Owls come from behind to beat McNeese State, 60-51

Posted: December 1, 2012 -- 5:12 p.m. CST

HOUSTON, TX (Tudor Fieldhouse) -- After losing to the Baylor Lady Bears by forty points Tuesday night, the Rice Owls faced a McNeese State club which, though they are not in the class of the Lady Bears, is the two-time defending champs of the Southland Conference. The Cowgirls also owned victories over the Houston Cougars (76-72) and the Texas Southern Lady Tigers (59-42) earlier this season. Therefore, when the Owls trailed by nine points at halftime Saturday afternoon, all signs pointed to the Cowgirls (4-3) picking up win number three over teams from H-town.

Not so fast. The Owls (3-4) tightened the screws on defense; and, freshman forward Megan Palmer erupted in the second half to lead the Owls to a tough 60-51 win in front of 183 fans.

Palmer scored 18 points and grabbed eight rebounds in the second half to finish with game-highs of 24 points and 14 rebounds.

After the game, Palmer acknowledged she and her teammates knew the Cowgirls' frontcourt was not as good as the Baylor Lady Bears; so, Palmer made a point to be more aggressive in the second half.

In the first half, the Owls had trouble defending the Cowgirls' three-guard lineup. Senior Caitlyn Baggett (twin sister of Ashlyn and older sister of Allison) scored 12 points in the opening half while forward Arianna James added 10 points. Caitlyn and James' 22 first-half points equaled the Owls' 22 points; and, the Owls trailed the Cowgirls 31-22 at halftime.

With 10:58 remaining in the ball game, the Owls trailed 45-35; but, five straight points cut the deficit in half. Palmer split two free throws; but, Jessica Kuster rebounded the missed foul shot and was fouled. Kuster sank both free throws to bring the Owls within 45-42 with 8:13 on the clock.

After a basket by Ashlyn Baggett, Palmer scored nine of the Owls' next 10 points for a 53-49 lead.

The Owls limited the Cowgirls to zero made baskets for nearly the final 8:07 of the game. The Cowgirls also shot themselves in the foot missing two of their final 10 free throw attempts.

The Owls shot 12 for 29 (41.4%) in the second half while the Cowgirls shot an Antarctic-like 18.8% (6 for 32) from the field including 7.7% (1 for 13 on three point shots).

With the hard-earned win, the Owls head into the break for final exams on a happy note. The Owls' next game is December 13 versus Chicago State. Tip is set for 7pm.