UH wins Fourth Straight
The Houston Lady Cougars, if they are nothing else this season, are consistent when it comes to one thing thus far: starting off slowly.
Sunday afternoon versus Southern Miss was another example of a slow start; but, Houston (10-9, 4-1) came from behind in the second half (again) and defeated Southern Miss (10-8, 1-4) 71 to 61 before 627 fans gathered at Hofheinz Pavilion.
The Lady Cougars shot 17.1% -- yes, that's right, 17.1% -- from the field in the first half. They attempted 41 shots and made just seven. However, at 35.3%, Southern Miss didn't shoot much better; so, the Lady Cougars trailed by just eight points (29 to 21) at halftime.
"I think it just takes us a while to get going," said Houston forward Courtney Taylor after the game. "But, we have to correct it. If we (ever) put 40 minutes together (of good basketball), then nobody could hang with us in this league."
Taylor finished the game with her fifth double-double (14 points and 12 rebounds) -- in just 28 minutes.
Houston's Twiffy McIntyre led all scorers with 24 points. McIntyre scored 17 points in the second half.
"I really think the reason Houston was able to take control because Twiggy took the game over," said Lady Eagles head coach Joye Lee-McNelis.
McIntyre shot 7 for 14 from the field (2 for 7 on threes) and a perfect 8 for 8 from the charity stripe. She added four rebounds; three assists; and three steals.
"The effort was there in the first half; but, the shots just didn't fall for us," McIntyre said after the game. "I guess the home court advantage started working for us in the second half."
Southern Miss scored the first two points of the second half to lead 31 to 21; however, Houston scored six points in the paint (two from Taylor; two from McIntyre; and two from Cobilyn Hill) to set the tone in the second half. Then, Houston's Tye Jackson scored a put back lay-up and a three-point shot to pull Houston within three points (35 to 32) with 14:12 left in the second half.
Jackson's lay-up was her first made field goal in 23 shot attempts.
"I've been in a shooting slump," said Jackson. "Right now, my scoring or anything is not as it used to be; but, I don't mind. But, it is frustrating that I can't make a shot when I need to make a shot because my teammates told me when I get frustrated my teammates get down. I'm trying to keep a level head; keep my composure; keep them up; and do whatever they need me to do."
Jackson dished out four assists in the second half which helped spark Houston's second half comeback.
Jackson assisted on a lay-up to teammate Ryan Meyers to bring Houston within one point (41 to 40) with 10:35 on the clock.
Then, after a three-point basket by teammate Alona Obaze (assist from Cobilyn Hill), Jackson dropped two nice dimes for lay-ups by Meyers and McIntyre to help Houston increase the lead to six (47 to 41) with 7:06 remaining.
Southern Miss stayed close thanks to the efforts of Pauline Love and Liz Biland. Each finished the game with a double. Love scored 19 points and pulled down a game-high 16 rebounds while Biland scored 12 and grabbed 10 boards.
After Love made two free throws to trim Houston's lead to just two points (49 to 47), McIntyre scored five points and assisted on another two points during a 7-0 Houston to put Houston ahead 56 to 47 with 3:36 left in the game.
The two teams combined for 22 free throw attempts during the final three and a half minutes; but, Houston did what they needed to do from the foul line to win the game by ten points.
"I still think we're real inconsistent with our play," said interim head coach Danny Hughes. "We still have room to grow. The one thing we're going to have to do is put together a better offensive performance for 40 minutes. I thought our execution in the first half was good; but, shots didn't fall for us. I wasn't disappointed with that. We've got to correct that in order to be where we need to be in our league. If we can get the corrected, I think we can play with anybody in our league."
Sunday afternoon versus Southern Miss was another example of a slow start; but, Houston (10-9, 4-1) came from behind in the second half (again) and defeated Southern Miss (10-8, 1-4) 71 to 61 before 627 fans gathered at Hofheinz Pavilion.
The Lady Cougars shot 17.1% -- yes, that's right, 17.1% -- from the field in the first half. They attempted 41 shots and made just seven. However, at 35.3%, Southern Miss didn't shoot much better; so, the Lady Cougars trailed by just eight points (29 to 21) at halftime.
"I think it just takes us a while to get going," said Houston forward Courtney Taylor after the game. "But, we have to correct it. If we (ever) put 40 minutes together (of good basketball), then nobody could hang with us in this league."
Taylor finished the game with her fifth double-double (14 points and 12 rebounds) -- in just 28 minutes.
Houston's Twiffy McIntyre led all scorers with 24 points. McIntyre scored 17 points in the second half.
"I really think the reason Houston was able to take control because Twiggy took the game over," said Lady Eagles head coach Joye Lee-McNelis.
McIntyre shot 7 for 14 from the field (2 for 7 on threes) and a perfect 8 for 8 from the charity stripe. She added four rebounds; three assists; and three steals.
"The effort was there in the first half; but, the shots just didn't fall for us," McIntyre said after the game. "I guess the home court advantage started working for us in the second half."
Southern Miss scored the first two points of the second half to lead 31 to 21; however, Houston scored six points in the paint (two from Taylor; two from McIntyre; and two from Cobilyn Hill) to set the tone in the second half. Then, Houston's Tye Jackson scored a put back lay-up and a three-point shot to pull Houston within three points (35 to 32) with 14:12 left in the second half.
Jackson's lay-up was her first made field goal in 23 shot attempts.
"I've been in a shooting slump," said Jackson. "Right now, my scoring or anything is not as it used to be; but, I don't mind. But, it is frustrating that I can't make a shot when I need to make a shot because my teammates told me when I get frustrated my teammates get down. I'm trying to keep a level head; keep my composure; keep them up; and do whatever they need me to do."
Jackson dished out four assists in the second half which helped spark Houston's second half comeback.
Jackson assisted on a lay-up to teammate Ryan Meyers to bring Houston within one point (41 to 40) with 10:35 on the clock.
Then, after a three-point basket by teammate Alona Obaze (assist from Cobilyn Hill), Jackson dropped two nice dimes for lay-ups by Meyers and McIntyre to help Houston increase the lead to six (47 to 41) with 7:06 remaining.
Southern Miss stayed close thanks to the efforts of Pauline Love and Liz Biland. Each finished the game with a double. Love scored 19 points and pulled down a game-high 16 rebounds while Biland scored 12 and grabbed 10 boards.
After Love made two free throws to trim Houston's lead to just two points (49 to 47), McIntyre scored five points and assisted on another two points during a 7-0 Houston to put Houston ahead 56 to 47 with 3:36 left in the game.
The two teams combined for 22 free throw attempts during the final three and a half minutes; but, Houston did what they needed to do from the foul line to win the game by ten points.
"I still think we're real inconsistent with our play," said interim head coach Danny Hughes. "We still have room to grow. The one thing we're going to have to do is put together a better offensive performance for 40 minutes. I thought our execution in the first half was good; but, shots didn't fall for us. I wasn't disappointed with that. We've got to correct that in order to be where we need to be in our league. If we can get the corrected, I think we can play with anybody in our league."
posted by Kris Gardner @ 9:43 PM
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