Houston Routs UTEP at Hofheinz
11/27/2001 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Nov. 27, 2001
Five Lady Cougars reached double figures in points and every player registered at least two points as the University of Houston Lady Cougars crushed the visiting UTEP Miners by a final of 100-52 on Tuesday (Nov. 27) night at Hofheinz Pavilion.
As the Lady Cougars shot a season-best 47 percent from the field, the 100 points scored were the most by Houston since scoring 104 points in last year's season opener against McNeese State on November 17, 2000, and the second-most since the 1995 season. In addition, the 100 points scored is just 14 points shy of breaking the all-time school record of 117 points scored against Hawai'i Pacific on December 26, 1984.
In capitalizing on 23 first-half turnovers by UTEP, Houston defensively shut down the opposition and went on an impressive 22-0 run with 7:37 remaining to further bury the Miners. From the time the Lady Cougars began their offensive attack, UTEP did not score until there were 13 seconds left in the half, and Houston entered half time with a 50-21 lead.
Sophomore Chandi Jones led Houston and recorded her first 20-point performance of the season with 23 points, and was joined by senior Valerie Muoneke (14), sophomore Courtney Pastner (11) and freshmen Sara Hinkley (12) and Shondra Bush (10) in the double-digit scoring.
Houston sophomore Nicole Oliver turned in yet another stellar defensive performance with five assists, four steals and a game-leading 10 boards, marking the second consecutive game in which she has pulled down ten-or-more boards. She currently leads the Lady Cougars with 33 total rebounds for an average of 8.3 per contest.
With the win Houston improves to 4-0 lifetime against UTEP.
The Lady Cougars are now 3-1 overall on the season. They travel to Evanston, Illinois, this weekend to participate in the Northwestern Tournament hosted by Northwestern University. They will face LaSalle in the first round on Friday, Nov. 30 at 6 p.m. (CT), and then either Northwestern or Hofstra on Saturday, Dec. 1 at either 6 or 8 p.m. (CT).