Coogs Keep Owls Winless in Conference
HOUSTON, TX (Tudor Fieldhouse) -- Cobilyn Hill and her "disposition to dominate" continued for a third consecutive game Wednesay night. Hill, sophomore center for the Houston Cougars, scored 18 points; grabbed eight rebounds; and blocked six shots as she led her team to a 66 to 56 victory over the Rice Owls inside Rice's Tudor Fieldhouse in front of 842 fans.
"I haven't been playing well all season," said Hill after the game. "But, these last three games I've had a disposition to dominate and get more focused and played harder."
Hill scored just four points in the first half on 2 for 7 shooting from the field; but, Houston head coach Joe Curl made a point to get the ball into Hill in the second half and Hill responded.
Hill went 4 for 5 from the field and hit all six of her foul shots for 14 second half points.
"I thought she was very dominant," said Coach Curl. "She still has to develop her disposition to dominate."
Despite shooting 45.2% (14 for 31) compared to Rice's 26.5% (9 for 34) from the field, Houston led the Owls by just six points (32 to 26) at halftime. The Cougars kept the Owls close thanks to nine first half turnovers. Brittney Scott led UH with 12 points in the opening 20 minutes.
"I knew they were going to come out and play us hard considering their our crosstown rival," Scott said.
The Owls (5 - 17 overall, 0 - 9 in C-USA) started the second half more active on both ends of the court and outscored the Coogs 12 to 6 to tie the game at 38 on a basket by senior Maudess Fulton at the 15:23 mark.
The game was tied two more times at 40 and 42 before Hill scored six straight points; but, Fulton and teammate Tara Watts brought the Owls within two (48 to 46) before Houston freshman guard Porsche Landry started percolating.
Landry scored eight points (two jumpers and two lay ups) during a 13 to 5 UH run to give the Cougars a 61 to 51 lead with 3:34 left in the game.
"My team is depending on me; and, I didn't do well in the first half," said Landry. "So, I did all I could in the second."
Landry's quickness was definitely evident during the scoring burst which put the game away.
"I have two speeds; so, I can change back and forth and it's really not that difficult."
The Cougars overall record improves to 14 and 7 overall and 6 and 3 in Conference USA.
Once again, the Owls struggled shooting the basketball. Rice shot just 31.8% (21 for 66) from the field. The poor shooting is definitely frustrating for the players and the coaches.
"It's just frustrating. We work on these in practice," Fulton said after the game. "We work on shooting all the time. It's basically just having it carry over into the game that we're having difficulty."
"We're really strugging to shoot the basketball," added Owls head coach Greg Williams. "We shoot 32 percent. You're just not going to win many games doing that. We missed a lot of lay ups early. A lot of easy shots early. We battled back. We came out the second half and tied the game up; but, we just can't seem to sustain anything."
Tara Watts led the Owls with 15 points on 5 for 7 field goal shooting (3 for 4 on threes). Freshman Candace Ashford came off the bench and scored nine points and blocked five shots in 27 minutes of play.
Times are so tough for the Owls Coach Williams cited the poor shooting and just a 10 point loss as a positive.
"We only gave them nine offensive rebounds. We only had 14 turnovers which for us is a big improvement. Those are positives."
The two teams face each other once again this Saturday afternoon at 5 p.m.; however, this time the game will take place at Hofheinz Pavilion.
"I haven't been playing well all season," said Hill after the game. "But, these last three games I've had a disposition to dominate and get more focused and played harder."
Hill scored just four points in the first half on 2 for 7 shooting from the field; but, Houston head coach Joe Curl made a point to get the ball into Hill in the second half and Hill responded.
Hill went 4 for 5 from the field and hit all six of her foul shots for 14 second half points.
"I thought she was very dominant," said Coach Curl. "She still has to develop her disposition to dominate."
Despite shooting 45.2% (14 for 31) compared to Rice's 26.5% (9 for 34) from the field, Houston led the Owls by just six points (32 to 26) at halftime. The Cougars kept the Owls close thanks to nine first half turnovers. Brittney Scott led UH with 12 points in the opening 20 minutes.
"I knew they were going to come out and play us hard considering their our crosstown rival," Scott said.
The Owls (5 - 17 overall, 0 - 9 in C-USA) started the second half more active on both ends of the court and outscored the Coogs 12 to 6 to tie the game at 38 on a basket by senior Maudess Fulton at the 15:23 mark.
The game was tied two more times at 40 and 42 before Hill scored six straight points; but, Fulton and teammate Tara Watts brought the Owls within two (48 to 46) before Houston freshman guard Porsche Landry started percolating.
Landry scored eight points (two jumpers and two lay ups) during a 13 to 5 UH run to give the Cougars a 61 to 51 lead with 3:34 left in the game.
"My team is depending on me; and, I didn't do well in the first half," said Landry. "So, I did all I could in the second."
Landry's quickness was definitely evident during the scoring burst which put the game away.
"I have two speeds; so, I can change back and forth and it's really not that difficult."
The Cougars overall record improves to 14 and 7 overall and 6 and 3 in Conference USA.
Once again, the Owls struggled shooting the basketball. Rice shot just 31.8% (21 for 66) from the field. The poor shooting is definitely frustrating for the players and the coaches.
"It's just frustrating. We work on these in practice," Fulton said after the game. "We work on shooting all the time. It's basically just having it carry over into the game that we're having difficulty."
"We're really strugging to shoot the basketball," added Owls head coach Greg Williams. "We shoot 32 percent. You're just not going to win many games doing that. We missed a lot of lay ups early. A lot of easy shots early. We battled back. We came out the second half and tied the game up; but, we just can't seem to sustain anything."
Tara Watts led the Owls with 15 points on 5 for 7 field goal shooting (3 for 4 on threes). Freshman Candace Ashford came off the bench and scored nine points and blocked five shots in 27 minutes of play.
Times are so tough for the Owls Coach Williams cited the poor shooting and just a 10 point loss as a positive.
"We only gave them nine offensive rebounds. We only had 14 turnovers which for us is a big improvement. Those are positives."
The two teams face each other once again this Saturday afternoon at 5 p.m.; however, this time the game will take place at Hofheinz Pavilion.
posted by Kris G @ 10:36 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Links to this post:
Create a Link
<< Home