RebKell's Junkie Boards

[deanjet]

A&M 66
Rice 79

This reminds me of Arkansas' loss to Oklahoma State in Blair's final year there. We were ranked in the top ten and with our only loss coming to #1 Duke in overtime. Then we went on the road...

_________________
WPS!

[accommodatingly]

[timeout]

What a great win for Rice! I really enjoyed the game tonight. I hadn't realized that Texas A&M was ranked so high (#10 per the game program). Rice played very well. The Aggies' Atunrase went down with what looked like an ankle sprain about midway through the 2nd half, but Rice was already maintaining about a 10 point lead at the time, as I recall.

Neaves, Berezhynska (sp?), and Stovall performed well for Rice as usual. I am really enjoying watching the Lady Owls this season.

[deanjet]

[Marquette Fan]

>Would anyone who watched the old, bad Shock have expected this from Greg Williams?

I sure didn't expect this after seeing Rice play Marquette in Milwaukee last season. I know teams can improve year to year but this was still a surprise to me. It's got me worried now as Marquette plays at Rice Sunday...

[CB]

Can you see this HUGE grin on my face? That was FANtastic game! Autry Court roared! Talk about exciting - not in my house! Woohoo!

Lauren Neaves was just everywhere on both sides of the court. 20 POINTS (9-16 shooting), 20 REBOUNDS, 5 BLOCKS, 2 ASSISTS, 1 STEAL! That's huge lol! For some rebounds, she soared above everyone. AND guess what! She has a GREAT outside shot! I didn't know. Now who does that remind me of? Strong, work horse under the boards, plays a lot of minutes, still has a sweet long outside shot... Could Lauren be Tina Thompson's shadow?

Samantha Stovall - Stove had 13 POINTS (5-10 shooting) and 5 ASSISTS! Once again, Stovall proved she is a great defensive specialist, shutting down Aggie star player, Morenike Atunrase. She has the best eagle eye passing ability I have seen in a long time. A thing of beauty, right on the money with difficult passes - right where the scorer needs the ball. Yeah thread the needle - for me, that is one of the most beautiful sights in basketball. Stepping up with points too.

Valeriy Berezhynska has GREAT hands. Some of the passes to her from the guards weren't great but she snagged them and still had the presence of mind to lay the ball in nicely without that much room. She also shoots well from the outside. 21 points in 20 minutes.

Kadie Riverin, Rice's pg, has her picture in the online Chronicle beating A&M's star player to the hoop. The team seems very confident when Riverin is handling the ball. She's smooth. She shot 3-6 for 9 points and 3 assists. She did have 8 turnovers but I don't see how. Well that one stretch the last 5 minutes or so I would guess, Rice tried to play too fast, which to me is A&M's game so they started turning it over - not to mention the press A&M threw at them also.

Krystal Frazier hit a couple of huge shots for the Owls to keep the distance in the score. She shot 3-6 for 8 points and also had 6 assists. I didn't realize the assists number, great job.

Emery Carter, hmmm, she looks good. Only played 19 minutes for some reason. Looks like she and Valeriy split minutes.

I have to mention Maudess Fulton. She is a tough little player. Her stats were 4 points (1-3 shooting, 2 free throws) and 1 assist in 14 minutes, and I think she is important to the Owls.

Coach Greg Williams seems crazy like a fox not having Lauren and Valeria in the game together a lot of the time. Really, both players excelled on their own, without the other on the court. Great job, Coach.

A&M Coach Gary Blair, "...we were outcoached and outplayed in the post something fierce. We got schooled in the fundamentals of the game." Definitely outplayed, Coach.

The Aggies were obviously very athletic and had hops. A'Quonesia Franklin, the junior 5'3" point guard was most impressive in my opinion. At one point in the game when near us, she had a Coop-like look on her face (see the link below for that look), I had to have respect. She hit some nice 3's to keep A&M fairly close, well within 10 or so. Starks had great hops but the shots weren't falling. Atunrase wasn't doing much and hurt her ankle bad enough to sit out the rest of the 2nd half with ice on it.

In summary, the Owls were poised, got the rebounds, hit their shots and won the game.

Rice site best story, pic of Neaves racing downcourt with ball:
http://riceowls.cstv.com/sports/w-baskbl/recaps/120106aaa.html

Article - pic of Neaves grabbing the ball:
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/college/4373952.html

Article - pic of Riverin for lay up past Atunrase:
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/bk/bkc/women/4373975.html

Franklin action pic on Aggie website:
www.aggieathletics.com/index.php?SID=WBB

_________________
"All it takes for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing." Edmund Burke

[CB]

PS: We got to the game a little late, at about the 16 minute mark 1st half. Rice was down 10 to 7. From there on, it was off to the races.

_________________
"All it takes for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing." Edmund Burke

[CB]

Well worth your while MP3 interview of A&M's Coach Blair by The HRR.

http://www.thehrr.com/Free_MP3s/Womens_hoops/2006/12/aggies-beaten-by-rice.html#links

Neaves comparison - Kevin McHale. Says Paris, Jackson, Mosby only 3 better in their league.

Riverin - huge compliment on her importance in the game.

He discusses the road woe and that his team needs more knowledge of the game.

_________________
"All it takes for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing." Edmund Burke

[CB]

Neaves and Company made the women's hoops blog! Very nice!

http://www.womenshoops.blogspot.com/

_________________
"All it takes for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing." Edmund Burke

[fancy_daniel]

Congrats to Rice on the big win. I thought Texas A&M was ranked too high. I don't think they had proved they belonged in the top 10.

[CB]

[fancy_daniel]