Dec. 9, 2006
Box Score
Houston, TX--Idaho State stayed close early but couldn't keep up with a talented Rice team, falling 88-69 in the championship game of the Gene Hackerman Invitational Saturday night at Autry Court.
"This is why Rice is picked to win Conference USA," said ISU head coach Jon Newlee. "They are a big, physical team. Their perimeter players are tall and athletic, and their post players are two of the best in the nation. We'll learn from this game and take it with us. We wanted at least a split at this tournament and that's what we're coming home with."
The loss drops the Bengals to 1-7 on the season, while Rice improves to 7-3.
The Bengals stayed close to Rice early, trailing by just two points, 25-23, with 9:07 to play in the first half. The Owls then used a 9-0 run to push the lead to 11 points. Rice boosted its lead to 14 points with 40 seconds to play in the first half but a Jenna Brown shot from three and a Natalie Doma field goal at the buzzer cut the Rice lead to just nine points, 45-36 at halftime.
Both Doma and Grohs fouled out in the second half and Rice took advantage of the mismatch on the post, extending its lead to secure the victory.
After connecting on a season-high 13 three-point field goals the previous night in a win over Kent State, ISU was only able to connect on 5-of-18 shots from beyond the arc against Rice.
"That's life on the road," Newlee said. "We had some good looks and they just didn't fall for us tonight. We did make progress tonight though. We expected full court pressure from them tonight and that's what they did the entire game. You can't simulate that type of pressure in practice. It was effective, but we made some adjustments and played a lot better against it in the second half."
Doma led all scores with 21 points with 10 rebounds for her fourth double-double of the season. The junior center hit 9-of-15 shots from the field and was 3-of-5 from the charity stripe in 33 minutes of play.
Michelle Grohs and Andrea Lightfoot also reached double figures with 14 points each. Grohs hit 6-of-8 shots, while Lightfoot connected on 4-of-14. Boesel scored nine points with six rebounds, and Brown had eight. The game marked the first appearance of the season for Brown, who had been sidelined since February 7 after sustaining a torn ligament in her knee. Brown was a perfect 2-of-2 from beyond the arc in the game.
"It was nice to see Jenna back on the floor," Newlee said. "She came in and did a great job. She was nervous but she looked good and gave us a spark off the bench. She will continue to see time."
Boesel and Doma were named to the Gene Hackerman All-Tournament team for their efforts over the two games.
Idaho State now returns to Pocatello to host Montana Tech on Dec. 16 and Montana-Western on Dec. 20 before the holiday break. ISU's game against Montana Tech on Dec. 16 is slated to tip-off at 1:05 p.m.
