Lady Coogs Beat Cal Poly
HOUSTON, TX -- The Houston Lady Cougars improved to 6 and 2 this season with a solid 68 to 57 victory over Cal Poly in front of 417 fans inside Hofheinz Pavilion Sunday afternoon. Freshman guard Roxana Button scored a career-high 18 points and sophomore forward Courtney Taylor also scored a career-high with 22 points. Taylor also added 15 rebounds to give herself a nice birthday present one day after turning 20 years old.
However, sophomore forward Brittany Mason proved to be an unsung hero for the Lady Cougars in the game. Mason started for the first time in her college career; and, in 25 minutes of game action, she scored six points; pulled down five rebounds; blocked one shot; dished one assist; and picked up three steals.
After the game, Mason said she wasn't nervous in her first start.
"I didn't think I was nervous," said Mason. "But, it showed on the court. But, I didn't feel nervous. I get jittery and I get to moving my fingers; and, I'm just thinking 'Come on Brittany pick it up. Pick it up.' When I was taken out of the game (for a sub), nobody griped at me. They talked to me and that also helped. I wasn't nervous; but, I just didn't start the game playing hard; but, I picked it up in the end."
In the first half, Mason had just one rebound and one assist in seven minutes of play. Mason broke a 28-28 tie with a steal and a fast-break lay up. Then, she put UH ahead 40 to 33 with a sweet driving lay up at the 13:31 mark of the second half.
"Her full court lay up in transition shows how much she's grown as a basketball player," said UH head coach Joe Curl. (Mason was more of a track athlete in high school than a basketball player.)
Cal Poly carved up Houston's porous defense in the first half with eight lay ups. However, despite shooting just 32.4% (11 for 34) from the field and being out rebounded 26 to 18, UH led 27 to 26 at halftime.
The Lady Cougars limited Cal Poly's lay up drill in the second half and forced Cal Poly to shoot more shots from the perimeter. Cal Poly entered the game shooting 39.2% from three-point range; but, Houston limited Poly to 0 for 9 shooting in the first half from The Land of Three and just 2 for 19 (10.5%) for the entire game.
"Defensively, I think we did really, really well," said Courtney Taylor after the game. "We played a lot of zone and a lot of man-to-man. We switched up our defenses and I think that confused them. Our main focus was to keep everybody in front of us; and, that's what we did. I think our defense carried over to our offense."
Taylor scored 13 of her 22 points in the first half; but, she picked up nine of her 15 rebounds in the second half.
The Lady Coogs took advantage of their quickness and attacked Cal Poly's defense in the second half.
"We realized we had the advantage on quickness so we tried to go to the basket," added Taylor.
Houston shot 35 free throws in the game and made 24. Cal Poly was only 5 for 5 from the foul line.
Roxana Button stayed in attack mode in the second 20 minutes. Button shot nine free throws in the second half (and made seven). Button scored a runner in the paint which started a 10 to 0 Lady Cougars' run to put Cal Poly away.
"The first half I was more laid," said Taylor. "The second half I wanted it more; and, as a team, we realized we had to put them away instead of let them hang around in the second half."
Despite the 6 and 2 record, Coach Joe Curl believes his team will continue improving throughout the season.
"I think our team is sixty to sixty-five percent of how good it can be."
However, sophomore forward Brittany Mason proved to be an unsung hero for the Lady Cougars in the game. Mason started for the first time in her college career; and, in 25 minutes of game action, she scored six points; pulled down five rebounds; blocked one shot; dished one assist; and picked up three steals.
After the game, Mason said she wasn't nervous in her first start.
"I didn't think I was nervous," said Mason. "But, it showed on the court. But, I didn't feel nervous. I get jittery and I get to moving my fingers; and, I'm just thinking 'Come on Brittany pick it up. Pick it up.' When I was taken out of the game (for a sub), nobody griped at me. They talked to me and that also helped. I wasn't nervous; but, I just didn't start the game playing hard; but, I picked it up in the end."
In the first half, Mason had just one rebound and one assist in seven minutes of play. Mason broke a 28-28 tie with a steal and a fast-break lay up. Then, she put UH ahead 40 to 33 with a sweet driving lay up at the 13:31 mark of the second half.
"Her full court lay up in transition shows how much she's grown as a basketball player," said UH head coach Joe Curl. (Mason was more of a track athlete in high school than a basketball player.)
Cal Poly carved up Houston's porous defense in the first half with eight lay ups. However, despite shooting just 32.4% (11 for 34) from the field and being out rebounded 26 to 18, UH led 27 to 26 at halftime.
The Lady Cougars limited Cal Poly's lay up drill in the second half and forced Cal Poly to shoot more shots from the perimeter. Cal Poly entered the game shooting 39.2% from three-point range; but, Houston limited Poly to 0 for 9 shooting in the first half from The Land of Three and just 2 for 19 (10.5%) for the entire game.
"Defensively, I think we did really, really well," said Courtney Taylor after the game. "We played a lot of zone and a lot of man-to-man. We switched up our defenses and I think that confused them. Our main focus was to keep everybody in front of us; and, that's what we did. I think our defense carried over to our offense."
Taylor scored 13 of her 22 points in the first half; but, she picked up nine of her 15 rebounds in the second half.
The Lady Coogs took advantage of their quickness and attacked Cal Poly's defense in the second half.
"We realized we had the advantage on quickness so we tried to go to the basket," added Taylor.
Houston shot 35 free throws in the game and made 24. Cal Poly was only 5 for 5 from the foul line.
Roxana Button stayed in attack mode in the second 20 minutes. Button shot nine free throws in the second half (and made seven). Button scored a runner in the paint which started a 10 to 0 Lady Cougars' run to put Cal Poly away.
"The first half I was more laid," said Taylor. "The second half I wanted it more; and, as a team, we realized we had to put them away instead of let them hang around in the second half."
Despite the 6 and 2 record, Coach Joe Curl believes his team will continue improving throughout the season.
"I think our team is sixty to sixty-five percent of how good it can be."
posted by Kris G @ 1:56 PM
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