The Rice Thresher, Vol. 88, No. 12, Ed. 1 Friday, November 10, 2000 Page: 21 of 28
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THE RICE THRKSHER SPORTS ERIDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2000
21
v M
Departures do little to lower lofty expectations
by Jason Gershman
THRF.SHKK EDITORIAL STAFF
The 1999-'00 season was the most successful
one in the history of Rice women's basketball,
But if the Lady Owls hope to repeat and
even build on last year, they have their work
cut out for them.
. . Rice's version of March Madness last year
included a Western Athletic ConferenceTour-
nament Championship, a bid to the NCAA
Tournament and a first-round upset of the
University of California at Santa Barbara — all
school firsts.
But gone are the heart and soul of that 22-
10 squad —guards Maria Brumfield and Jenny
Cafferty and forwards Kirra Jordan and Kim
Smallwood.
The four seniors rewrote the Rice record
books and took the I^ady Owls to unprec-
edented heights. Their departure means the
2000-'01 team faces significant rebuilding.
"When you lose three starters and a total of
four people who played a lot of minutes, you've
got different people on the court who maybe
haven't played together a lot," head coach
Cristy McKinney said. "We're improving, we're
getting better every day. The key this season
is to have our players step up and fill the spots
of those who have graduated."
But despite these losses, Rice refuses to
believe the whole year will be spent in a rebuild-
ing mode. The Lady Owls have higher hopes.
'The expectations are very
high. They know how much
more they like the NCAA
Tournament. We hope to
return.'
Cristy McKinney
Head coach
"It's important to this year's team that we
don't go backwards," McKinney said. The
expectations are very high. I've expected Rice
to go the NCAA Tournament since I arrived
seven years ago. For years, I've put more
pressure on myself than anyone else put on
me. Maybe now I'll get some pressure put on
me, and that's OK. Our returning players have
been to the NIT and NCAA and they know the
difference. They know how much more they
like the NCAA Tournament. We hope to re-
turn there in March."
Rice returns two starters from last season,
senior forward Kenya Tuttle and sophomore
point guard Kim I^awson. Both players will be
expected to provide the I>ady Owls with some
veteran leadership.
"Our team is really young," said Tuttle, the
team's lone senior and leading returning
scorer, rebounder and shot-blocker. "[Kim]
and I need to step up and be leaders on the
court. I think we can compete with the lop
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Freshman guard Undsey Maynard (In black) protects the ball from sophomore guard Starla James.
Maynard and James are part of a talented but largely untested Lady Owl backcourt.
teams in the nation."
Lawson, who was named to the WAC All-
Newcomer team last season, will run the Rice
offense from the point. She led the WAC in
assist-turnover ratio last year, and she expects
to pick up her scoring a bit this year.
"I see improvement in my pull-up jumper
every day," I^wson said. "I'm getting more
comfortable with it. I'll be asked to score more
this year than last year, and I'm ready to
contribute on offense."
The Rice roster will also feature four new
faces in two transfers and two freshmen.
'Hie two transfers, junior guards Jennifer
Rigg and I^aTonya Sam, were at Rice last year
but sat out the season as per NCAA rules.
Rigg, who transferred from rival Southern
Methodist University, should immediately step
into the starting lineup as an off-guard/small-
forward.
"I>ast year was tough to watch," Rigg said.
"You're part of the team but it's not the same
as going into battle with them. The three is my
natural position, the one I love to play. This
summer, I worked on making my long range
shot more consistent."
The other two newcomers are true fresh-
men, guards Kate Beckler and Lindsey Maynard.
Beckler, who went to high school in
Granada Hills, Calif., was named the Los
Angeles Times Player of the Year as a senior.
She will be expected to contribute right
away, and she already got a slight taste of
life as a I^ady Owl last year when she at-
tended Rice's NCAA Tournament victory
over UC-Santa Barbara.
"Last March was just a little piece of what I
was going to get at Rice and I was so pumped,"
Beckler said. "I intend on contributing to the
team this season. I've been trying to get a few
jitters out before the season begins."
With so many changes and so many new
faces, the team's rotation is still up in the air.
Tonight's starting lineup will definitely include
lawson, Tuttle and Rigg. 'ITie other two spots
should go to sophomore Kara Liggett at the
off-guard spot and junior Aarika Florus at one
of the forward spots.
Liggett gained experience as a solid re-
serve last year. She also managed to steal the
7 think we can compete with
the top teams in the nation.'
— Kenya Tuttle
Senior forward
spotlighl from her elder teammates when she
tied a school record by burying seven three-
pointers against San Jose State University.
Tuttle will start at forward/center and
Florus will start at power forward where she
will likely split time with fellow junior Daneesh
Mcintosh.
Beckler should see quite a bit of playing
time at both guard positions, and junior LaToya
Brown will also see time at the point. Maynard,
Sam and sophomore Starla James will add fur-
ther depth to Rice's young backcourt.
The new-look I^dy Owls think they're good
enough to challenge for the WAC title again,
but the rest of the conference isn't so sure.
Rice was picked to finish fourth out of nine
teams in the preseason WAC coaches' poll.
SMU, the University of Hawaii and Texas
Christian University were picked in the top
three spots, respectively, but the Lady Owls
hope to prove they've been underestimated.
"We lost three starters and another key
player," McKinney said. "[But] obviously they
don't know what we have. We all feel like we'll
finish better than that. Preseason picks don't
mean that much. It's the end of the season that
counts."
RICE AT A GLANCE
■ 1999-'00 regular season — 22-10 (104 Western Athletic Conference)
■ 1999-'00 postseason — Won the WAC Tournament Championship; received
an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament; advanced to the second
round of the tournament.
■ Key losses — G Maria Brumfield, F Kirra Jordan, G/F" Kim Smallwood,
G Jenny Cafferty
■ Key returnees — G Kim Lawson, F/C Kenya Tuttle, G Kara Liggett, F Aarika
Florus, F Daneesh Mcintosh
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Stoler, Brian. The Rice Thresher, Vol. 88, No. 12, Ed. 1 Friday, November 10, 2000, newspaper, November 10, 2000; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth442991/m1/21/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.