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Jones leads the way as UH gets revenge

By Christian Schmidt
The Daily Cougar

After a 64-50 win against Texas Christian on Sunday afternoon, Houston head coach Joe Curl was adamant that the game had not been about payback for previous losses. Some of his players had different opinions.

Last season, the Lady Horned Frogs handed Houston its only consecutive losses of the year in the space of a week, winning those games by an average of 18.5 points.

This time around, the Lady Cougars were ready for TCUis size (the Lady Horned Frogs play two athletic 6-4 players in their starting lineup) and shooting, using a pressing defense to force 26 turnovers and get fast-break opportunities. Houston took care of the ball with just 12 turnovers.

The Lady Cougars built an early lead, going up 14-4 with 10 minutes to go in the first half. Houston never trailed in the game, and had a double-digit lead for nearly the entire second half.

"(TCU) caught us in the worst week a year ago, which is part of basketball," Curl said. "We suffered through a lot of things, we lost three players, and one of them was a very emotional loss.

"We have a lot to prove, and this was just one of 14 games that you have to prove, and weire certainly not satisfied."

Junior guard Chandi Jones posted her most complete game of the season, scoring 24 points to go with 10 rebounds, three assists, two blocks and four steals. Jones is second in the nation in scoring at 26.7 points per game.

"We talked about how they had our number last year, they beat us twice," Jones said. "We just wanted to come out and play our game, play with a lot of intensity and we did that tonight."

Sophomore guard Shondra Bush chipped in 20 in just 27 minutes coming off the bench. Junior forward Nicole Oliver had nine steals in the game, the fifth-best performance ever for a Lady Cougar.

Houston used only eight players in the game, the fewest the team has used in any game this season.

The Lady Horned Frogs were led by forward Tiffany Evans, who had 13 points, and center Sandora Irvin, who contributed 10 points and six blocked shots.

The game marked the beginning of the conference schedule for Houston, which finished second in Conference USA last season. The Lady Cougars were picked to finish fourth in the conference this season, behind Cincinnati, Tulane and Louisville.

Pre-game festivities honored last yearis squad, including the unveiling of a banner commemorating the Lady Cougarsi second-place finish in the Womenis National Invitation Tournament.

The Lady Cougars head out for a difficult road trip this weekend, facing 9-5 Louisville and 11-3 Cincinnati on Friday and Sunday respectively. Houston will face TCU again Feb. 9.

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