Sports
 

UH falls to Lady Cardinals in OT

Winning streak ends at 10 for Lady Coogs after Houston defeats Cinninati on Friday

By Christian Schmidt
The Daily Cougar

Teams don't usually get a second chance. When a last-second foul call was waved off, preventing Louisville from getting a chance to beat Houston in regulation, the Lady Cougars had a chance to win in overtime. 

Unfortunately for Houston, they couldn't take advantage of the opportunity — the Lady Cougars fell 77-75 in overtime Sunday at Hofheinz Pavilion.

The loss drops Houston to 15-3 overall and 4-1 in Conference USA. Louisville climbed to 11-8 overall and 3-3 in C-USA with the win.

The Lady Cougars led 26-22 at halftime, but Louisville, led by the play of senior point guard Sara Nord, led for most of the second half. All 16 of her points came in the second half and overtime. Nord also had a game-high 13 assists, grabbed four steals and was a perfect eight-for-eight from the free-throw line.

"I said before the season that I thought Sara Nord was the best point guard in this league," Houston head coach Joe Curl said. "I still think that, and today she looked like the best point guard in the league."

Houston closed the gap from 64-59, scoring the final five points of regulation to tie the game at 64. Junior point guard Joanne Overstreet hit two free throws to narrow the gap to 64-61, then stole the ball and passed to senior guard Chandi Jones for a three-pointer to tie the game.

Louisville drove the length of the floor and junior guard Angel Bradley missed a layup. Bradley then got her own rebound and tried to put up a shot before the buzzer. Junior forward/center Sancho Lyttle was called for a foul on her block attempt — but officials reviewed the shot on a courtside TV monitor and ruled no foul had occurred, sending the game into overtime.

"I thought there was no foul," Lyttle said. "The ball left her hand before I even touched it."

Houston had three leads in the overtime period after falling behind when Nord hit a three-pointer 11 seconds into the extra period. Louisville double-teamed Jones every time she had the ball, and she was limited to two points during the overtime period. When Lyttle fouled out with 34 seconds remaining, UH's last chance seemed to leave with her.

"We just didn't get it done on defense," Curl said. "To tell you the truth, I think we were a little lethargic in the overtime. Another way of saying that is we played soft."

Lyttle had a solid game, leading the Lady Cougars in scoring with 25 points and 15 rebounds. Jones had 20 points and seven rebounds in the loss.

"We fought a good fight, but I guess today just wasn't our day," Lyttle said. "We just need more people to step up when other players aren't."

The Lady Cougars beat Cincinnati 60-56 on Friday in a game that was back and forth until the end, when senior guard Nicole Oliver sunk two free throws — her only points of the game — with three seconds remaining to ensure a Houston victory. With the win, Houston tied the program record for longest win streak with 10, a streak that was snapped with Sunday's loss to Louisville.

Houston trailed 32-29 at halftime Friday but roared back in the second half to take the lead. The game was still in doubt until Jones stole the ball, drew a foul and made one of two free throws, giving the Lady Cougars a one-point lead, a lead they never surrendered.

Freshman guard Karen Twehues came off the bench to score 20 points and made six of her nine attempts from behind the three-point arc. 

Jones led the Lady Cougars with 23 points and Lyttle was second on the team with 19.

The Lady Cougars take the floor again at 6 p.m. Friday on the road at South Florida.

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