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Sports

Rough road nears an end

Cougars look to pick up victories in final two regular season games

by JONG LEE
The Daily Cougar

It has been a tough year for the UH women's basketball team. 

The Cougars (7-17, 4-10 Conference USA) have not won a game away from Hofheinz Pavilion this season, finishing 0-13 on the road. 

The Cougars, who suffered a similar fate with a 0-12 road finish in 1999, have also lost their last six games.

In addition to their road woes, the Cougars have suited up only seven players in their last nine games because of injury and academic trouble. 

With the lack of depth, it's no wonder the team has struggled on the road.

"There has been a couple of places we've played that have been a little rough on us," head coach Joe Curl said. "I think our numbers and our depth have more to do with that than our inability to play on the road."

Luckily for the Cougars, their last two regular season games will be played at Hofheinz Pavilion. 

The final homestand starts with a matchup against Memphis at 7 p.m. tonight. 

The Tigers (4-24, 1-13 C-USA) have also endured their share of struggles and enter tonight's contest having lost 16 of their last 17 games.

On paper, Memphis looks like a cupcake, but considering how badly Houston has played lately, the Cougars can't afford to take any opponent lightly.

"This game is important to us and we need to play good basketball," Curl said. "Memphis is very athletic, even though they haven't had a lot of success. We need to try and take care of business tonight."

The Cougars will finish the regular season against Alabama-Birmingham on Saturday, but Curl doesn't plan to overlook either game.

"It's really not our style, whether it's our first game of the year or last game of the year," Curl said. 

"We want to play our best basketball. We have played some of our best basketball (lately), and we just want to play even better this weekend." 

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