Owls Play at UTSA on Saturday

HOUSTON, TEXAS (January 2, 2009) The Rice women's basketball team (4-7) plays its fifth-straight game on the road when it plays at UTSA (5-6) on Saturday, Jan. 3 at 2 p.m. in the Convocation Center.

Rice freshman D'Frantz Smart leads Rice in scoring (14.6 ppg), assists (58) and steals (30). Sophomore forward Morgan Mayse and senior guard Maudess Fulton average 10.8 and 9.7 ppg respectively.

Previous Game
In the championship game of the Ole Miss Holiday Classic, Mississippi defeated the Rice Owls 81-48 at Tad Smith Coliseum. Rice is now 4-7 on the year, while the Rebels improve to 10-4.

Rice committed 10 turnovers in the first 8 minutes and 18 seconds that allowed Ole Miss to take a commanding 30-10 lead. The Rebels trapping defense allowed them to take a 42-25 half-time lead. Ole Miss senior Shawn Goff scored 17 of her game-high 19 points in the first-half.

For the game, D'Frantz Smart led Rice in scoring with 13 points, while Maudess Fulton scored 11 points as Rice shot just 27 percent and committed 26 turnovers for the game.

Besides Goff, three other Rebel starters were in double-digits in scoring. Alliesha Easley scored 14, Bianca Thomas 13, and Shantell Black tallied 11 points. The Rebels shot 40 percent from the field and had 19 steals.

Fox Force Five
The Rice Owls have started the same lineup in each of the first 11 games this season. D'Frantz Smart (g), Maudess Fulton (g), Tara Watts (g), Morgan Mayse (c), and Emery Carter (f) have started all11 games five for Greg Williams' Owls.

Get Smart
D'Frantz Smart scored a team season-high 26 points vs. UT-Arlington and she also notched 20 points vs. UCLA. Smart also dished out a Rice season-high 9 assists vs. UTA and she had 7 at Lafayette.

On-Campus Wins
In the Greg Williams era, Rice has racked up a 25-9 home record when playing on-campus. The Hanzen College product strung together back-to-back 11-3 marks in 2005-06 and 2006-07. Rice returned on-campus for the first time in 20 months and recorded a 76-55 win over Cal State Northridge (Nov. 14) to open Tudor Fieldhouse.

Streak Snapped
Prior to the Baylor contest (Nov. 23), Rice had won seven consecutive non-conference home games dating back to the 2006-07 season. The Owls won all three of its non-conference games a year ago against Arkansas-Little Rock (49-39), TCU (82-74) and Rider (66-65).

Rice has shot 70 percent or better at the free throw in 11 of its last 14 games dating back to last season, including an 18-for-23 effort against UCLA (Dec. 17). The Owls have outrebounded its opponents in 10 of its last 15 games dating back to last season. In its first seven games this season, Rice has secured a steady 43.0 board per game.

Scoring over 70
Rice has put together an impressive 29-7 mark in the Greg Williams era when scoring over 70 points. The Owls surpassed the 70-point plateau five times last season, including wins over Cal State Northridge (Nov. 16), TCU (Dec. 6) and Tulane (Feb. 14).

Rice tallied 76 points in its season opener against Cal State Northridge. The Owls scored 72 in the loss against UT-Arlington and also scored 76 in the overtime loss at Lafayette.

Keeping Them Under 60
Over the last three seasons under head coach Greg Williams, Rice has notched a 35-5 record when holding its opponents to under 60 points. The Owls were 8-1 last season after winning 13 of their 14 decisions in 2006-07. Rice has started 2008-09 strong on the defensive end as the Owls sport C-USA third-best defense limiting opponents to 60.2 points per game and 38.8 shooting (112-of-289) from the floor.

Year Three in Conference USA
Since Rice joined Conference USA for the 2005-06 season, the Owls are the only program in the league to record multiple postseason bids under the current realignment. Rice's 54-51 overall record is sixth in terms of win-percentage, but the team's number of victories is fourth.

Racking Up the Minutes
Maudess Fulton and Tara Watts both averaged over 30 minutes per game last season. The duo was inside Conference USA's Top 20 in minutes played per game. Watts has played in at least 30 minutes in 20 of her last 24 games dating back to last season.

Rice did not have a player record 30 or more minutes in its 76-55 victory over Cal State Northridge (Nov. 14). All 12 active players saw action and grabbed a rebound while 11 Owls also scored a point.

Carter Country
Emery Carter is building on momentum gained towards the end of last season after sitting out the last 19 games of 2006-07 and first eight games of 2007-08. She starts the 2008-09 campaign without a knee brace. The Arkansas native scored a season-high 12 points vs. UT-Martin. Carter also hauled in a team-best nine rebounds against the Matadors.

Fulton Scores Season-High
Maudess Fulton scored a season-high 20 points in the Owls' win over Tenn.-Martin at the Ole Miss Holiday Classic. She also tallied 11 vs. Ole Miss in being named to the all-tournament team. Fulton has now scored in double-digits five times this season. She scored a career-best 27 points on 11-of-21 shooting at UCLA last year.

Watts Happening
Tara Watts has been in double-digit scoring three times this season. She poured in a season-high 20 points at Lafayette, while also scoring 13 vs. CS-Northridge and 10 at Hofstra. Watts is fourth on the team in scoring at 6.8 ppg and second with 14 three-pointers made.

From Frosh to Soph
Rice had to rely on its freshmen class last season. The class accounted for 26.6 percent (1717-of-6450) of the minutes played. Three of the four members are back for the 2008-09 season.

Morgan Mayse stepped into the starting lineup during conference play to post 11.0 points per game, fourth among C-USA freshmen. She also grabbed 6.3 rebounds per game and buried 44.4 percent (52-of-117) of her two-point attempts.

Mayse headlines the Owls and is tenth in C-USA averaging 12.6 points per game. She has racked up 17 points in the second half of games, including the game winner on a 25-foot three-pointer as time expired against Prairie View A&M (Nov. 19). The Athens native also hauled in nine rebounds against the Panthers.

Melissa Wittmayer was a defensive presence for the Owls and totaled 17 blocks, including a rejection in 12 of her first 16 appearances. Wittmayer totaled three blocks to go along with four rebounds against Cal State Northridge (Nov. 14).

Memri Carmon saw time at the back-up point guard position after Shyrelle Horne missed the last 13 games of the season. Carmon tallied a career-best eight points on 2-of-4 shooting in 11 minutes against Cal State Northridge (Nov. 14).

Easy as A-B-C-D
This year's edition of Rice freshmen class is as easy to remember as A-B-C-D. Amenemope McKinney tallied a balanced 9.2 points, 4.1 rebounds, 4.0 rebounds and 2.8 steals per game during her senior season at Bowie High School in Arlington. McKinney scored a career-high 12 points at Hofstra.

Much heralded as the Texas 4-A Player of the Year, Brianna Hypolite eclipsed over 2,100 points, 1,500 rebounds, 300 assists and 300 steals over her career at Dickinson High School. Hypolite scored a career-high 17 vs. Furman (Nov. 25).

Candace Ashford is Rice's newest edition to the post notching 9.3 points, 7.2 rebounds and 1.5 blocks at Plano West High School. Ashford tallied six points and six rebounds over 26 minutes against Prairie View A&M (Nov. 19). She also knocked down a pair of critical free throws with the Owls down by 3 with 1:52 remaining.

D'Frantz Smart was runner-up Miss Illinois basketball after helping Chicago's Whitney Young High School to the state championship. She averaged 13.0 points, 4.0 assists and 2.0 steals per game.