Houston Roundball Review Archive: January 2007 - Coogs Edge Lady Owls in Overtime 91 to 86

Tuesday, January 2, 2007

With two teams depleted by injuries and / or suspensions, I did not expect Tuesday night's women's basketball game between the Houston Lady Cougars and the Rice Owls to be well played one bit.

Thankfully, I was wrong. Houston edged Rice 91 to 86 in overtime. Tye Jackson led Houston (4-8, 1-1) with 30 points; but, she received scoring help from two unlikely sources: freshman post player Ashlee' Joseph scored a career-high 20 points and junior college transfer Whitney James scored a career-high 17 points.

Maya Onikute, juco point guard, added 14 points including timely free throws in the extra session.

Without star post player Lauren Neaves (listed day-to-day with an undetermined injury), Rice (7-7, 0-1) was led by a career-high 31 points from junior post Valeriya Berezhynska (including 3 for 6 from three-point range).

Senior guard Krystal Frazier added 22 points while junior point guard Kadie Riverin chipped in with 17 points and six assists.

Rice led 13 to 7 at the first official timeout due to Houston's 33.3% (3 for 9) field goal shooting.

Berezhynska scored seven points during the run.

Houston forced Rice to commit turnovers and capitalized on the mistakes and went on a 16 to 7 run to take a 23 to 20 lead with 7:54 left in the first half.

Houston extended its lead to seven (31 to 24) with 5:30 remaining in the first half; however, the Owls closed the half with a 17 to 4 run to lead 41 to 35 at halftime.

The Lady Cougars began the second half with a 13 to 7 run to tie the game at 48.

Ashlee' Joseph scored eight points during the run. The game was tied twice more at 50 and 53 before Onikute gave Houston a two point lead with a lay-up.

Rice went cold on offense and Joseph and Onikute scored again to give Houston a 59 to 53 lead with 10:51 left in the second half.

Houston increased its lead to nine (69 to 60) with just 6:02 left; however, the Owls took advantage of Houston's missed shots and turnovers and scored 10 consecutive points during the next three minutes to lead 70 to 69 with 3:02 remaining.

Joseph knocked down a jump shot to put Houston ahead; but, Berezhynska quickyl answered with a three-point shot just 10 seconds later.

Whitney James tied the game at 73 with an offensive putback; but, once again, Berezhynska made another three-point shot to give Rice a 76 to 73 lead with just 1:28 left in the second half.

Houston failed to score on their next possession; however, Rice senior Samantha Stovall missed a short jump shot in the paint with 33 seconds left which Houston rebounded and converted into a baseline jump shot by Onikute pull Houston within one point, 76 to 75.

After a UH timeout, full court pressure caused Stovall to commit a turnover with 10 seconds remaining.

Jackson drew a foul on Rice junior forward Tiffany Loggins; however, Jackson missed the first free throw and made the second attempt to knot the game at 76 with five seconds remaining in regulation.

Rice, head coach Greg Williams, called two thirty-second times-out to set up a final play.

Frazier raced up the court and passed to an open Berezhynska but her three point shot attempt fell just short which sent the game into overtime.

Houston's Sunshine Misa-Uli scored the first two points in overtime; and, Whitney James scored on a three-point play to give the Coogs an 81 to 76 lead 51 seconds into the extra session.

Rice narrowed the lead to two; but, Tye Jackson scored four straight points to make the score Houston 85, Rice 79 at the 2:38 mark of overtime.

Berezhynska kept Rice in the game with four points; but, Joseph and Onikute gave Houston a lead of five points (88 to 83) with just 44 seconds remaining in the ball game.

Riverin made a three-point shot to keep the game close; but, her field goal was the Owls' last made basket of the game.

Onikute made two free throws and Jackson finished the scoring by splitting two free throws with eight seconds remaining.

Houston's next opponent is Tulane (12-2) in New Orleans, LA, on Friday, while the Owls continue their road trip with a game in El Paso versus UTEP (12-1).

After the game, I spoke with Owls' head coach Greg Williams. He described his team as "a struggling basketball team right now..."

I also spoke with Krystal Frazier, Val Berezhynska, and Kadie Riverin. The three of them are all included in these comments: "...tough loss for us..."

Frazier also commented to me conference play is "...our time to be good..."

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