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Sports

UH, Memphis both hope to end their losing ways

Lady Cougars bring five-game losing streak against C-USA's worst team

by RONNIE TURNER
The Daily Cougar

The UH women's basketball team doesn't have much to look forward to except the end of a dismal season. 

However, they will get a bit of relief when they hit the road to face off against Memphis, Conference USA's worst team, at 7 p.m. Friday in their second-to-last game of the regular season. 

The Cougars are mired in a five-game losing streak, but their opponent has had to endure a worse fate: The Tigers have won only one of their last 17 games and three games overall for the season. 

Memphis (3-22, 1-13 C-USA) heads into Friday's meet with a four-game losing streak, all losses coming on the road, so home should be a welcoming place for the Tigers, even though they're only 2-9 at their venue. 

The Tigers' latest loss came at the hands of Central Florida on Sunday, 77-62. Junior guard Devin Necaise gave Memphis a chance to snatch a victory with 28 points (22 in the second half), but UCF out-rebounded the Tigers 33-26 in the final period to stamp out any potential rally. 

Necaise, the team's leading scorer at 14.2 points per game, has been one of the lone bright spots for the Tigers all season, but to simply say that Memphis has had a bad campaign would be an understatement. 

It's safe to say that UH (9-16, 6-8) will be the favorite in Friday's contest, trying to obtain its first win since Feb. 3 when they defeated Rice 75-62. The Cougars had a chance to do so against Southern Methodist on Sunday in UH's final home game but succumbed 63-61 after a last-second jumper by Tye Jackson missed its mark. Jackson and freshman Sha'Ratta Hawkins combined for 37 points on 14-of-38 shooting, but UH could only muster 36 percent shooting as a team. The Cougars have been plagued by poor shooting all season as evidenced by their .354 team field goal percentage for the season, which ranks them just above Memphis in C-USA. 

After Friday's game, the Cougars will play at Alabama-Birmingham on Sunday to end the regular season. 

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