Tulane in 39 minutes of action. Smart was second on the squad with 37 three-pointers made.

Non-Conference in the Williams Era
The game vs. UTSA was the last non-conference game of the season. In the Greg Williams era at Rice, the Owls are 29-35 in non-conference contests including this season's 6-7 mark. The Owls were 4-7 in 2006, 7-6 in 2007, 7-7 in 2008, 5-8 in 2009, and 6-7 in 2010.

Rogers Minutes Played
Freshman forward Zoe Rogers played a season-high 17 minutes in the win over Hofstra and scored a season-high 7 points. Rogers also played 17 minutes in the game, after previously playing a total of 16 minutes the whole season.

Ashford Collects 8 Rebounds
Sophomore center Candace Asford snared a career-high 8 rebounds in the win over Northwestern State.

Elliott Busts Out
Sophomore Megan Elliott scored a season-high 15 points with 8 rebounds in 24 minutes of action off the bench vs. UTSA. She previously grabbed a season-high 10 rebounds (8 points) against UALR in 19 minutes of action. Elliott also had 10 rebounds at UTEP in 16 minutes and 9 points and 5 boards vs. Marshall. She is third on the team in rebounding at 4.6 rpg.

McKinney Season-High Points
Amenemope McKinney scored a season-high 12 points at SFA. She made 3 of 6 field goals and 5-8 at the free throw line. McKinney had put together two nicely played back-to-back in Rice's Gene Hackerman Invitational. She scored 10 points with 5 rebounds, 2 assists, and 3 steals vs. UT-Pan Am and then tallied 9 points with 6 rebounds, 2 assists, and 2 steals vs. Sam Houston State. The sopomore is fifth on th squad in scoring at 5.0 ppg.

Be Hyp
Sophomore guard Brianna Hypolite scored a season-high 18 points in the win over UT-Pan American with 6 rebounds in 19 minutes of action. Hypolite poured in a career-high 20 points last season at Tulsa. She made 6-11 field goals (3-6 3FGs) and 5-6 FTs in 25 minutes of action. She was in double-digits five times a year ago.

Owls Now 4-1 in Home Openers
Prior to the loss to UALR, Rice was 4-0 in home opening games in the Greg Williams' era. The Owls defeated #14 Texas Tech 73-70 to start 2005-06, in 2006-07 Rice defeated Mississippi 92-91 in double overtime, 2007-08 the Owls beat UALR 49-39, and last year Rice defeated Cal State Northridge 76-55 in the first-ever game at the renovated Tudor Fieldhouse.

C-USA Opening Games
This is the fifth year of Rice's existence in Conference USA and the Owls are now 1-4 in C-USA opening games. Friday's game marked the second-straight year in which the Owls begin conference action on the road at UTEP and at Tulane.

Jan. 6, 2006- Rice 76, USM 64
Jan. 2, 2007- at UH 91, Rice 86 (OT)
Jan. 4, 2008- Tulane 61, Rice 38
Jan. 9, 2009- at UTEP 76, Rice 60
Jan. 8, 2010- at UTEP 74, Rice 64

Owls Sign Two of Texas' Best
Head coach Greg Williams has announced the signing of Brittany Carter of Winnsboro, Texas, and Jessica Kuster from San Antonio, Texas, to National Letters of Intent to attend Rice and play basketball for the Owls beginning in the fall of 2010. With only two scholarships available, it was key for Williams to sign players that can have an impact by playing multiple positions. "It was very beneficial to us to be able to sign young ladies that are multi-positional players," says Williams. "With these two players abilities to play two positions, it is almost like getting four players in two." Kuster is a 6' 2" forward who played at San Antonio's Reagan High School for coach Terry Barton. ESPN Hoopgurlz has her ranked as the number 34 ranked forward in the nation, while All-Star Girls Report rated her as the number 58 power forward in the country. Kuster possesses and inside-outside game in scoring and rebounding down low, while also being able to knock down the 17-foot jumper as well as going coast-to-coast. Premier Basketball Report has Kuster ranked as the 14th-best player in the state of Texas. "Jessica is very athletic and she runs extremely well," comments Williams. "She is a good passer and is smart player on the court who can also defend on the perimeter against smaller players and can play in the post." She averaged 15 points and 13 rebounds a game during her junior season in 2009. Kuster was named first team all-district and Texas Association of Basketball Coaches (TABC) all-region. Carter comes to Rice as a 5' 8" combo guard from one of the state of Texas' most successful high school programs in Winnsboro H.S. She is an aggressive player and is an excellent on-ball defender. "Brittany is very athletic and quick who can shoot the three," says Williams. "She gives us flexibility in playing her at the one or two positions. During her junior season in 2009, Carter averaged 13 points a game as well as 5.8 assists a game, while shooting 49 percent from the field. Brittany also averaged 4.1 rebounds a game and 7.3 steals in being named MVP of District 13-2A. She was also named to the TGCA All-Regional and TGCA All-State. Carter was also a TABC 2A All-Region. Winnsboro, coached by Buddy Hawkins, posted a 36-2 record in 2009. As a sophomore in 2008, Carter helped lead the Red Raiders to the state semi-finals and she was named as District 13-2A's Defensive Player of the Year. Winnsboro was state runner-up in 2007, Carter's freshman season.