McCallum's 23 points, 17 boards lead women to victory over Baylor Bears

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by Alex Chapman

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Women's basketball fans who came out to watch the Owls on Wednesday had the chance to watch three teams in one game, as the Owls had a split personality.

The Rice defensive team showed up in the first half, and the offensive team showed up in the second half. Both were successful as the Owls defeated the Baylor University Bears 76-57 and likely claimed a fifth seed in the final Southwest Conference tournament.

Their 13 victories (against 12 losses) this season betters last season's victory total with at least two games left to be played.

It was blue-collar warfare in the first half. No fancy trick plays, no easy baskets, just two teams pushing the ball down the court and giving it to their inside players.

In the first half, Rice relied on the one-two punch of senior Tammy McCallum and freshman Jennifer Hamilton. They combined to outscore Baylor 20-19 and provided 11 of the Owls' 27 rebounds.

The guard trio of senior Kim LaLonde, sophomore Gina Cafagna and junior Jessica Garcia provided little support, however, as they shot a combined zero for nine in the first 20 minutes.

"I think we [the guards] needed to be a little more patient," Cafagna said.

The Owls ended the half up at 27-19. The 19 points were the fewest allowed by Rice in the first half this season.

"The offense started a little slow, but we played hard and played good defense throughout," Head Coach Cristy McKinney said.

Leading the half's defensive effort were Hamilton with two steals and junior Debi Williams with three blocks.

The second half was an entirely different ballgame. The Baylor press, which was effective in the first half, was dismantled by aggresive passing in the second half. This led to a number of easy shots for the Owls, many of which they turned into three-point plays.

The Owls outscored the Bears 49-38 in the second half, two points shy of their season high for a half.

They also dramatically improved their turnover margin, as they committed only six in the second half while forcing 11 by Baylor.

Garcia, who made no real contributions in her first-half minutes, exploded in the second by hitting four of five shots from the floor and five of five from the free throw line to score all of her 13 points.

McKinney was pleased with the team's improvement in the second half.

"Maybe it was confidence," she said. "We just executed better."

The execution was not purely shooting, as the Owls only shot 38 percent from the field in the second half and did not make a three-point shot in the entire game.

The Owls had their best game from the line this year, making 28 of 32 shots (87.5 percent) from the charity stripe. McCallum was perfect, converting all 11 of her opportunities.

McCallum was the one offensive constant throughout the game, as she finished with 23 points and 17 rebounds.

Hamilton could only add one basket in the second half, finishing with 11 points and eight rebounds.

Garcia's 13 second-half points were supported by senior Stephanie Mundschau, who scored seven of her 11 in the second half.

Kim LaLonde was primarily responsible for breaking down the press. She dished out six assists but could only manage to make two of her 10 shots.

Carrying the load for Baylor was guard LaToya Ellis, whose long-distance shooting (including five of 10 from behind the arc) accounted for 26 points. Forward Tonia Harris added 10, mostly in the transition game.

Against Texas Christian University last week, the Owls won 79-64 in a sound victory, albeit not as convincing as the 93-42 victory at home earlier in the year.

Five players contributed double- figure scoring performances, and Cafagna had career bests of 12 rebounds and eight assists.

The Owls will close out the regular season tomorrow at 2 p.m. against the number-nine team in the country, Texas Tech University. It will be the team's final regular-season SWC game.

Before the game, Rice's four graduating seniors (LaLonde, Tonya Green, Mund-schau and McCallum) will be honored.

The team has been preparing for the game.

"We're going to practice very hard for two days to get ready," McKinney said.

Cafagna said, "The key is defensive intensity. We only forced eight turnovers by Texas Tech, which is their season low."

After the Texas Tech game is the final SWC tournament. The Owls will likely hold the fifth seed and play either the University of Houston or Texas A&M University, depending on the remainder of the year's games.

The Owls have defeated both teams at Autry Court and lost to both on the road.

Rice has never won a game among the final eight teams in the conference tournament.

Their lone post season victory came in 1982 when the Owls defeated TCU in a play-in game to participate in the final eight.

"We want to win the tournament. But we want to be the first team to win a final-eight game, and we'll go on from there." McKinney said.

"The team is confident because we're winning. We're ready for Texas Tech and the tournament."

This item appeared in the Sports section of the March 1, 1996 issue.

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