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Sports

Fight to the end

Cougars end their run in the Conference-USA Championship 
with loss to Tulane

by CELENA FLORES 
The Daily Cougar

With about seven and a half minutes left in the second half of their quarterfinal match-up against top-seeded Tulane in the Conference USA Women's Championship, the Cougars stood at a crossroad.

Their best player, junior guard Tye "Triple Threat" Jackson, sat on the bench after fouling out and they were down by 10 points. Yet Houston refused to give in easily.

The ninth-seeded Cougars finished strong down the stretch, coming within two points at one time, but couldn't overcome the deficit, falling 62-55 on Friday at the Reynolds Center in Tulsa, Okla. The loss ended the Cougars' season at 9-19. 

"It was a hard fought game, but (Jackson and junior guard Whitney James) deserve all the credit," said UH head coach Joe Curl.

Tulane never trailed against Houston, thanks in large part to 20 turnovers committed by the Cougars. Four crucial turnovers down the stretch allowed the Green Wave to pull away and move on to the semi-finals, where it was defeated by Rice.

A possible Houston comeback was made even tougher when Jackson (17 points, five rebounds, four assists, three steals) fouled out with 7 minutes, 32 seconds remaining. 

Instead of crumbling, the Cougars did the exact opposite, using Jackson's absence as motivation.

"The only thing that crossed my mind in that moment was the confidence of the kids because there is no question that our basketball team feeds off of each other and I knew that we wouldn't give up an inch," Curl said.

"I didn't know if we could make a run at them like we did, but I knew that we would not stop competing. If there was a loose ball, if they had one we would have three on the floor, and I knew that with or without Tye in there… the players care about her so much that they were going to cover her back."

As Jackson cheered her team on from the bench, the duty of leader was taken on by James, who tied Jackson with a game-high of 17 points to go with seven rebounds.

"Because we don't have a lot of depth to our team, (Coach Curl) was telling me to play smart, but a couple of times I just overreacted because I didn't get a steal or a good shot down," said Jackson.

"But I am so proud of my teammates. Regardless of whatever happened I am proud of them because they really stepped it up, once I fouled out they said, ‘Tye we got this' and that's all I needed to hear."

Added Curl: "I thought Whitney really stepped up and carried us."

The Cougars went on an 8-0 run late in the game to pull within 55-53 with 3 minutes, 54 seconds remaining. The Cougars couldn't muster much more offense after that.

"This game was wide open for anyone to come in and win and Houston did a tremendous job," Tulane head coach Lisa Stockton said.

Despite the tough loss, Curl said the Cougars have nothing to be ashamed of.

"I don't have any problems with (the outcome); we played very well overall, but the thing that stood out the most was that we had great team effort," said Curl. "We played some of our best basketball (this weekend). The (girls) played with such toughness."
 

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