Houston Roundball Review Archive: January 2007 Women's Hoops MP3s

Wednesday, January 31, 2007
Swoopes: "I've always wanted to finish my career here..."

Following today's press conference announcing the sale of the Houston Comets to business owner Hilton Koch, I spoke (briefly) with Comets, WNBA, and women's basketball superstar Sheryl Swoopes.

Unlike most of the questions she was asked during the press conference, I asked Swoopes basketball questions such as her free agency and what she believes the Comets need in terms of personnel to help win a fifth WNBA title.

Take a listen -- Sheryl Swoopes: "...finish my career here..."

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Saturday, January 27, 2007
Rice Dominates Tulsa 83 to 65

Well, so much for the head-to-head matchup between two of the top underrated players in women's college basketball.

The matchup of Tulsa's Jillian Robbins versus Rice's Lauren Neaves did not live up to any of the hype of two potential WNBA players.

Rice (12-9, 5-3) led by as much as 29 points in today's game and defeated the Golden Hurricane (7-13, 2-6) 83 to 65.

Robbins played just nine minutes in the first half due to picking up three fouls.

Robbins only scored two points (1 for 3 shooting) in the opening twenty minutes.

She finished the game with just eight points; and five of those points came in the last two minutes of the game.

Rice led 30 to 12 with 7:08 left in the first half; however, the Owls' offense bogged down; and, Rice did not score again until a three-point basket by junior forward Tiffany Loggins with just 19 seconds left in the first half.

However, Tulsa only scored nine points during the same timespan.

Rice led 33 to 24 at halftime.

The Owls made seven of their first eight shots and began the second half with a 24 to 4 run during the first six minutes and 21 seconds to lead Tulsa 57 to 28.

Rice shot 76% (19 for 25) from the field in the second half.

Four Owls scored in double figures and two more players scored nine points each.

Junior point guard Kadie Riverin scored a season-high 19 points; dished out a game-high six assists and picked up a career-high five steals.

Neaves notched her 45th career double-double with 14 points and 13 rebounds.

Samantha Stovall scored a career-high 15 points; blocked three shots; and grabbed three rebounds. Stovall's defense on Jillian Robbins was sensational!

Senior guard Krystal Frazier played a superb all-around game with 15 points; five rebounds; and four assists.

Tulsa's Tandem Mays topped all scorers with 20 points, and forward Chivis Williams notched a double-double with 15 points and 15 boards.

Rice continues their five-game homestand when it hosts conference-leading UTEP Thursday at 7 pm.

Owls head coach Greg Williams: "...great balance in our scoring..."

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Thursday, January 25, 2007
Lady Coogs Dominate Tulsa 70 to 54

The Houston Lady Cougars played one of their most complete ball games Thursday night at Hofheinz Pavilion.

Houston (6-11, 3-4) defeated the Tulsa Golden Hurricane (7-12, 2-5) 70 to 54 before 522 of their closest friends.

Houston was led by junior guard Tye Jackson's 24 points, 12 rebounds, 6 assists, and 3 steals.

Junior post player Sunshine Misa-Uli dominated the paint and scored 14 points while Whitney James added eight points and 12 rebounds.

Jackson scored the first basket of the game when she banked in a three-point shot. Houston never trailed after that basket. (Later in the game, Jackson banked in a second three-pointer as if to tell everyone the first one wasn't luck.)

Despite scoring just five first half points, Tulsa senior forward Jillian Robbins finished the game with 25 points and a game-high 15 rebounds.

The second half moved slowly as the teams combined for 24 fouls.

Houston led 35 to 18 at halftime and, despite some sloppy play, cruised through the second half to the victory.

Houston shot 46.6% (27 for 58) from the field for the game and limited Tulsa to just 30.5% (18 for 59, including an awful 2 for 15 from three).

The Cougars continue a four-game homestand on Saturday, facing off with SMU at 2 p.m. CST in Hofheinz Pavilion.

UH head coach Joe Curl: "...bring that kind of effort..."

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Thursday, January 25, 2007
HRR Interview w/ Lynx Assistant Coach Carolyn Jenkins

While only 522 fans attended tonight's game between the Houston Lady Cougars and the Tulsa Golden Hurricane, one person who saw the game in person was Carolyn Jenkins.

Carolyn is an assistant coach for the Minnesota Lynx of the WNBA.

Coach Jenkins was kind of enough to speak with me at halftime of the ball game.

She's a great interview.

Take a listen -- Carolyn Jenkins: "...finding a specialty..."

By the way, Tulsa's senior forward Jillian Robbins scored 25 points and pulled down 15 rebounds; however, her team lost to Houston 70 to 54.

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Sunday, January 21, 2007
Rice beats Houston 70 to 56

This won't be my usual work because I feel awful; so, please forgive me.

The Rice Owls (10-9, 3-3) defeated the Houston Lady Cougars (5-11, 2-4) 70 to 56 at Autry Court before a raucous and very enthusiastic crowd of 1,619 fans.

Lauren Neaves led the Owls with 23 points and 19 rebounds. (Why Neaves doesn't receive more recognition for national honors and awards baffles me...)

Kadie Riverin added 16 points, six rebounds, and five assists.

Houston was led by 16 points from junior Tye Jackson and 14 points from Sunshine Misa-Uli.

The game was very physical and competitve; however, Rice's eight players proved too much for Houston's seven players. (Yes, that's right the two teams combined had just fifteen players suit up for Sunday's game.)

The Owls led 37 to 27; however, the lead should have been larger; but, Rice shot a woeful 6 for 19 (31.6%) from the foul line.

The Owls finished the game 13 for 31 (41.9%) from the charity stripe.

Listen to Owls' Head Coach Greg Williams' post-game comments to the media.

Both teams play this Thursday: Houston hosts Tulsa while Rice hosts SMU. Both games tip-off at 7pm.

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Sunday, January 7, 2007
Texas - Purdue post-game press conferences

Big win (64 to 61) for the Texas Longhorns over no. 10 Purdue Sunday afternoon in Austin, TX.

Take a listen to the post-game comments:

Purdue (Coach Sharon Versyp, Lindsay Wisdom-Hilton, Katie Gearlds) -- press conference

Texas (Coach Jody Conradt, Erneisha Bailey, Tiffany Jackson) -- press conference

The huge negative for the Longhorns in the ball game occurred with 31 seconds left in the ball game when , UT sophomore guard Erika Arriaran suffered a knee injury.

The early assumption after the game didn't sound too promising for Erika; however, more will be known about the severity of her injury soon.

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Sunday, January 7, 2007
Dan Hughes: SASS head coach looks to 2007

At halftime of today's Texas - Purdue game, I sat down and spoke with Dan Hughes, the San Antonio Silver Stars head coach.

He talked about Monday's WNBA Dispersal Draft; the 2007 WNBA College Seniors Draft; and free agency.

Take a listen -- Dan Hughes: ""...quality starter..."

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Wednesday, January 3, 2007
Van Chancellor Resigns as Comets' Head Coach

Van Chancellor, Houston Comets head coach, officially announced his resignation this evening at a press conference.

Chancellor guided the Comets to the first four WNBA championships in the 10-year history of the WNBA.

He also guided Team USA to gold medals at the 14th FIBA World Championship for Women and the 2004 Olympic Games.

Almost all of the comments from the nineteen minute press conference are included in this blog.

Listen to the opening comments from Carroll Dawson and Van Chancellor.

Part 2 -- Van: "It's an emotional moment...""

Part 3 -- Carroll and Van: "...take a chance..."

Part 4 -- CD and Van: "...I thank you very, very much..."

I began covering the Comets in 2000; and Coach Chancellor included me within his "inner media circle" in 2001.

I truly appreciate everything he's accomplished as well as everything he's done for me.

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Wednesday, January 3, 2007
Tad Brown: "week to 10 days"

I'll post comments from Van Chancellor's resignation in a few minutes; however, I want to post these comments from Tad Brown, the Houston Rockets' Senior VP of Sales, Marketing, and Broadcasting, regarding the impending sale of the Houston Comets.

Take a listen -- "...a week to ten days..."

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Wednesday, January 3, 2007
Owls' Williams wants Change in Conference Scheduling

Rice Owls head coach Greg Williams re-iterated his displeasure for college teams (not just his team) playing three (perhaps even four) consecutive road games in conference.

After his team lost a thrilling 91 to 86 overtime game against Houston, Williams told the media a large number of consecutive conference road games is "...a huge disadvantage..."

Williams' Owls continue their three-game C-USA road trip this weekend at 12-1 UTEP (January 5) and 12-2 Tulane (January 7).

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Tuesday, January 2, 2007
Coogs Edge Lady Owls in Overtime 91 to 86

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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