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Glass slipper off UH

Improbable season ends with loss vs. UCSC in 2nd round

By Christian Schmidt
The Daily Cougar

SANTA BARBARA, CALIF. - In the end, Chandi Jones simply couldn't do enough to will her team to a win. It took the senior guard four years to get to the NCAA Tournament and a second-round loss to No. 11 seed California-Santa Barbara was not in the plan.

But that's just what happened. The Lady Cougars fell 56-52 to the Lady Gauchos on Monday night at the NCAA Women's Basketball East Regional Game at the Gauchos' Thunderdome, ending Houston's first NCAA tournament run in 12 years and ending the storied career of UH's Jones. She and fellow senior Nicole Oliver took a team that did not have a winning season since 1991-92 and to heights it had never seen, including the program's first-ever NCAA Tournament win and the program's best season.

"Before me and Nicole got here, the record wasn't that great," Jones said. "But coming here and working hard and pushing all our teammates to get to where we have today, I think it's remarkable ... We just hope we leave a winning tradition behind."

For the second time in as many games, things looked bleak at halftime. The Lady Cougars' shot just 29 percent and were outrebounded 22 to 17 in the first 20 minutes as they trailed 24-20 going into the locker room.

The opening of the second half was scarcely more promising than the close of the first for Houston. Santa Barbara opened its lead up to as many as 10 points before Houston stormed back behind Jones and junior forward Sancho Lyttle, who scored all the points on a 13-2 run that gave UH a 36-35 lead with 11 minutes left.

The game went back and forth during the next eight minutes, with four lead changes and a tie. The Lady Cougars trailed 51-46 when Lyttle fouled out with 2:52 left on the clock. Little, who was held to only 15 points, declined comment on the call.

Seconds later, Jones cut the deficit to just a single point with two free throws, but a jump shot by Lady Gauchos forward Kristen Mann and two free throws by senior guard April McDivitt gave the Lady Gauchos a 55-50 lead that proved to be enough. UH point guard Joann Overstreet made two free throws to bring the Lady Cougars to within three.

But an off-balance three-point attempt by Jones with five seconds remaining missed and Santa Barbara forward Lisa Willett was fouled with 2.1 seconds to go. Willett made the first attempt and missed the second. A desperation heave by Houston's Harris was well wide of the basket.

"I thought they really brought it to us," Houston head coach Joe Curl said. "I thought our offensive ineptitude at times was because of their intensity and emotion."

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