University of Houston Athletics
Women's Basketball Opens `Homestand' With East Carolina
1/10/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jan. 10, 2007
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Cougars Open `Homestand' With East Carolina ...
• The University of Houston women's basketball team will look to snap a two-game losing skid as they open up a string of six-straight games inside the Bayou City limits with East Carolina on Wed. at 7 p.m. CST.
• UH sits at 4-10, 1-3 in Conference USA play. ECU is 7-9 (2-1 C-USA) on the season. UH has dominated the all-time series, winning all five matchups.
• Houston dropped both games last weekend, losing on the road to Tulane (83-61) and UTEP (87-70). The score against the Miners is deceiving as the game featured 28 lead changes with UTEP pulling away in the final five minutes of the game.
• ECU has won three of the past four games, most recently a 62-46 win over UCF on Jan. 7. They opened up league play with a 73-51 win over Marshall on Jan. 2. UH lost to Marshall on Dec. 2 by a 57-41 margin. ECU has three front-line players shooting 40-percent or better from the field.
• The Cougars probable starting five is: Alona Obaze (5-5/G), Tye Jackson (5-10/G), Whitney James (5-11/F), Sunshine Misa-Uli (5-11/F) and Maya Onikute (5-5/G).
• Jackson (20.3 ppg) is UH's leading scorer. She has hit for 20-or more points in each of the last three games, including a season-best 30-point effort against Rice (Jan. 2).
• The Pirates will likely counter with Jasmine Young (5-5/G), LaCoya Terry (5-10/G), Jessica Slack (5-11/G), Cherie Mills (6-4/C) and Nicole Days (6-0/F).
• Mills (14.3 ppg) is one of three Pirates averaging double digits. Young (12.8 ppg) and Terry (10.0 ppg) are the others.
The Youngsters Are Running Amuck ...
• With the injury to Ryan Meyers and suspension of Sha'Ratta Hawkins, UH is left with just two active players who had NCAA Division I playing experience entering the season.
• Tye Jackson (20.3 ppg/6.6 rpg) and Sha'Quaylon McKinney (1.6 ppg/1.6 rpg) both suited up for the Cougars last season.
• Four players (Whitney James, Sunshine Misa-Uli, Alona Obaze, Maya Onikute) came from junior college while two (Ryan Bradley, Ashlee' Joseph) made the jump from high school.
• Senior Twiggy McIntyre played in 93 career games while at Kansas State but must sit out this season due to NCAA transfer regulations.
Free Internet Audio Stream Available To All Fans ...
• Courtesy of ISP Sports and Yahoo.com, all University of Houston women's basketball games will be available live via the internet at no cost to the Cougar faithful.
• Simply log onto www.UHCougars.com, go to the women's basketball schedule and click the audio link next to each game on the schedule to listen for free.
• Jeremy Branham returns for his second season as the play-by-play voice of the Cougars. Louis Ray will join him as a color commentator for home games at Hofheinz Pavilion.
Streaks, Storylines & Sidebars ...
• After tonight's game, UH will have its second 11-day layoff of this season. Ironically, the opponent following both long layoffs is the Rice Owls.
• With UH's 91-86 overtime win over Rice (Jan. 2), UH head coach Joe Curl earned career win number 275. He ranks fourth among active C-USA coaches with his win total.
• The Cougars snapped a season-opening, six-game losing skid with a 78-66 win over Cal State Bakersfield on Dec. 6. The streak was the longest slide to open a season in school history They have won three of their past five games.
• After opening the season with six-straight poor-shooting performances, UH has shown some shooting life of late, firing at a 35-percent or better clip in five of the past six games. UH's season-best effort of 50 percent, came in the Jan. 7 outing at UTEP (25-50).
• Houston turned the ball over a season-low eight times against Rice (Jan. 2). It was the 12th time in school history the Cougars have had single digit turnovers. The school record of five turnovers was set against Rice on Feb. 3, 2006.
• Tye Jackson, named to the Naismith Trophy watch list earlier this season, returned to game action on Dec. 6, just 20 days after undergoing arthroscopic knee surgery. In six games, she has averaged 20.3 ppg and 6.6 rpg.
• The Cougars were the last team in C-USA to have a player score 20-or more points in a game. Ryan Meyers finished with a career-best 22 against Cal State Bakersfield (Dec. 6).
• As a team, UH has shown the most improvement on the rebounding glass. Despite being outscored 1,036-853 by its opponents, UH sits at a -0.7 on the rebounding margin chart, averaging 44.2 rebounds per game.
• UH has outrebounded its opponents on the offensive boards in nine of 12 games this year. The Cougars hold a 221-187 offensive rebounding edge this year and lead C-USA, pulling down 18.21 offensive rebounds per game.
• Looking ahead, Rice and UH will play twice in the less than three weeks with a nationally-televised return game at Autry Court on Jan. 21. Houston took two of three from the Owls last season and own a 39-6 all-time series lead.
• The UH-Rice game will be televised nationally by ESPN2, the second-straight season the network will televise a game between the rivals. UH won last year's TV matchup by a 79-72 margin. Tye Jackson finished with a career-best 37 points on the evening. Bob Wischusen (play-by-play) and Nancy Lieberman (analyst) will call the action for the 3 p.m. CST tipoff.
