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The Rice Thresher
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by Jason Gershman thresher editorial staff The women's basketball team played 74 minutes of quality basketball last weekend on a trip to San Jose State University and the University of Hawaii, but a collapse in the final six minutes of the Hawaii game prevented Rice from a weekend sweep. In the Owls' 77-67 win over San Jose State Friday, junior forward Aarika Florus and freshman guard Lindsey Maynard had career-highs in scoring 17 and 16 points, respectively. Defensively, the Lady Owls held the Spartans to just 34 percent shooting from the field. The Spartans' two leading scorers, Atari Parker and Danada Smith, shot a combined 12-of-42 from the field. "San Jose is a totally different team than they were a year ago," head coach Cristy McKinney said. "They have two great offensive players. Lindsey, along with Starla [James] and Kim [Lawson], did a great job defending their two leading scorers. Aarika and Lindsey had great offensive efforts." Florus recorded her eighth double-figure scoring performance this season, her fourth in the last seven games. Prior to this season, Florus had never scored more than seven points in a game. "We knew last year when we lost Kirra Jordan and Kim Smallwood that we needed a post player to step up and give us quality minutes, and Aarika has done just that," McKinney said. "Aarika will never be a flashy player, but she's become a very solid player for us." While overshadowed at the start of the season by fellow freshman guard Kate Beckler, Maynard has played a key role in the Lady Owls' victories this season. The Lady Owls have won all four games in which Maynard has scored at least 12 points. "I feel like I've improved a lot since November," Maynard said. "Division I basketball has been what I expected it to be. Each game I play, I meet taller, faster and stronger people, and it challenges me to step up a level to meet the competition." The Lady Owls finished the trip with a 70-53 loss at Hawaii Sunday. The game was closer than the final score, as the Lady Owls swapped the lead with the Rainbow Wahine throughout the early part of the second half, and Hawaii led by only six points with six minutes remaining. The Lady Owls were hurt by 25 fouls called against them compared to just nine called against Hawaii. The only Lady Owl with double digits in the game was senior forward Kenya Tuttle, who scored 10 points and grabbed six rebounds. "Fatigue wasn't a factor at the end of the game," Tuttle said. "We were just getting some tough calls and we also did not play defense well. We gave up too many easy buckets at the end and did not score much the rest of the game. A close game became out of hand in the last minutes."
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