Student Publications
University of Houston
151C Communications Bldg
Houston, TX 77204-4015
713.743.5350

©1991-2007
Student Publications,
All rights reserved.

Last modified:

Contact:
ktruitt@uh.edu

Sports
 

A little game of cat and mouse

Houston beats crosstown rival, picks up its fourth consecutive win

By ARICA JEFFERSON
The Daily Cougar

Either catch or get caught, were the two choices the UH women's basketball team had Sunday at Hofheinz Pavilion. With a 79-72 victory over Conference USA opponent and hometown rival Rice, Houston decided to go bird hunting.

Sophomore guard Tye Jackson had a career night with 37 points, and ended up the top individual scorer for C-USA. She scored the first basket of the game and of the second half, proving her 14 for 29 shooting was needed.

"Ever since I've been playing, Coach (Curl) has been telling me ‘look to score then pass,' so today I had that mindset to look to score first," Jackson said.

Jackson also finished with five turnovers, which was a far cry from the 12 she stacked up in the 54-45 East Carolina University victory Friday.

Coach Joe Curl could do nothing but praise the ladies for their win. The lady Cougars came in with a 3-7 pre-conference record, and according to Curl, those losses broke the team's confidence, but didn't break the team.

"This was a player's game. Absolutely a player's game. They showed a hunger we were really pleased with. The players deserve all the credit," Curl said. 

At the beginning of the second half, Rice guard Krystal Frazier, who finished the game with 23 points, began play with a three, pushing the Owl's lead to 38-40. No sooner did Curl call a timeout and call the ladies play "not acceptable."

UH came out of the timeout and scored eight baskets to catch and pass Rice. But no baskets were bigger and held more momentum than the three back-to-back-to-back three-pointers by freshman guard Sha'Ratta Hawkins, which gave the Lady Cougars a ten-point lead they would need to close the game.

"Somehow in the first half I never make anything, so I know the second half I'm going to make something," Hawkins said of her three-point performance. "(My team) knows, if I make one, I'm about to go on a roll so I just let it go." 

Hawkins finished the game with 17 points, six rebounds, and five steals. Jackson wasn't the only Lady Cougar who brought her A-game for Rice. Senior forward Emily Fryters also had a career night with her first recorded double-double. She had 10 points and a career high 14 rebounds. 

Freshman guard Nakazi Glover tied her career best in rebounds with nine and added seven points to the pot.

Rice post players sophomore forward Valeriya Berezhynska and preseason C-USA Player of the Year, junior forward Lauren Neaves, came close to double-doubles, but were a rebound off. Berezhynska finished with 15 points and Neaves, two for eight from the field, had 10. Both players pulled nine boards a piece.

The Lady Cougars return to action next weekend with a pair of conference games on the road and travel to SMU for a 7 p.m. bout on Friday before heading to Tulsa Sunday. The ladies will be back home to battle Tulane at 7 p.m. Friday Jan. 27. 

Send comments to dcsports@mail.uh.edu