Coogs Come from WAY Ahead and lose to Marshall
HOUSTON, TX (Hofheinz Pavilion) -- The Houston Cougars played one half of great basketball and one half of awful basketball Sunday afternoon. Unfortunately for the Cougars, the awful half erased the great half and the Coogs lost to the Marshall Thundering Herd 66-61 in front of 427 fans.
Houston (8-9 overall, 2-2 in C-USA) could do no wrong in the first half while Marshall (11-6, 3-2) could do no right; however, the second half was a complete 180 degree turn.
Houston led 42-23 at halftime and 45-23 at 19:14 of the second half; then, the slow, methodical Cougar collapse began.
Houston's offense bogged down; and, the players seemed to have no idea how to execute the plays which were being called by Coach Joe Curl.
"I think we lost our intensity," said Coach Curl. "Once they got it (down) to 10, it was like we choked up and didn't want to take a normal shot and just play."
As a result of too much thinking, Houston took far too many rushed shots and made just 7 of 31 (22.6%) field goal attempts in the second half.
"It looked we were thinking instead of playing," Coach Curl said. "Kids get in a mood of thinking of the score or thinking 'oh my goodness' or whatever. It's coaching. I feel that loss was coaching."
The crappy offense was compunded by woeful rebounding as Marshall dominated Houston on the glass outrebounding the Cougars 31 to 15.
Houston's starters played all but 10 minutes of the ball game and scored all 61 points. Brittney Scott led Houston with 16 points; however, Scott shot 6 for 18 overall including 1 for 6 in the sorry second half.
Porsche Landry scored 15 points; however, she shot 6 for 16 from the field. Lesslee Mason was the only UH player to shoot above 50% (5 for 8, 62.5%) in the ball game.
Mason scored 14 points and pulled down nine rebounds. Mason was one of the few bright spots for Houston down the stretch.
Courtney Taylor recorded another double-double (12 points and 10 rebounds); but, she was clearly frustrated during the second half meltdown.
Marshall's Kendra King scored all 13 of her points in the second half; and, she caused havoc in the paint scoring on put backs and flip shots. King simply would not be denied in the second half.
Chantelle Handy led Marshall with a game-high 18 points. Handy drained two free throws to give Marshall a 61-59 lead before King answered with a three-point play to give the Thundering Herd the lead for good.
"Embarrassed. Frustrated. Disappointed. Just frustrated," said UH head coach Joe Curl summing up his mood after the loss.
Brittney Scott said, "We didn't come out with the same fire that we had in the first half."
The Cougars will try to bounce back from this difficult loss next Sunday versus UAB. Tip is set for 6 p.m.
See the postgame press conference at The Houston Roundball Review Fan Page.
Houston (8-9 overall, 2-2 in C-USA) could do no wrong in the first half while Marshall (11-6, 3-2) could do no right; however, the second half was a complete 180 degree turn.
Houston led 42-23 at halftime and 45-23 at 19:14 of the second half; then, the slow, methodical Cougar collapse began.
Houston's offense bogged down; and, the players seemed to have no idea how to execute the plays which were being called by Coach Joe Curl.
"I think we lost our intensity," said Coach Curl. "Once they got it (down) to 10, it was like we choked up and didn't want to take a normal shot and just play."
As a result of too much thinking, Houston took far too many rushed shots and made just 7 of 31 (22.6%) field goal attempts in the second half.
"It looked we were thinking instead of playing," Coach Curl said. "Kids get in a mood of thinking of the score or thinking 'oh my goodness' or whatever. It's coaching. I feel that loss was coaching."
The crappy offense was compunded by woeful rebounding as Marshall dominated Houston on the glass outrebounding the Cougars 31 to 15.
Houston's starters played all but 10 minutes of the ball game and scored all 61 points. Brittney Scott led Houston with 16 points; however, Scott shot 6 for 18 overall including 1 for 6 in the sorry second half.
Porsche Landry scored 15 points; however, she shot 6 for 16 from the field. Lesslee Mason was the only UH player to shoot above 50% (5 for 8, 62.5%) in the ball game.
Mason scored 14 points and pulled down nine rebounds. Mason was one of the few bright spots for Houston down the stretch.
Courtney Taylor recorded another double-double (12 points and 10 rebounds); but, she was clearly frustrated during the second half meltdown.
Marshall's Kendra King scored all 13 of her points in the second half; and, she caused havoc in the paint scoring on put backs and flip shots. King simply would not be denied in the second half.
Chantelle Handy led Marshall with a game-high 18 points. Handy drained two free throws to give Marshall a 61-59 lead before King answered with a three-point play to give the Thundering Herd the lead for good.
"Embarrassed. Frustrated. Disappointed. Just frustrated," said UH head coach Joe Curl summing up his mood after the loss.
Brittney Scott said, "We didn't come out with the same fire that we had in the first half."
The Cougars will try to bounce back from this difficult loss next Sunday versus UAB. Tip is set for 6 p.m.
See the postgame press conference at The Houston Roundball Review Fan Page.
posted by Kris G @ 5:35 PM
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