Rice University Owls basketball player Marla Brumfield

Black and white copy of article on Marla Brumfield's (class of 2000) induction into the Rice Athletic Hall of Fame. Photograph is of Brumfield in a Lady Owls basketball uniform in action. Text describes Brumfield's career in basketball.Caption reads: When Marla Brumfield first arrived at Rice in the fall of 1996, the Owls had suffered through seven-consecutive losing seasons. When Brumfield received her diploma in the spring of 2000, the Owls were Western Athletic Conference champions and had made their first trip to the NCAA championships. Brumfield came off the bench in her first collegiate game against Bradley on Nov. 22, 1996 and led the Owls with 19 points. Three nights later, she came off the bench again to score 11 points and earn a spot in the starting lineup she would never relinquish. Brumfield went on to earn WAC Mountain Division co-freshman of the year honors and second-team all-WAC honors. That season, the Owls posted a 16-11 record and defeated their first ranked opponent. Her sophomore year, Brumfield earned first-team all-WAC honors, becoming the first Owl to earn multiple all-conference honors. She also helped the Owls to back-to-back victories over ranked opponents as Rice beat 15th-ranked Hawaii and the 16th-ranked Utah at Autry Court. Rice also received its first WNIT postseason berth. As a junior, Brumfield earned second-team all-WAC honors as Rice advanced to the WNIT postseason tournament quarterfinals. Brumfield helped the Owls make history again in 1999-2000. At the 2000 WAC championship in Fresno, Calif., she led the Owls to their first-ever league tournament crown, averaging 20.7 points per game in the tournament to earn MVP honors. With the win, Rice received the 13 seed in the NCAA tournament’s west region, where she led the Owls to a 67-64 defeat of fourth-seeded and ninth-ranked UC-Santa Barbara. Brumfield was a four-time all-WAC honoree, three-time WAC all-defensive team member, and a 2000 Kodak all-America honorable mention award winner. By the end of her collegiate career, she held the Rice career record for steals (311) and ranked in the top five for points (third with 1,703), field goals made (second with 620), free throws made (second with 396) and assists (third with 405). On April 25, 2000, Brumfield made history again when she was selected by the Minnesota Lynx with the 22nd overall pick in the WNBA draft. She went on to play three seasons in the league with the Lynx, the Miami Sol and Charlotte Sting.Rice Athletic Hall of Fame (poor quality original image