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(November 21, 2007) –
UC Riverside welcomed reigning Big West Player of the Year
senior forward Kemie Nkele, back to the lineup Wednesday night,
but her team-high 15 points wasn’t enough for UCR who
lost to Oklahoma State (5-0) 76-58. Junior guard Ronéy
Friend added a double-double in the losing effort, finishing
with 13 points and 10 rebounds.
The Highlanders (0-4) took
the floor with a renewed sense of confidence the team had
been missing in their first three games of the season, having
to play without Nkele in the lineup who was recovering from
off-season knee surgery. Nkele made her presence known right
way, scoring the first basket of the game and six of the Highlanders
first 12 points. UCR built up a 12-7 lead at the 14:28 mark
before the speed of the Cowgirl guards sparked an 11-2 OSU
run to take a 18-14 lead with just over 10 minutes to play
in the half.
OSU took a 29-23 advantage
with 3:54 to play, but the Highlanders put together a 6-1
run to finished the half on a high note. A Nkele layup and
junior Amber Cox’s free-throw cut to it 30-26 and UCR
was able to get a stop on the ensuing OSU possession. With
nine seconds left, the Cowgirls grabbed a rebound off of Highlander
miss and tried to go the length of the floor in one pass,
but junior guard Chanel foster picked of the pass and fired
up a three as the buzzer went off. Her shot fell and brought
UCR within one, 30-29 at the break.
Nkele led UCR with 12 points
through the first 20 minutes and Friend was narrowing in on
that double-double with eight points and seven boards. The
difference in the first half and eventually in the game was
speed of Cowgirl point guard, Andrea Riley. Riley finished
the first half with 13 points on 4-of-8 from the floor to
lead all scorers.
OSU opened the first 10
minutes of the second half outscoring UCR 26-10 to take a
56-39 lead. The big blow came early in half as Nkele picked
up third and fourth fouls in the 17th minute and OSU took
advantage by continuing to attack the basket and got Nkele
whistled for her fifth and final foul at the 15.51 mark.
The Cowgirls opened up
a 19-point lead at one point but UCR made one final surge.
Senior guard Vanessa Campillo provided a spark off the bench.
Her three-pointer at the 4:46 mark cut the OSU advantage to
65-52. That was as close as the Highlanders would get though,
Riley answered with nine of OSU’s final 12 points to
close out the victory for the Cowgirls.
Riley drove the lane all
night, finishing with a game-high 28 points with eight of
those points coming from the free-throw line. UCR lost the
free-throw battle as OSU went to the line 39 times finishing
24-39 (61.5%) and the Highlanders went only 19 times finishing
10-19 (52.6%).
For the fourth time in
as many games, UCR lost the battle on the boards, 42-32 and
four Cowgirls posted double figures in points highlighted
by Riley and Danielle Green who produced her own double-double,
11 points and 11 boards.
The Highlanders do not
play for over a week until they make the trip to participate
in the Arizona State Tournament beginning November 29th. UCR
will first play #25 Auburn at 8 p.m on Friday then two days
later against the winner/loser of #12 ASU/Gonzaga.
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