University of Houston Athletics
University of Houston
Southern Miss
Lady Cougars Wrap Up Weekend with Win Over Southern Miss
2/10/2002 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Feb. 10, 2002
For the second straight game, the University of Houston Lady Cougars took control in the second half en route to winning their 17th game of the season in handing Conference USA rival Southern Miss a 65-57 defeat on Sunday (Feb. 10) afternoon at Hofheinz Pavilion.
Freshman KiKi Harris put Houston on the board first with a lay up within the first 15 seconds of the ball game and after the Golden Eagles tied the score just 48 seconds later, both teams battled back and forth. With Southern Miss down by just one point (13-12) with 11:44 left to the half, freshman Shondra Bush sunk a three-pointer which sparked the lady Cougars to a 8-0 run as they pulled away and built a 21-12 lead.
A three-pointer by Southern Miss' La'Tasha Sumerall with 6:49 left capped off a12-2 scoring drive for the Golden Eagles, as they managed to pull to within one point (23-22) , and a two-point jumper by Victoria Mason about a minute later gave the Golden Eagles a 24-23 advantage, which would prove to be their only lead of the day.
Houston once again scrapped for a lead, and after Southern Miss ties the game at 30 a piece with 25 seconds remaining to the half, the Lady Cougars drove down the court and after being fouled, Harris went to line and missed both free throws as the Lady Cougars and Golden Eagles entered half-time tied, 30-30.
Just as the game began, after Houston scored first to tip-off the second half .The game went back and forth in the opening two minutes until the Lady Cougars broke it open with a 16-3 run while shutting down the Golden Eagles to go up by the 13 points (48-35) for their largest margin of the day. Leading Houston's scoring drive was freshman Ashley Cotton with seven points.
With 38 seconds left in regulation and Houston up, 61-54, sophomore All-American candidate Chandi Jones, who wrapped up the day with a game-leading 21 points in shooting 50 percent from the field, was fouled and made one of two free throws to put Houston back on top by eight (62-54) before Sumerall nailed the last of her three-pointers to pull the Golden Eagles to within five. Jones was fouled yet again with just nine seconds left and made her 20th and 21st points of the day as the Lady Cougars held on for the 65-57 win.
Joining Jones in double figures was Cotton, who finished the day shooting 3-of-5 from the field for a career-high 12 points, and fellow freshman Bush, who bucketed 11 points. Senior Valerie Muoneke pulled down a team-leading 11 boards--the sixth time she has registered 10-or-more rebounds in a game this season--and sophomore Nicole Oliver had 10 rebounds. Muoneke also tied her career high with four blocks.
With the win, the Lady Cougars improve to 17-6 overall on the season, including 7-3 in C-USA action, and are just two wins shy of attaining 19, their total of a year ago. They have won seven of their last eight C-USA games, and eight of their last nine overall.
Next weekend will mark the Lady Cougars' final road trip of the regular season, as they travel to St. Louis to take on the Saint Louis Billikens on Friday, Feb. 15, at 7:00 p.m., then head to Memphis to face the Memphis Tigers on Sunday, Feb. 17, at 2:00 p.m. Both games can be heard live in Houston on KGB 1540 AM Radio, as well as via the internet at www.tsrnsports.com.
