University of Houston Athletics
University of Houston
12-16
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UTEP (C-USA Championship)
14-15
Women's Basketball Advances With 57-40 Win Over UTEP
3/2/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
March 2, 2006
DALLAS - The University of Houston women's basketball team overcame a poor shooting night to knock off UTEP 57-40 in the opening round of the Conference USA Women's Basketball Championship, presented by Aeropostale, Thursday at SMU's Moody Coliseum.
The Cougars (12-16), seeded No. 7, made just 17 field goals and were 2 for 19 (.105) from behind the arc. No. 10 UTEP (14-15) was just 16 for 67 from the floor and 3 for 13 from the charity stripe. The Miners 40 points were a season-low for a UH opponent. Houston moved its record to 7-8 in C-USA Championship play. UH has been to the quarterfinals in each of the past two seasons.
"Games always look better when the ball's going into the basket," head coach Joe Curl said. "From a coaching standpoint, all you can ask for is that your kids have their heart in the game. I was very pleased with our mental effort tonight. I thought it was it was one of our best this season."
Tye Jackson (Houston, Texas/Westfield HS/Purdue) finished with her third-career double-double, tallying 17 points and tying a career-high with 11 rebounds. Nakazi Glover (Brookshire, Texas/Bellaire HS) tied her for the game high with 17 of her own. Emily Fryters (Adelaide, Australia/Concordia College) pulled down a career-best 15 rebounds.
Houston opened the second half on a 12-2 run, leading 39-24 with 14:51 to go. Glover did most of the damage during that span, knocking down seven of her points. A 5-0 UTEP run, keyed by five points from Ingrid Goslin, pulled the Miners back within 10, 39-29, with 10:16 left. UTEP would be within 10 twice, but could not get the lead to single digits. Houston used a late 8-0 to put the game away for good.
Houston held UTEP's Izabela Piekarska scoreless as the Miners center saw just eight minutes of action on an off night. She had tallied 25 points in two previous games against UH this season.
UTEP's Ingrid Goslin tallied 12 of her team-high 14 points in the second half. She was the only Miners player to hit double digits on the evening. Ana Valtierra and Erica Yancey tied for the team high with eight rebounds.
The Cougars led by seven at the break, 27-22. UH forced seven points off of seven UTEP giveaways and hit 9 for 11 (.818) from the charity stripe. The Miners struggled from the field as their 5 three-pointers kept them in the game. UTEP was 1 for 8 from the free-throw line and 8 for 36 from the field.
Houston will face No. 2 Rice, for the third time this season, at 6 p.m. CST Friday in Moody Coliseum. The Cougars have won three-straight meetings over the Owls and six of the past seven.
