University of Houston
-1010, 26 CUSA
TCU
-1011, 35 CUSA
Lady Cougars Fall to TCU 60-51
2/9/2003 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Feb. 9, 2003
FORT WORTH, Texas -
All-American Chandi Jones scored 22 points as the University of Houston women's basketball team dropped to TCU 60-51 Sunday afternoon at the Daniel Meyer Coliseum. The Lady Cougars, who are 1-1 against TCU in 2003, are now 10-10 overall and 2-6 in league play.
Jones (26.9 ppg), who ranks second in the nation in scoring, also grabbed three steals and six rebounds. Shondra Bush was the other Lady Cougar to score in double figures, posting 19 points in the loss. Nicole Oliver had a team-high 11 boards and added four steals. Collectively, the scoring tandem of Jones and Bush accounted for 41 of Houston's 51 points.
Sandora Irvin led the Lady Frogs with 13 points and 13 rebounds while Tricia Payne and Ebony Shaw each had 11 points in the win.
Boosted by Payne's back-to-back three pointers, TCU went on an early 10-0 run and grabbed an 11-7 lead. Despite 11 steals and aggressive rebounding, Houston could not regain the lead and carried a 13-point deficit into the locker room at the break. The Lady Cougars, who averaged 74.2 points a game, shot 9-34 from the floor (26.5 percent) and bucketed only 21 points in the first half.
After shooting 2-12 in the first half, Bush hit her first trey in the second as Houston began to chip away at the Lady Frog lead. TCU responded with back-to-back jumpers by Irvin and five straight points by Grace Gantt, taking the 44-29 lead with 15 minutes remaining. Houston was held scoreless for the next three minutes until Bush nailed a jumper and Oliver and Bush each hit a trey to put the Lady Cougars back into the game, 47-37.
Jones re-entered the game as the Cougars began a 6-0 run. Jones blocked a jumper by Irvin then raced to the Houston basket and hit a jumper off the glass over three TCU defenders. Down by eight with 3:02 on the clock, Bush nailed another trey and Houston threatened, 52-47. The teams traded baskets until Payne hit her third three pointer of the night to put TCU ahead, 58-49. Houston could not recover as TCU prevailed 60-51.
The Lady Cougars, who are third in the nation in steals per game (14.5), racked up 15 steals on 26 TCU turnovers. Houston shot a season-low 29 percent from the floor, including 18 percent from behind the arc.
Houston will wrap up its four-game road stand Tuesday as it faces non-conference opponent Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (12-11) at 7 p.m. at the Circle K Court.
