University of Houston Athletics
University of Houston
Charlotte
Lady Cougars Defeat Charlotte in Halton Arena
1/27/2002 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jan. 27, 2002
Houston came out strong from tip off and set the tone for the game, building a quick 9-0 lead before Charlotte's Adrienna Jordan nailed the first of two free throws to put the 49ers on the board with 15:41 left in the opening half as the Lady Cougars cruised to a 66-56 victory over C-USA opponent Charlotte at Halton Arena in Charlotte, N.C., on Sunday (Jan. 27) afternoon.
Though Charlotte capitalized on nine first-half fouls by Houston in notching 11 points off free throws to get back into the game, freshman Shondra Bush came of the bench and led the Lady Cougars' resurgence with nine of their last 13 points as they held off the 49ers and entered the locker room with a 33-27 half-time lead.
The Lady Cougars opened up the second half with an 8-0 run to go up, 41-27, before Charlotte's Monica League made a lay up with 15:25 left. Houston outscored the 49ers 20-10 and had a lead as large as 53-37 with 8:16 left before Charlotte once again began to pick away at the Lady Cougars defense to pull to within 10 points at 43-53. Sophomore Chandi Jones stole the ball from Charlotte's Alicia Abernathy and ran down the court for a two-point jumper to put the Lady Cougars back on top by 12 with 3:35 left.
After a lay-up by Abernathy, Houston then went to score their next seven points off free throws while Charlotte bucketed 11 to pull to within eight points (56-62) with 18 seconds left. Senior post player Rosalind Carter, who has started each of the last four games for Houston, nailed each of her four free throws in the closing 18 seconds as Houston held on for the victory.
Four Lady Cougars wrapped up the afternoon with double figures in points, led by Jones with a game-high 19, followed by Carter (12), Bush (12) and junior Angela Curl. Carter also racked up her first double-double performance of the season with a career-high 12 boards to accompany her 12 points. Fellow post player Valerie Muoneke nabbed eight boards, and Jones had a game-high six assists.
The win was the Lady Cougars' season-high fifth in a row, their longest such streak since posting six consecutive victories during the 2000-01 campaign from Jan. 7-Feb. 2. Today's win was also their fourth straight over a Conference USA opponent, the most C-USA victories in a row since the unprecedented six straight victories during the 2000-01 streak.
Houston's record now rests at 14-5 overall on the year, including 4-2 in C-USA action.
Houston travels to Birmingham, Ala., to take on the UAB Blazers next Friday, Feb. 1, with tip-off at 7:00 p.m. (CT), then travel to Tampa, Fla., to play the South Florida Bulls on Sunday, Feb. 3, at 2:00 p.m. (ET) .
