University of Houston Athletics
University of Houston
-137, 53 CUSA
Tulsa
-614, 26 CUSA
Hot Shooting Carries Women's Basketball over Tulsa, 68-46
1/31/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jan. 31, 2009
TULSA, Okla. - Paced by a game-high 17 points from sophomore guard Brittney Scott and the 21st career double-double by sophomore forward Courtney Taylor, the University of Houston women's basketball team notched a 68-46 road victory over Tulsa Saturday night at the Reynolds Center.
The win improved the Cougars' overall record to 13-7 and their mark in Conference USA games to 5-3, while Tulsa drops to 6-14 overall and 2-6 in league play.
Scott, who was held scoreless in Thursday's loss to SMU, was proficient on Saturday as she made seven of her nine field goal attempts. For her part, Taylor made 4-of-8 shots and pulled down 10 rebounds to lead all players on the glass. As a team, the Cougars used impressive ball movement to rack up 14 assists on 27 field goals in the game.
Also contributing solid outings for the Cougars were sophomore forward Brittany Mason, who scored five points, hauled down seven rebounds and handed out four assists, and freshman point guard Porsche Landry, who enjoyed a solid night by going 4-of-4 from the free throw line to help put eight points on the scoreboard. Landry also dished out three assist and collected two steals.
Sophomore Cobilyn Hill, who enjoyed a breakout game off the bench against SMU, proved to be a factor in the opening minutes of the Tulsa game as she drew the start and scored the first two UH baskets of the night. On the night, Hill finished with 10 points and seven rebounds in her 10th start of the season.
After the game was tied a 6-6, the Cougars got four points from both Taylor and Scott to spark a 8-0 run that left them up by the count of 14-6 with 13:57 on the clock.
The Houston lead reached as many as 10 on three occasions before Roxana Button's three-pointer with just 27 seconds left proved to be the final points of the opening period and sent the teams to the locker room with UH leading 37-26. Scott was the only player in double-digit scoring at the break with 10 points as the Cougars shot a blistering 57.1 percent (16-of-28) in the game's first 20 minutes.
Houston's hot shooting cooled only slightly after halftime, when it made 11-of-25 second half shots (44.0 shooting percentage), but the team kicked its defense up a notch and held the Golden Hurricane to just five field goals on 26 attempts in the half for a frustrating 19.2 field goal percentage.
Early in the second half, the Cougars scored the first two baskets of the period to push their lead to 15 on a lay-up by Hill at the 17:49 mark.
Tulsa pulled to within 10 points at 45-35 with 12:44 to play, but a three-pointer from Scott sparked an 11-0 run which gave UH total control of the game and left it leading, 56-35, at the 8:18 mark. A Scott jumper with 2:52 to play gave Houston its biggest lead of the night, 66-41, and the Cougars cruised down the stretch to their 13th win of the season.
Houston will continue its current three-game road trip on Feb. 4 when it makes the short journey across town to play at Rice.
