Anne Peck is adjusting quite nicely at Rice: to basketball and the warmer weather. Peck, who guided Hand-Madison to a state title as a junior in 1999 and back to the state title game in 2000, had her best game for Rice Monday, scoring a career-high 20 points against Tulsa - ironically where her stepfather John Simmons played football.
     "I've been shooting the ball very well," said Peck, who was a two-time Register All-State selection (1999, 2000) and a three-time Register All-Area pick (1998, 1999, 2000). "My offense has always been there. I've been getting good shots and putting them in. That night things went my way."
     Peck, a 6-foot-2 junior forward, is averaging 9.8 points and 4.8 rebounds in just more than 19 minutes for the Owls (8-7, 5-1 Western Athletic Conference).
     Peck scored nine straight points during a critical second-half run against Tulsa. Her three-point play with a minute, 20 seconds left gave the Owls a 61-59 lead.
     Then, after Tulsa tied the game, Peck made a pair of free throws, a jump shot in the lane and hit another jump shot with 1:17 to go, giving Rice a 67-63 lead. The Owls never trailed again.
     "She seems to give usa spark off the bench, offensively," Rice coach Cristy McKinney said. "She's got range from 15 or 16 feet, but she is more of a strong post player who likes to play with her back to the basket. Those players are tough to find."
     Peck chose Michigan State over Michigan and Syracuse coming out of high school. But the Spartans hired a new coach, and she transferred after her freshman year.
     "I wanted to go to a big school out of high school," said Peck, an English and sports management major, who is trying to get an internship with a professional sports franchise in Houston. "But when I visited, I fell in love with the place. I'm not a person who gets homesick, and my mother thought a little Southern twang wouldn't be so bad."
     Rice is trying to set up a game at Rhode Island next season as a possible homecoming for Peck.
     One area where Peck knows she has to improve is on defense. She fouled out in just 2-minutes of a 35-point win over Fresno State.
     "She is trying to get stronger," McKinney said. "She needs to get some strength. Getting in better shape is not one of Anne's favorite things to do, but she is in the best shape she's been in."
     Rice has played a competitive schedule, with losses to Arkansas, LSU, Stanford and Baylor and an impressive overtime win against Louisiana Tech.
     McKinney and Peck both hope the competitive schedule will prepare them for a run in the NCAA tournament.
     And would Peck mind getting shipped to an Eastern regional at Fairfield or Hartford?
     "Oh, that would be perfect," Peck said. "That way, my parents wouldn't have to drive all the way out here. I could even bring some warm weather."
© 2004 New Haven Register