After back-to-back Conference USA Championship game and Women's National Invitational Tournament appearances, head coach Greg Williams and the Rice women's basketball program looks to continue the success that the Hanszen College product has built at his alma mater during his first two seasons.
Rice has strung together 11 consecutive winning seasons, but the 2007-08 campaign will be a different challenge for Williams. The Owls have been tabbed the preseason conference favorite in its first two seasons in C-USA, but Rice finds itself sixth in this season's edition of the league's preseason poll.
"We're a team in transition with five freshmen and a couple of players coming off of injuries," Williams said. "Hopefully, when conference play rolls around, the freshmen aren't playing like freshmen anymore and our injured players will be healthy to go through the rigors of a very competitive C-USA schedule."
The Owls also will be without the friendly confines of Autry Court. Renovations are in full-swing and due to be completed in time for the 2008-09 season. In the meantime, Rice will play its "home" games at Sharp Gym on the Houston Baptist University campus.
"This season presents a very unique challenge to our program in a lot of different ways," Williams said. "The non-conference schedule is very unique in regards to having only three 'home' games when we would normally have six, seven or eight home contests. It's a difficult situation anytime you go on the road and play someone on their home court."
Below is a position-by-position look at the Owls.
POINT GUARD
The Canadian connection of Kadie Riverin and Tara Watts along with Shyrelle Horne is back to anchor the point guard position for the Owls. Both Riverin and Watts represented their homeland at the FIBA Championships last summer.
Riverin scored in double-figures 16 times and ranked 20th in C-USA, averaging 11.0 points per game last season. She also passed out 4.33 assists per game and her assist-turnover ratio was fifth-best in the conference. The Ottawa native recorded a team-best 50 steals and was called upon to play in a team-high 33.4 minutes per game.
"Kadie played overseas with her national team in between her freshman and sophomore seasons and it paid huge dividends in her development," Williams said. "We're hoping for the same results this season. She has gained a lot of confidence in her abilities and has all the tools to be one of the conference's top guards."
Watts was one of six players to see action in all 33 games last season. She tallied 3.7 points, 2.1 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game in 16.5 minutes of action. Her 5-9 frame allows her and Riverin to be on the floor at the same time.
"Tara really picked up her play during conference play," Williams said. "She has an extremely quick release and is our best three-point shooter. We're also hoping that her experience overseas during the summer is a springboard for a strong sophomore season."
Horne saw limited action last season. She possesses good speed and quickness to give the Rice offense a different look at the point guard position.
"Shyrelle continued to make improvements throughout the entire said," Williams said. "She came into fall workouts not only ready to play physically but mentally."
WING
Rice looks to fill the void left by standouts Krystal Frazier and Samantha Stovall on the wing. The duo combined for 17.8 points and 7.8 rebounds per game.
Maudess Fulton had a strong recovery from a knee injury that forced her to miss the entire 2005-06 season. The New Jersey native appeared in all 33 games and looks to step up her 5.8 points per game from last season.
"Maudess had an excellent spring and has parlayed that momentum into fall workouts," Williams said. "We're excited to see her play without a brace on her knee. She has a better understanding of what needs to be done of the court. She also can create her own shot and has become a complete player after picking up her defensive energy towards the end of last season."
The Owls welcome talented freshmen standouts Memri Carmon, Megan Elliott and Brittney Hudson to the fold.
Carmon, a 5-10 guard, was a four-time All-District selection at Hamshire-Fannett. Her mother, Barbara, played for Williams at the University of Houston.
"Memri has good size for a perimeter player and can play both inside and outside to create match-up problems," Williams said. "She can shoot the three, get to the rim and sees the floor very well. She is long and quick and can become an outstanding defender with the ability to guard all three perimeter positions."
Elliott, a 6-1 swing player, poured in 17.6 points and 8.3 rebounds on her way to earning Class AA All-State Honorable Mention honors from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
"Megan is a versatile offensive threat, who played both in the post and on the perimeter," Williams said. "We're impressed with her ability to get to the free throw line from the perimeter. We have had success in the past two seasons with a taller player at the small forward position (Samantha Stovall last season), and feel she can provide us similar flexibility at the 3-4 positions."
Hudson, a 5-7 guard, was one of the highest rated recruits in the state of Texas en route to multiple All-District selections. She led the greater Houston area with 23 points a game as a senior. The Sugar Land native also played AAU ball with the Houston Elite.
"We're happy to be able to keep Brittney home as we want to continue to recruit the Houston area first every year," Williams said. "We recruited her to play the shooting guard position, but she can also play the point with her outstanding ball handling and passing skills. She's explosive and has a scorer's mentality."
POST
Rice loses the services of two-time All-Conference USA First-Team selection Lauren Neaves, who posted a double-double in each of her last two seasons. Neaves was sixth in C-USA, scoring 15.5 points and second in the league, grabbing 10.9 rebounds per game.
Valeriya Berezhynska is ready to assume Rice's main post threat after tallying 12.2 points and 8.0 rebounds per game last season. She finished the season with four of six double-doubles in conference play and earned C-USA All-Tournament Team honors.
"Val has been playing in Lauren's shadow during the last two seasons," Williams said. "She's focused and fully capable of being one of the most dominant centers in the conference. She did a fabulous job of hitting the weights during the offseason and her conditioning has taken a quantum leap since her sophomore season. We'll need her to play 30 minutes a game and stay out of foul trouble."
Tiffany Loggins played in all 33 games and was usually one of the first players off the bench. She reached double-figures seven times last season and produced 5.0 points and 5.8 rebounds per game.
"Tiffany has an excellent work ethic," Williams said. "She's a key player for out team this season whether she starts or comes off the bench. She has a lot of experience and has improved her game during the offseason which should help her confidence heading into the season."
Emery Carter and Kara Lawrence look to return from season-ending knee injuries. Carter notched 5.7 points in 14 games, while Lawrence made five appearances off the bench.
"Emery is an important piece of the puzzle who continues to work her way back from the ACL injury," Williams said. "Her knee is stable and she's regaining confidence in her abilities. Our offense has a three-post element due to her athletic ability if she stays healthy. There's nothing structurally wrong with Kara's knee, but she still has pain after workouts. If all goes well, we're thinking that we'll have her back by December."
Morgan Mayse and Melissa Wittmayer are Rice's newest editions on the interior. Mayse came away with All-East Texas First-Team honors after scoring 19.8 points per game, while Wittmayer picked up District Defensive Player of the Year honors twice.
"There will be minutes for our freshman post players," Williams said. "They both bring different things to the table. Morgan is a versatile inside/outside player, as she can post-up as well as step out and shoot the three. Melissa gives us excellent size in the post and can block shots on the defensive end. We'll get to see how they respond to the more physical post play at the Division I level."
SCHEDULE
The 2007-08 schedule features seven games against teams that played in last season's postseason, including four NCAA Tournament squads.
After an exhibition contest against Houston Baptist (Nov. 1), the Owls spend four consecutive weekends on the road with trips to the Winthrop Classic (Nov. 9-11) along with games at Cal State Northridge (Nov. 16) and UCLA (Nov. 18).
Rice welcomes Arkansas-Little Rock (Nov. 20) to Sharp Gym for its home opener before returning to the road for the Coors Classic (Nov. 23-24) on the Colorado campus. The Owls open the tournament against former coach Cristy McKinney's Clemson squad.
"The Clemson game is very interesting especially for our players that were recruited by Coach McKinney," Williams said. "Coach McKinney started that tradition of scheduling tough out of conference games and it's something that I wanted to continue. We have been fortunate to go to the WNIT the last two seasons and a big factor to our program getting a bid was having a challenging non-conference schedule."
Rice concludes the non-conference slate with trips to Furman (Nov. 30), Wake Forest (Dec. 2), Prairie View A&M (Dec. 28) and Baylor (Dec. 30). Sandwiched in-between those four road games are home tilts with former Southwest Conference and WAC rival TCU (Dec. 6) and Rider (Dec. 20) before Rice heads into its third season of Conference USA play.
Five of the Owls first six C-USA games are played in the city of Houston, including the league-opener against defending regular season champion Tulane (Jan. 4). Rice also faces off against Bayou City rival Houston (Jan. 13) at Hofheinz Pavilion before seeing the Cougars (Jan. 26) for a second time 13 days later at Sharp Gym.
"In my opinion, there isn't any clear cut favorite in Conference USA heading into the season," Williams said. "There could be numerous teams that could win the conference, including our squad. That should make for an exciting conference season."
After games at UAB (Feb. 1) and Memphis (Feb. 3) along with home games with SMU (Feb. 7) and Tulsa (Feb. 9), Rice spends back-to-back weekends on the road before closing out the regular season against Marshall (Feb. 28) and reigning tournament champion East Carolina (March 1).
The 2008 Conference USA Championship will be held in Orlando at the new UCF Convocation Center from March 6-9.
