by Chris Peöa
Daily Cougar StaffDALLAS -- The UH Lady Cougars came into the 1996 Dr Pepper Southwest Conference Classic with the intention of starting their season from scratch.
The thought of upsetting Southern Methodist, the No. 3 seed, in the first round was not that far out of the realm of possibility for the talented but struggling Cougars.
But after losing nine of their last 11 games, the Cougars undoubtedly saw SMU as the team to beat.
So guess who walked into Moody Coliseum from the cold Dallas air, stole its biggest win of the season and earned a second-round tangle with Texas Tech Friday at 6 p.m. in Reunion Arena?
Houston made up for an 11-12 regular season with an 81-76 victory over the Mustangs (19-10).
"It's been a long time since I've been able to smile like this," Houston coach Jessie Kenlaw said. "I'm very proud of the way our young ladies played today."
The Cougars (now 12-15 overall) went into halftime trailing 28-25, but in the next 20 minutes, they showed the mettle and determination that they had been lacking all season.
With guards Fleceia Comeaux and Tanda Rucker en fuego, the Cougars stormed back in the second half to take control of the game and turn an apparent SMU victory into heartbreak for the Mustangs.
Rucker connected on four straight three-point shots; her third trey put the Cougars up 65-59 with five minutes, 21 seconds remaining in the game.
But SMU would not give up. The Mustangs cut the Houston lead to 67-65 and looked like they were ready to regain control of the game.
The only problem was that they forgot to tell Tanda Rucker. The senior point guard stepped up, and let it be known that she wasn't done for the day.
She continued her blazing shooting as she connected on her fourth consecutive three-pointer -- this time putting the Lady Cougars up 70-65 with two minutes, 54 seconds left.
Comeaux was also on fire in the second half; she scored 23 of her 25 points in the half -- her second straight 25-point performance.
Comeaux was 6-of-8 from the field, including 3-of-5 from behind the arc. But probably most importantly, the sophomore guard was 10-for-10 from the free-throw line, and six of her free throws came when the Cougars needed them most: in crunch time.
Comeaux said she just hoped for divine intervention at the charity stripe.
"Each time I went to the free-throw line, I prayed," Comeaux said. "I was hoping He would help me, and He did."
Kenlaw said she had a good feeling about the game.
"I knew what we were capable of," Kenlaw said. "I could see it in their eyes. I knew they were ready to play.
"Our focus now is on this tournament. We still have confidence and belief in ourselves."
SMU was led by senior center Kim Brundgart, who almost single-handedly could have won the game for the Mustangs. Brundgart scored 19 in the second half, and finished the game with a team-high 25 points, to go along with eight rebounds.
SMU coach Rhonda Rompola said although it was Houston's day, her team was never totally out of the game.
"That was one of the best games I've seen Houston play in a long time," she said. "The difference in the game was in the second half when we had a defensive lapse.
"We lost sight of their shooter, and whenever we made a run, they made a run of their own. We didn't do a good job of guarding No. 3 (Comeaux) and No. 15 (Rucker)."
Houston forward Pat Luckey, who came into the tournament leading the SWC in scoring with 22 points per game, did not start the game, because Kenlaw has a policy that any player that misses any part of practice the day before a game, cannot start.
Luckey had a test to take Tuesday before the team came to Dallas. She finished with 10 points, along with seven rebounds in 29 minutes of action.