HOUSTON, TEXAS (November 19, 2008) Morgan Mayse canned a 25-foot three-point basket as time expired to propel the Rice women’s basketball team past Prairie View A&M 47-45 Wednesday evening at Tudor Fieldhouse on the Rice campus.
After Rice (2-0) used its final timeout with 3.3 seconds left, Maudess Fulton fought through three defenders and found Mayse on the right wing. She leaned forward and launched the final shot that provided the game winner.
“I wasn’t really sure what was going to happen, but I knew we needed to get a shot off,” Mayse said. “Thanks to Maude (Fulton); she got me a pass and it went in.”
Mayse scored eight of her team-best 14 points in the second half to go along with nine rebounds. D’Frantz Smart added seven points and four assists, while Candace Ashford chipped in six points and six rebounds off the bench.
Rice (2-0) expanded on a 26-20 halftime lead and reeled off seven straight points to start the second half.
The Owls then missed on 13 of their next 14 shots as Prairie View drew closer.
The Panthers (1-2) took a 39-38 advantage on a Shondria Combs jumper with 5:34 left. Smart fired back with a pair of lay-ups, one in transition and one off a steal, to make it 42-39 at the 4:09 mark.
Prairie View responded with a pair of free throws from Chari Smith and a jumper by Candice Thomas to retake a 45-42 edge with 2:16 to go. Thomas paced the Panthers with 16 points, while Smith tallied 11 points and 10 rebounds.
Ashford buried two pressure free throws on the next possession to draw the Owls back to 45-44. Tara Watts missed a three-ball with 21 seconds, which forced Rice to foul Smith. She missed the two free throws to give the Owls a chance to win on the final possession.
“They had a good defensive game plan in the second half, and we obviously struggled with what they were doing,” head coach Greg Williams said “It seemed like we were on 33 (points) forever.”
After a back-and-forth affair in the opening minutes, Rice built a 26-20 edge heading in the locker room. The Owls scored nine of the last 13 points over the last 4:49, including five off the bench from Megan Elliott.
Rice faces off against No. 9 Baylor on Sunday at 2pm. KTRU 91.7 FM and Rice owls.com will have all of the action live from Tudor Fieldhouse with the pregame beginning at 1:45pm. Rice Owls.com also will provide live stats for free via GameTracker.
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