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The Rice Thresher
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by JASON GERSHMAN THRESHER STAFF
The Lady Owls will make their NCAA Tournament debut tomorrow night when they take on the University of California at Santa Barbara at the Thunderdome, the Gauchos' home floor. The first-round game will be televised live on ESPN, with tip-off set for 11:07 p.m. Rice swept through last week's Western Athletic Conference Tournament in Fresno to improve to 5-0 in California. The Lady Owls' first conference championship earned them the WAC's automatic bid to the Big Dance. While it would seem easy for the team to get caught up in the excitement and historical significance of the school's first trip to the NCAA Tournament, the Lady Owls won't be content with just being there. "Nobody out there knows us but I know that anything can happen in the NCAA tournament," head coach Cristy McKinney said. "I've been there before at Western Kentucky and I know that anything can happen. We cannot be satisfied with just making it. We're going to try and get a win or two out there." It certainly won't be easy. The Lady Owls, who finished the regular season at 21-9, received the 13th seed in the West Region and are pitted against the hottest team in the country in UC-Santa Barbara. The Gauchos, seeded fourth in the region and ranked ninth in the country, began the year at 4-3 but have since won 26 straight games. Throw in the fact that UC-Santa Barbara will be hosting first- and second-round games on its home floor, and it's easy to see why Rice is a significant underdog. But the Lady Owls are looking forward to the challenge. "I'm excited about playing them because their streak will have to end sometime," senior guard Jenny Cafferty said. "Few teams make it through the year with that long a winning streak. ... It doesn't matter who we play, we just need to play our game. If we do what we do best and rebound and play good defense, we'll be right there with any team we play." In fact, Rice actually believes that being the underdog could work in its favor. "Nobody expects us to beat Santa Barbara," freshman point guard Kim Lawson said. "That gives us a chance to be loose and calm because we have nothing to lose. We can play our game and have a chance to surprise everyone with a win." Southern Methodist University was the only other WAC team to make the field after receiving an at-large bid and the 12th seed in the Midwest Region. The Lady Owls beat the Mustangs two out of three times this season, including a 71-67 win in the WAC Tournament final, leading some to question why SMU received a better seed. But the Mustangs were ranked 52nd in the influential Ratings Percentage Index, while the Lady Owls were ranked just 74th. In addition, the Mustangs are making their sixth trip to the tournament in seven years, meaning they are both better known and more experienced than Rice. Either way, the Lady Owls did not feel too slighted by the seeding. "The fact that we beat SMU two times in the past two weeks should mean we get a better seed than them," McKinney said. "But, overall, I feel like it's not a bad draw for us. UCSB is a very good team, but there's no question in my mind we can cause them trouble, even on their home court." Should Rice make it past the Gauchos, its second-round game would take place on Monday night and would be nationally televised by ESPN at 11 p.m. The Lady Owls would face either the University of North Carolina, the region's fifth-seed, or the University of Maine, a 12th-seed and a team that defeated Rice 70-51 Jan. 11. Though they do not have the luxury of looking ahead to the second round, the Lady Owls are looking forward to the possibility of facing the Black Bears once again. "We're excited about facing [them] again because we were not playing up to our potential when we faced them before," senior guard Marla Brumfield said. "It takes teams like us some time to get it together." Making the NCAA tournament was what McKinney had in mind four years ago when she touted this senior class - made up of Cafferty, Brumfield, forward Kirra Jordan and guard Sara Ludwig - as the best group of recruits in school history. Ludwig was forced to retire due to leg injuries a year ago and was replaced by forward Kim Smallwood, a transfer from the University of Tennessee. After back-to-back trips to the Women's National Invitational Tournament in 1998 and '99, expectations were very high coming into the group's final year. The Lady Owls struggled to an 8-6 start, but they came around when it counted, winning nine of their final 10 games and the WAC's postseason tournament. "It's a great feeling to finally make the NCAA tournament," Cafferty said. "We were a little scared we would never reach this goal. If we hadn't reached this goal, it would have definitely been a letdown to the senior class and the coaching staff. It makes all of those bad days when you didn't think you'd make it through practice worth it." - back to news - - back to sports -
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