Volume 5, Issue 2 University of Houston
Lady Cougars have Georgia on their minds
By Christian Schmidt
Breaking News
Santa Claus may be coming to town soon, but first the Lady Cougars will have to deal with a more formidable presence as the Georgia Lady Bulldogs descend upon Hofheinz Pavilion at 7 p.m. Friday.
It will have been 13 days since Houston took the court for a game by Friday. The Lady Cougars' last game was a Dec. 8 loss to Washington in the championship game of the North Carolina State Invitational.
Junior guard Chandi Jones and the rest of the Lady Cougars will be back in action Friday. Houston meets Georgia at 7 p.m. at Hofheinz Pavilion.
Brian Viney/Breaking News
Houston is 5-3 on the young season and has won four of its last five games. The Lady Cougars are entering a difficult stretch, with games against Georgia, Texas A&M and Alabama in the next two weeks. On the bright side for UH, all three games are home contests for the Lady Cougars.
Georgia has been ranked as high as No. 5 this season, though consecutive losses to Arizona and Arizona State have dropped the Bulldogs to No. 20 in the latest Associated Press Top 25 rankings.
"They're legitimate," head coach Joe Curl said. "I think they're No. 20 today, but they are better than 20. They are extremely talented, very, very, very tall and athletic and skilled."
Houston junior guard Jones was named the Conference USA Player of the Week two weeks ago, the last time the Lady Cougars were in action. During that week, she averaged 33.3 points and 5.7 rebounds per game.
Jones is third in the NCAA in scoring with 27.4 points per game. She leads the nation in total points with 219. She leads the Lady Cougars in scoring, rebounds and steals and is second in assists.
Houston also announced the signing of three new players for the 2003-04 season. All three are frontcourt players and should help balance the guard-dominated play of Houston's roster.
"We have signed the posts we needed," Curl said.
Two of the signees are junior college players, 6-5 center Cynecia Robinson and 6-4 center Sancho Lyttle. The other is Tamara Taylor, a forward from Longview High School.
Two post players Curl was counting on this season are out with injuries, likely for the entire year. Forwards Claire Stavropoulos and Nakia Holmes are out with hip and back injuries.
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