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The Rice Thresher
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Win over conference leader TCU would be just the boost Rice needs by Jason Gershman thresher editorial staff
The Lady Owls are looking to get revenge against the Horned Frogs, who stifled Rice's offense in a 58-35 win over Rice at Autry Court last month. If the Lady Owls are successful, they would hand TCU their first conference loss of the season after eight consecutive victories against WAC opponents. "I think the whole team wants revenge on them," senior Kenya Tuttle said. "We got blown out by TCU last time and they've been playing good all year. We have to go out there and show them that we are as good if not better than they are. We have to go out there and win." In their meeting last month, the Lady Owls held TCU to just 58 points, their second-lowest total in a game all season. They shut down TCU's long-range attack which leads the WAC with 7.58 three-pointers per game to just 2-of-14 shooting from behind the arc. Too bad Rice's offense was nonexistent. The Lady Owls had five more turnovers (18) than they did made baskets (13). TCU held the Lady Owls to 24 percent shooting from the floor and 35 points for the game, the lowest point total scored by Rice since joining the NCAA in 1982. The Lady Owls feel that they caln pull off the upset victory if they can get their shots to fall. "Defensively we did a great job against TCU last time," head coach Cristy McKinney said. "At this time in the season, we're not going to make major changes. We've just got to score. Offensively, we're struggling so much for confidence. We've got to get over that." Rice's defense has been gererally strong throughout WAC play, but the offense has struggled. The Lady Owls have held their opponents to under 60 points in four conference games - but Rice has failed to hit the 60-point mark in three conference games and has endured several scoring droughts. Although their defense has kept them competitive in nearly every game, the Lady Owls know they must forge some consistency on offense if they hope to begin and sustain a winning streak. "Our offense has been struggling all season long," Tuttle said. "We play great defense when we keep our intensity up. Our defense has kept us in the game when we were struggling offensively. We've just got to start shooting the ball better." With less than four weeks until the WAC tournament, the Lady Owls hope to position themselves better in the WAC race and be playing better basketball before the tournament begins. At 4-5 in the WAC, the Lady Owls are tied for fifth with Fresno State. At the front of the pack, the 7-0 Horned Frogs are closely followed by the University of Hawaii (7-2), SMU (7-3) and the University of Nevada (5-4). "Like I said all along, we feel like there are 5 teams that can win the WAC conference tournament and we're one of them," McKinney said. "The teams are TCU, SMU, Hawaii, Nevada, and us."
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