University of Houston Athletics
University of Houston
-219, 18 CUSA
Tulsa
-1011, 55 CUSA
Slow Start Dooms Cougars at Tulsa
2/5/2012 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Feb. 5, 2012
TULSA, Okla. - The University of Houston women's basketball team couldn't overcome a slow start at Tulsa on Sunday afternoon, falling to the Golden Hurricane by a score of 67-53 at Reynolds Center.
Sunday's contest was a tale of two halves for the Cougars, scoring only 12 points and shooting 19 percent (5-of-26) from the field in the opening half before posting 41 points and shooting at a 43 percent (15-of-35) clip in the final 20 minutes.
The Cougars trailed 16-0 before scoring their first point at the free-throw line at the 11:16 mark, while connecting on their first field goal with 10:24 remaining in the first half.
Down 20-3 with 5:53 left to play, the Cougars mounted a 9-0 run to cut the deficit to eight points with 1:29 remaining. Voché Martin knocked down a jumper and Roxana Button followed with a 3-pointer before Mae Woods capped the run with a post move off the glass.
Houston's bad fortunes before the half continued on Sunday, as Tulsa scored the final four points to stop the momentum for a 24-12 lead at the break.
The Cougars began the second half matching baskets with Tulsa, and trimmed the deficit to just eight points after Button sunk a runner off the glass with 13:56 remaining.
Tulsa quickly answered with back-to-back treys to push the advantage back out to 14 points, but Button wasn't finished, posting up for a bucket before draining a deep 3-pointer as the shot clock expired to bring the contest back to within nine points.
Two separate 8-0 runs by Tulsa gave it a 19-point advantage with only 4:22 remaining, but the gutsy Cougars had one last run in them.
Alford kicked off the run with a layup and Button followed with a jumper to cut the deficit to 15. After the final media timeout, Lawson converted a layup and two free-throws and Button tacked on two more points from the charity stripe to trim the deficit back to single digits at 57-48 with 2:02 remaining.
Tulsa's Taylor Hooker followed up on the other end with a 3-point dagger with only 1:34 left to play and the Golden Hurricane would rely on free-throws the rest of the way.
Button led the Cougars with 15 points, four steals and three rebounds in 40 minutes of action. The Coppell, Texas, native managed to reach double digits for the 18th time this season after holding only three points at the half.
Lawson scored in double figures for the eighth time this season and the third-straight contest with 12 points in 24 minutes of action. The Bryan, Texas, native was 8-of-10 from the free-throw line and pulled down seven rebounds while handing out a career-high five assists.
Alford continued her strong play of late, posting 10 points off a 5-of-8 effort from the field while swatting a career-best three shots in 26 minutes. Alford, who was back in her home state of Oklahoma, scored all 10 points in the final 20 minutes after only seeing six minutes of action in the first half due to foul trouble.
The Cougars limited Tulsa to just 26 percent shooting in the first half, but the Golden Hurricane also rebounded from a cold start, shooting 42 percent in the final 20 minutes.
Tulsa outrebounded Houston by a 56-39 margin while shooting 15 more free-throw attempts.
The Cougars return to Hofheinz Pavilion to play host to Tulane at 7 p.m., on Thursday.
