University of Houston Athletics
University of Houston
6-8, 3-0
* at East Carolina
10-5, 2-2
Women's Basketball Beats East Carolina, 54-45
1/13/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jan. 13, 2006
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GREENVILLE, N.C. - Sha'Ratta Hawkins (Houston, Texas/Jesse Jones HS) dropped in 16 second-half points to pace the University of Houston women's basketball team to its third-straight win, a 54-45 Conference USA triumph over East Carolina in Williams Arena Friday.
After a 1 for 5 shooting effort in the first half, Hawkins got hot in the second 20 minutes, going 5 for 7 from the floor, including a 3 for 4 effort from behind the line, and finished 3 for 4 from the charity stripe. She finished the game with a game-high 18 points, four rebounds and five steals.
The Cougars (6-8, 3-0 C-USA) had to fend off a pair of second-half runs by ECU (10-5, 2-2 C-USA). Following a three by Hawkins with 14:44 left in the game, ECU ran off an 8-0 advantage over a period of 3:22, tying it up at 32-32 with 11:05 left. ECU kept it close, tying the score twice and staying within one for a time.
With 5:30 left, the tally was at 42-41 in favor of UH and the Cougars fired off a 9-0 run in a two-minute period to lead by 10, 51-41, with 3:10 to go. ECU was within seven, 52-45 with 2:34 left, but the Cougars hung on for the nine-point win, it's fifth-straight over ECU and third-straight in Williams Arena. UH has started C-USA play 3-0 in each of the past three seasons.
Tye Jackson (Houston, Texas/Westfield HS/Purdue) and Nakazi Glover (Brookshire, Texas/Bellaire HS) also found double figures, finishing with 12 and 11 points, respectively. Glover also added seven rebounds while Jackson contributed seven boards, five assists, three steals and two blocks.
Emily Fryters (Adelaide, Australia/Concordia College) and Ryan Meyers (Arlington, Texas/Arlington HS/Grayson County CC) tied for the team high with eight rebounds.
UH was down 7-2 early in the game as the Cougars managed just two field goals in the first four minutes. A 5-0 run knotted it at seven apiece with 14:00 to go. A quick 4-0 run by the Pirates had them up four, 11-7, with 11:46 to go but a 7-0 UH run over the next 1:35 gave UH the its first lead of the night at 14:11 with 10:11 left in the opening 20 minutes.
UH outscored ECU 17-8 in the final 10 minutes of the half, holding the Pirates without a field goal for two extended stretches. The Cougars took advantage of 23 turnovers by East Carolina, which were turned into 23 points. For the last nine minutes of the first half, ECU was 2 for 21 with eight turnovers.
Although UH turned up the defensive pressure, ECU had a rough night from the field, shooting at a 16.7 percent (6 for 36) clip in the first half. They were just 16 for 74 (.216) shooting for the game.
ECU's Cherie Mills, who entered the game shooting 60 percent from the floor (108 for 180) was just 4 for 16 (.250) for the night. She finished with 14 points, but did not see many open shots, and hit on 6 of 7 from the charity stripe. She also pulled down 10 rebounds. Jasmine Young finished with 12 points while Impris Manning added 10 boards.
UH returns home to face Rice on Sunday at 4 p.m. CST. ESPN2 will televise the game live nationally from Hofheinz Pavilion. The two rivals meet for the first time as league rivals and for the first time since March 13, 2002. Houston leads the all-time series 30-5.
