UH 73, TCU 68

The Houston Lady Cougars (btw, are they still known as 'Lady Cougars?') came from behind in the final seven minutes to defeat TCU 73 to 68 Friday night at Hofheinz Pavilion in front of 501 fans.

Yes, that's right. 501 fans.

Houston trailed TCU (5 - 7) 59 to 52 with 7:02 left in the ball game. Plus, senior guard Tye Jackson and starting center Cobilyn Hill were on the bench with four fouls each; therefore, things didn't look promising for the Cougars.

However, UH (5 - 7) showed surprising poise on offense and scored eight straight points to go ahead 60 to 59. Senior Whitney James started the run with a three-point play; then, freshman guard Jasmine Johnson hit three of four free throws; and freshman forward Courtney Taylor capped the run with a short jump shot.

The game went back and forth for a minute before Houston's Ryan Meyers scored a lay-up to give UH a 64 to 63 lead with 3:28 remaining in the game. Jackson scored the game's next four points (one jump shot and two made free throws); but, TCU's Helena Sverrisdottir made a layup to cut Houston's lead to three (68 to 65) with 1:36 left in the ball game.

After Houston's Twiggy McIntyre split two free throws, TCU senior Adrienne Ross drained a three point shot to trim Houston's lead to 69 to 68 with 51 seconds remaining.

UH did not call time-out. McIntyre took her time dribbling the ball up the sideline; then, she made a soft pass toward Jackson which Jackson, to her credit, came toward the pass (thus avoiding a very costly turnover); and, caught the ball near the top of the key. Jackson penetrated into the free throw lane; drew the defense; and passed to a wide open McIntyre. McIntyre rattled in a three-pointer to put Houston ahead 72 to 68 with just 26 seconds left in the game.

"Shots hadn't been falling for me (the entire game); so, I knew I was due for one (to go in)," said McIntyre after the game. "Tye made a great penetration move to the basket and just left me wide open; so, she created the shot for me; and, I'm just glad it fell."

UH held on to win the game 73 to 68.

UH turned the ball over 24 times; but, the Coogs shot 50% (24 for 48) from the field including 6 for 11 from three point range. Houston also shot 19 for 22 from the free throw line.

Jackson led Houston with 14 points. Ryan Meyers scored 13 points. McIntyre and freshman Brittney Scott added 10 points each.

"It's a tribute to our kids," said Danny Hughes, UH interim head coach after the game. "We were down seven with about seven to go. Those kids that came off the bench made some plays and played awfully well for us."

"I know Twiggy didn't play well tonight; and, she struggled at times. But, I told her, with about 3 or 4 minutes to go, 'Keep your head up. You're going to make a play for us down the stretch.' There it was. She got that open look and she made it."

"We're coming together," said Tye Jackson. "We had a tough beginning to the season; but, conference is getting ready to start and, we're playing together. We're playing hard for 40 minutes."