University of Houston
3-7
Miami
8-4
Women's BasketBall Stuns Miami 82-73
12/19/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Dec. 19, 2006
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HOUSTON - Tye Jackson's (Houston, Texas/Westfield HS/Purdue) double double paced an impressive performance by the University of Houston women's basketball team as it knocked off an eight-win Miami team 82-73 on Guy V. Lewis Court at Hofheinz Pavilion Tuesday.
Houston (3-7) was playing without its leading rebounder as Ryan Meyers (Arlington, Texas/Arlington HS/Grayson County CC) will miss the rest of the season with a hand injury. Meyers, averaging nearly 10 boards per game, was injured at the Women of Troy Classic last weekend in Los Angeles.
Jackson finished with a team high 21 points and 10 rebounds, the third double double of her career. Sha'Ratta Hawkins (Houston, Texas/ Jesse Jones HS) added 16 points and nine boards off the bench.
UH's inside game was in full force, winning the battle of the boards, 52-37, 22-12 on the offensive glass, earning 22 points off those offensive rebounds. UH also tallied 28 points in the paint to Miami's 20 and tied a season low with 14 turnovers.
Sunshine Misa-Uli (Honolulu, Hawai'i/Farrington HS/Barton County CC) finished with 12 points and nine boards while Alona Obaze (Dallas, Texas/Bryan Adams HS/Trinity Valley CC) also finished with 12. Sha'Quaylon McKinney (Dallas, Texas/Skyline HS/Trinity Valley CC) added a career-best seven points.
Houston took the lead for good 1:13 into the second period on a three-point play by Whitney James (Edmond, Okla./Edmond Memorial HS/N. Oklahoma College). James made a layup underneath while being fouled and converted the free throw, giving UH a three-point cushion at 42-39 with 18:47 left.
That play was on the front end of a 22-9 run by UH that was capped by a pair of threes from Obaze on consecutive possessions with 9:53 left, giving UH an 11-point lead, 59-48. Miami brought the lead down to four with a 9-2 run that was all Renee Taylor to trail 61-57 with 7:28 left. A 7-0 run going the other way for the Cougars slammed the door, giving UH a 68-57 lead with 5:16 remaining. Houston would keep the lead in double-digits for the rest of the game until a three by Taylor, her seventh of the night, went in with three seconds left, making the final margin 82-73.
Taylor set a Hofheinz Pavilion record with 42 points, the most ever by a UH opponent. The previous best for an opponent was Tamika Whitmore's 38, set on Feb. 21, 1997. Pat Luckey's 43 points on Jan. 13, 1996 remains the overall arena standard. Taylor set a school record on a 13-for-24 shooting night, with seven three pointers and a 9-for-9 effort at the charity stripe. The only other Miami player in double figures was Maurita Reid with 11. Brittany Denson grabbed 10 rebounds.
UH and Miami were knotted at 37 at the break, with UH getting to the free throw line 10 times and using some strong inside play to hang with a Miami squad that knocked down seven threes in the half. Taylor had four of the triples herself, finishing with 16 points.
The Hurricanes started the game on a 7-0 run, with all seven points coming from Taylor. The Cougars withstood the first onslaught and battled to tie it up at 13 with 14:11 remaining. Miami continued to press, moving out to a five-point lead at 27-22 with 9:44 left, but UH went on an 8-3 run to knot it up at 30 with 5:50 left. The teams traded 7-0 runs over the final five minutes of the half and Jackson split a pair of free throws with 49 seconds left to square it up for the fifth time at 37 apiece.
Houston has a quick turnaround for its next game, heading to Charlotte to take on the former Conference USA rival at 6 p.m. CST, Thursday in Halton Arena.
