University of Houston
9-5, 1-1
Louisville
10-5, 1-1
Lady Cougars Fall To Cardinals at Freedom Hall, 90-78
1/17/2003 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jan. 17, 2003
LOUISVILLE - All-American Chandi Jones posted 35 points and 14 rebounds as the University of Houston women's basketball team dropped to Louisville 90-78 Friday night at Freedom Hall. Jones led the Lady Cougars (9-5, 1-1 C-USA) with her fourth consecutive and sixth double-double of the season, while Lori Nero led Louisville (10-5, 1-1 C-USA) with 30 points and 22 rebounds of her own.
The scoring tandem of Jones and Shondra Bush accounted for 56 of Houston's 78 points. Bush added 21 points including four three-pointers in the second half, but left the game early with five fouls. Jones, who ranks first in Conference USA and second in the nation in scoring (27.1 ppg), also posted four treys, four steals, and was 13-17 from the charity stripe.
Nero, who joined the team Dec. 18 after transferring from Auburn, was 10-17 from the floor including a perfect10-10 from the free throw line in her night of career-highs. Sara Nord also posted a double-double for Louisville, adding 13 points and 10 assists in the win. Kim Graham and Nina Simotes also scored in double figures, chipping in 12 and 14 points, respectively.
Houston established a quick 5-0 lead on a Jones trey and jumper and maintained the lead for the first seven minutes. Louisville scored six unanswered points and ran away with the lead, pulling ahead by eight with less than nine minutes remaining in the first half. Both teams traded buckets and despite Jones' 21 first-half points, Houston went to the break down by 13, 44-31.
KiKi Harris hit a jumper and nailed two free throws to begin the second half and bring the Lady Cougars within nine. Bush fired in back-to-back treys to bring Houston within five, 51-46, in the opening five minutes of the half. Louisville responded by beating Houston in the post and from behind the arc, ending up with a 17-point lead with 7:02 remaining. The Lady Cougars chipped away at the deficit but could not recover, giving the Cardinals a 90-78 win, its first C-USA victory of the season.
Louisville (10-5, 1-1 C-USA) outshot Houston 52.5 to 33.8 percent on the night and scored 34 points in the paint. The Lady Cougars posted a season-low 11 steals but scored 21 points off 16 Louisville turnovers.
The Cardinals lead the all-time series against the Lady Cougars 6-2. Like Houston, who is 6-1 at Hofheinz Pavilion, Louisville has had great success in front of its home crowd, losing only one contest at Freedom Hall this season.
The Lady Cougars, who are 1-2 on the road this season, will cross the state line into Ohio to battle Cincinnati at the Shoemaker Center Sunday afternoon. The Bearcats (12-3, 2-0 C-USA) picked up a 68-61 win over TCU Friday night in front of their home crowd. Sunday's game will be televised on ESPN2 with tip-off set for 2 p.m. CST.
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