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University of Houston Athletics
Houston Hosts Rice in First Round of WNIT
3/13/2002 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
March 13, 2002
The University of Houston Lady Cougars, who recently wrapped up the regular season have received a bid to compete in this year's Women's National Invitational Tournament (WNIT), host cross-town rival Rice in the first round of the annual tournament tonight (March 13) at 7:00 p.m. at Hofheinz Pavilion.
The match-up between the Lady Cougars and the Lady Owls marks the first since 1996, the final year both were members of the Southwest Conference, when the two schools split the two-game season series. Houston won the first game at Hofheinz, 97-77, and Rice took the second, 70-57, on February 10, 1996. The Lady Cougars are 35-5 lifetime against the Lady Owls since 1976, including 16-2 at Hofheinz Pavilion.
This year also marks the first time the Lady Cougars have made back-to-back trips to the post-season since the 1990-91 (WNIT) and 1991-92 (NCAA) seasons and their third trip to the WNIT. Overall, Houston is a combined 1-5 in post-season games, including 1-3 in the WNIT. Last year, the Lady Cougars fell to the New Mexico Lobos by a final of 72-49 in the first round in Albuquerque, N.M.
Houston advanced to the semifinals of the WNIT in 1991 by defeating Northern Illinois in the first round before suffering back-to-back losses to Indiana and Kansas to finish in fourth place.
In addition, with Houston's men's basketball team set to play Vanderbilt tonight in the first round of the 2002 Men's NIT Tournament, this season marks the first time in 10 years that both of Houston's men's and women's basketball teams have participated in post-season play in the same season. Following stellar performances during the 1991-92 campaigns, both Cougar teams made appearances in the NCAA Tournament and fell to their respective opponents in the first round.
The Lady Cougars' 2001-02 season is among the best in school history, with their current .759 winning percentage tied as the best ever and their seven losses tying the 1987-88 squad for the second-fewest in the Lady Cougars' 27-year history. They earned a first-round bye as the No. 2 seed at this year's Conference USA Women's Basketball Tournament, their highest league finish in school history, and defeated Charlotte in the quarterfinal round on March 2 before falling to eventual C-USA Champ Cincinnati in the semifinals on March 3.
Tickets to the game are available at www.uhcougars.com, at the UH Ticket Office located in the Athletics/Alumni Center on the UH campus and by calling (713) GO-COOGS (462-6647). General admission prices are $6 for adults and $4 for UH/Rice students, and youths 18 years of age and under.
For group information, please call (713) 743-9444.
