University of Houston
3-2
Miami
5-0
Miami Defeats Women's Basketball 68-54
11/24/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Nov. 24, 2009
CORAL GABELS, Fla. - A strong second half defensive effort by the Hurricanes helped to hand the University of Houston women's basketball team its second straight defeat as Miami earned a 68-54 victory over the Cougars Tuesday in front of 2,252 fans at the BankUnited Center.
Individually, the Cougars got a the first double-double performance of the season from junior forward Lesslee Mason, who tied sophomore guard Roxana Button with a team-high 11 points, in addition to adding 11 rebounds.
Senior Ashlee Joseph and sophomore Porsche Landry also chipped in with eight points apiece for Houston.
During the first half, the Cougars struggled to find their shooting rhythm, making just 10-of-34 field goals for a shooting percentage of 29.4 percent.
The first three scores that the Cougars put on the scoreboard in the contest came virtue of the 3-point basket with Button giving the game its first score on a long range bucket with almost two minutes off the clock.
Miami built its biggest lead of the opening period at four points at 10-6 until a 3-pointer from junior guard Brittney Scott at the 14:24 mark.
Houston found a little grove on the offensive end of the court in the back end of the period, building a seven-point advantage on a Button lay-up with 2:15 to play. The Hurricanes, however, recovered prior to the end of the half and cut the visitor lead to a single point before a pair of Ashlee' Joseph free throws in the closing seconds sent the teams to the locker room with UH leading 29-26.
Following the intermission, the Hurricanes began to take control of the game; using an 8-0 run to take the lead. After regaining the edge in scoring, Miami, led by a strong perimeter defense, did not relinquish the lead for the remainder of the game.
After halftime, the Cougars were suffocated by the tough UM defense and made only nine of 32 field goals (28.1 percent) compared to the Hurricanes' 53.1 second half shooting percentage (17-of-32).
Miami guard Riquna Williams was lethal from the floor on Tuesday, making 8-of-13 shots, including four from beyond the 3-point line, to pout in a game-high 21 points.
Once again the Cougars hit the court away from home in their next time out, as over the weekend they travel to Fort Collins, Colo., to take part in the Coors Rocky Mountain Invitational hosted by Colorado State. Houston will kick off the event by facing Delaware at 6 p.m. Friday before playing either Colorado State or Texas State on Saturday.
