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The Owls had several chances to win the game, and the loss left the team eager for revenge.

The Owls had their chance Saturday when the team visited Salt Lake City for a rematch.

Perhaps fueled by the previous game's frustration, the team opened the game fired up. They held the Utes -- who averaged over 70 points a game -- to just 19 first-half points. However, the Owls also had trouble on the offensive end. They ended the first half up by only four points.

Utah recovered to score 49 points in the second half and defeat the Owls 68-57. The Utes were the only WAC team to defeat the Owls twice this year. Sophomore center Jennifer Hamilton led the Owls with 13 points. Freshman guard Marla Brumfield and freshman forward Kirra Jordan each chipped in 10 points.

Sophomore forward Angelica Smith was the team's top rebounder with eight, including six on the offensive end. Utah center Sara Works was the game's high-scorer with 15 points.

The win gave Utah (21-4, 14-1) the Western Athletic Conference Mountain Division championship.

Head Coach Cristy McKinney was disappointed with the teams performance, but gave credit to the Utes.

"We hoped to play better at Utah, but we kind of had a bad game. Utah is a good team and we didn't play very well. We have trouble winning when that happens," McKinney said.

Last Thursday the Owls traveled to Provo, Utah, to finish up their season series with the Brigham Young University Cougars. The Cougars had defeated the Owls 76-68 at Autry Court late last month.

Led by Brumfield's 25 points and senior Jessica Garcia's 21 points, the Owls avenged the loss with a 92-81 win.

Brumfield also led the team with seven rebounds and five steals. Sophomore guard Charonda Wilson had one of her best games of the season. She scored 14 points, dished out seven assists and had five steals.

It was the team's second-highest scoring total of the season behind the 108 they scored against Texas Southern University. The Cougars' 81 points were the most scored by a Rice opponent during the 1996-97 campaign. Despite the loss to Utah, the Owls (16-9, 11-4) have locked up second place in the Mountain Division. That gives the team a first-round bye in the WAC tournament next month.

McKinney said that earning a first-round bye is important.

"You are looking at having to play four games in six days as opposed to three in four days," she said. "Not having the bye makes it harder to win the whole tournament."

Before the beginning of the WAC tournament, the team will make its longest road trip of the season when they travel to California to face the Fresno State University Bulldogs.

"We feel like we have a chance to finish strong at Fresno State and go into the tournament on a positive note and maybe do some things," McKinney said.

This item appeared in the Sports section of the February 28, 1997 issue.