University of Houston Athletics
Lady Cougar basketball ready for Southern Miss.
2/5/2004 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Feb. 5, 2004
HOUSTON - The University of Houston women's basketball team, looking for win number 18 of the season, hosts Southern Mississippi Friday night at 7 p.m. at Hofheinz Pavilion.
Friday nights game is the first of two over the weekend for Houston, who will take on Tulane Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. Sunday's game will be broadcast on ESPN regionally on either ESPN or ESPN2.
The Lady Cougars (17-3, 6-1 C-USA) are currently tied for second place in Conference USA at 6-1. percentage points behind 7-1 DePaul. With two games to play over the weekend, Houston head coach Joe Curl encouraged fans to catch the action.
"I'm really excited about how the year has gone so far," Curl said. "Getting people to come out and watch us play is simple math for me. We have seven games left and five of them are at Hofheinz Pavilion. There are just five chances left for people to come and see Chandi Jones, Nicole Oliver and Amanda Barksdale (all seniors) play at home."
Jones is one of the nations premiere players and is among national leaders in scoring and steals while Oliver has been one of the best defensive players to don the Lady Cougar uniform. Barksdale, despite playing just this one season with the University of Houston, has been a key component to the Lady Cougar success.
Curl also added that a Lady Cougar game is one of the best forms of entertainment a person can find in the city of Houston.
"It's great family entertainment," he said. It's exciting, and it's fun. To get the chance to see a top 25 team play, the value versus what you get is amazing."
Several promotions will be running during the weekend's games. Friday night is National Women in Sports night and Sunday is Take a Kid to the Game day. The first 500 fans to the game Sunday will receive cougar head tattoos. Additionally, Lady Cougar trading card sets will be given out at each of the next four home games.
