Sports
 

UH escapes with win in 1st round

Lady Coogs earn first NCAA tourney win, will face No. 11 seed UC-Santa Barbara

By Christian Schmidt
The Daily Cougar

SANTA BARBARA, CALIF. -- Senior Nicole Oliver couldn't help the grin that split her face as she held the ball and let the last few seconds tick off the clock, sealing the Lady Cougars' first-ever victory in the NCAA tournament, a 62-47 win over Wisconsin-Green Bay on Saturday in the first round of the NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament.

The Lady Cougars, the No. 3 seed in the East bracket, will face No. 11 seed California-Santa Barbara in the second round at 8 p.m. tonight in Santa Barbara, Calif. The Lady Gauchos beat Colorado 76-49 Saturday on their home court.

Oliver had reason to be happy. She and fellow senior Chandi Jones came to UH four years ago with dreams of leading the program to new heights. With Houston's first-ever conference championship, first appearance in the NCAA tournament in 12 years and the program's first-ever win in the tournament, they are well on their way.

Indeed, Oliver's contribution was crucial to the win. Oliver scored 11 points on four of nine shooting. She was three-for-eight on three-point attempts, and her defense held UWGB's leading scorer in check.

But Oliver and her teammates had little cause for smiling at halftime. The Lady Cougars trailed Wisconsin-Green Bay 27-25 after leading for nearly the entire first half. Junior forward Sancho Lyttle spent much of the first half on the bench after picking up her second foul with 12:55 left in the first half.

Houston opened the second half with a 12-2 run and never looked back, ending the game with the team's largest lead of the game, the 11th time this season the Lady Cougars have overcome a halftime deficit to win.

"For us it was a tale of two different halves," head coach Joe Curl said. "I felt the second half was ours."

Houston took an early lead in the game and led by as many as nine points before the Phoenix closed the half with a 10-0 run to take a 27-25 lead. Junior forward Mary Kulenkamp tied the game at 25 with a lay-up after stealing an inbound pass. Junior guard Abby Scharlow's lay-up with seven seconds remaining in the first half gave the Lady Phoenix the halftime lead.

Then it became Chandi time. The Lady Cougars needed a superstar effort from Jones, and the senior guard delivered, particularly in the second half, when she scored 18 of her 28 points. She also had five rebounds.

"I have the mindset going into the second half that I think I need to do a little bit more then I did the first half for my teammates," Jones said.

Freshman center Nicole Soulis led the way for the Lady Phoenix with 13 points. Scharlow was held to eight points, well below her season average of 16.7 per game. Houston held UWGB to 28.6 percent shooting for the game and 23.8 percent shooting from behind the arc. The Lady Phoenix scored a season-low 47 points.

Curl used nine players in the game and gave significant minutes to some backups who have received little time in recent weeks. Sophomore forward Emily Fryters played eight minutes in the first half in relief of Lyttle and junior guard Crystal Simpson played 13 minutes.

The Lady Gauchos could be a formidable opponent for the Lady Cougars. In a drubbing of No. 6 seed Colorado Saturday, they used their size -- senior center Lindsay Taylor is 6-8 -- and explosive guard play from senior April McDivitt and junior Mia Fisher.

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