University of Houston Athletics
Houston Finishes Road Trip at East Carolina
2/2/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
| HOUSTON (6-15, 1-9 AMERICAN) at EAST CAROLINA (14-8, 5-6 AMERICAN) | |
|---|---|
| Home Game Tickets | BUY Tickets • Tickets Info |
| Questions? | Fan Guide |
| Date/Time | Tuesday • 6 pm CT |
| Location | Minges Coliseum • Greenville, N.C. |
| Live Video | ECUPirates.com |
| Live Audio | UHCougars.com Jeremy Branham, PxP |
| Live Stats | |
| Series History | Houston leads, 9-4 |
| Game Notes | • Houston Notes • ECU Notes • The American Notes |
| Social Media |   |
GREENVILLE, N.C. - A two-game road trip concludes on Tuesday evening for the University of Houston women's basketball team, as they face off with East Carolina University. Tipoff at Minges Coliseum in Greenville, N.C. is scheduled for 6 pm CT.
Fans who can't make the trip east to watch the Cougars in person can view a live video stream at ECUPirates.com. Also, a free live audio broadcast is available through Houston's Stretch Internet Portal, with Jeremy Branham on the play-by-play call. Live Twitter updates can be accessed throughout the game by following the official UH women's basketball account, @UHCougarWBB.
Houston comes into the game at 6-15 (1-9 American) after falling in overtime to Cincinnati, 69-66, on Jan. 31. Marche' Amerson paced Houston with 19 points, and Mariah Mitchell caught fire in the second half to add a career-high 17 points.
East Carolina (14-8, 5-6 American) rallied from a 10-point deficit with 5:50 remaining to stun Tulane on Jan. 31, 67-63. Abria Trice led the Pirates with 16 points.
Houston is 9-4 all-time against East Carolina. After not seeing each other in 2013-14, the teams squared off on Jan. 10 at Hofheinz Pavilion, with East Carolina earning an 87-46 win. Jada Payne hit her first eight shots and led ECU with 26 points, while Amerson paced the Coogs with 14 points and seven rebounds.
 | LAST TIME OUT |
JANUARY 31 • CINCINNATI 69, HOUSTON 66 • OT | Final Stats Houston and Cincinnati went to overtime for the second time this season, with the Bearcats winning again, 69-66, on Jan. 31 at Fifth Third Arena.
The Cougars were down by as many as 11 points in the second half before rallying to take a 51-49 lead on two Mitchell free throws with 7:02 left. But the game went to an extra period, where Cincinnati outscored UH, 9-6.
Amerson led the Cougars with 19 points, a personal season high for the junior in American play. The Bryan native hit six of her first seven shots.
Mitchell hit four straight 3-point attempts in the second half and finished with a career-high 17 points.
Tyler Gilbert blocked six shots, matching a career high she set in the first meeting with Cincinnati, on Jan. 7. The Cougars and Bearcats went to double overtime in that game, a 76-73 Cincinnati win at Hofheinz Pavilion.
| SHE'S BACK |
Junior Jessieka Palmer, Houston's leading scorer, returned to the lineup on Jan. 31 against Cincinnati after missing two games with an injury. In 18 minutes, Palmer tallied 11 points.
The La Marque native led Houston with four points in overtime, and she continues to pace UH with 10.1 points per game.
| JOIN THE CLUB |
Two Cougars reached statistical milestones against Tulane on Jan. 27. Alecia Smith made her 100th career 3-point field goal late in the second half. She is the seventh Cougar to reach the milestone.
Gilbert, meanwhile, tallied her 60th career block against the Green Wave. She is one of only 10 Cougars to record the feat.
| DEVELOPMENT FACILITY WEBCAM GOES LIVE |
Watch
The Cougars will have a new Basketball Development Facility to call home in 2015-16, and fans can now watch the construction of the facility live, 24 hours a day. To view progress of the construction, fans can click on uh.edu/infotech/services/webcam/.
Designed by DLR Group and Page, the new Development Center is located adjacent to Hofheinz Pavilion at the corner of Cullen Boulevard and Holman Street on the UH campus. Construction on the $25 million facility is expected to be completed by August 2015
The 53,000 square-foot facility will provide the environment that the Houston Men's and Women's Basketball student-athletes need to excel throughout the season in all areas. The first level will house a dedicated practice court for each team as well as sports performance and sports medicine areas, which will be used by both programs.
The second level will feature the teams' areas, which include locker rooms and academic/film theaters. The team rooms contain spacious, modern lockers, multiple video screens for television and comfortable furniture. The third level will hold office space for both Men's and Women's Basketball coaching and support staffs.
| COUGAR VETERANS CLIMB PROGRAM RECORD BOOKS |
Houston's junior class has three members who are making their marks on the Cougar women's basketball record books.
Smith ranks seventh in UH history with 100 career 3-pointers. She is bearing down on Roxana Button (2008-12), who knocked down 125 trifectas in her career.
Gilbert has swatted 49 shots this season, the ninth-best one-year total in UH history. She now has 68 career blocks, five behind Rosheda Hopson (1994-96) for ninth all-time.
Amerson has started 82 career games and is four short of Houston's career top-10. She is also just five treys outside the career 3-pointer list, with 71 total.
| COUGARS IN THE AMERICAN RANKINGS |
Three Cougars continue to rank among the top statistical performers in The American through games played on Feb. 1.
Palmer leads UH in scoring and ranks 25th in The American with 10.1 points per game. She's also listed in the league rebounding rankings, at 24th with 5.2 boards per game.
Gilbert ranks fourth in the league with 2.3 blocks per game, and her 6.1 rebounds are good for 16th in the league. The graduate of Hightower HS is the top-ranked Cougar in the NCAA Division I rankings. She is listed 46th in the nation in blocks per game.
Smith led the Cougars in assists in 11 straight games from Nov. 29 - Jan. 7 and again on Jan. 24 vs. Memphis. The junior ranks fifth in The American, at 3.7 assists per game, and she is also listed ninth with a 1.3 assist/turnover ratio.
In conference play, Palmer leads Houston and ranks 27th in The American with 9.9 points per game. Gilbert is the team's top rebounder, ranking eighth in the league at 7.7 boards per game.
| SERIES HISTORY vs. EAST CAROLINA |
East Carolina won their first meeting with Houston this season, 87-46, on Jan. 10 at Hofheinz Pavilion. Amerson was Houston's top performer, with 14 points and seven rebounds, while Payne scored 26 points to lead East Carolina. | Final Stats Despite the loss, Houston is 9-4 all-time against the Pirates.
Houston's last win over East Carolina came on Feb. 13, 2011, a 77-60 triumph. The victory was the 20th of the season for UH on the way to the 2010-11 Conference USA Championship. Brittney Scott scored 20 points to pace the Cougars. | Final Stats
| SCOUTING THE PIRATES |
East Carolina enters the game at 14-8 overall, and at 5-6 in The American they are aiming to get back to .500 in league play.
ECU is 5-3 at home this year, but just 1-3 at home in American games. Their win came vs. Memphis, 60-39, on Jan. 18.
The Pirates trailed Tulane by 10 points with 5:50 left in the game before storming back to take a 67-63 victory on Jan. 31. ECU ended the game on a 20-6 run. | Final Stats
Trice led East Carolina with 16 points in their win over Tulane, while I'Tiana Taylor pulled in nine rebounds.
Payne leads ECU and ranks third in The American with 16.9 points per game. Payne is a deadly 3-point shooter, canning 2.6 per game and hitting 43.5% of her shots from the perimeter. Both numbers rank in The American's top-three.
Taylor ranks second in the league at 9.9 rebounds per game.
| 2014-15 AWARDS TALLY |
Three Cougars have already earned spots on the American Athletic Conference Weekly Honor Roll this season. Gilbert was the latest to receive the honor, on Jan. 19 after pulling in 13 rebounds vs. Tulsa.
Palmer was honored on Nov. 24 after scoring a career-high 20 points in the win over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, and Mitchell took home the award on Dec. 22 after scoring 15 points in the Nicholls State victory.
Mitchell and Amerson were both honored with spots on the Athletes in Action All-Tournament Team for their play at the event. Both players averaged 8.0 points per game at the tournament, leading the Cougars to a 2-1 record.
| HOME SWEET ROAD |
In the first season of the Hughey Era, the Cougars have repeatedly demonstrated their toughness by winning difficult games away from Hofheinz Pavilion. Through Feb. 1, Houston has already won five games away from their home court, including their first American win on Jan. 3 at SMU.
Houston won just three games away from home in 2013-14, another example of new Head Coach Ronald Hughey's influence.
Hughey's team opened the season with a 46-42 road victory over North Texas on Nov. 14 in Denton, and they overcame a raucous on-campus environment to defeat Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, 68-66, on Nov. 21.
The Cougars also won two neutral site games at the Athletes in Action Classic in Lubbock. Houston took down UTSA, 56-53, on Dec. 19, and one day later they earned a 65-47 triumph over Nicholls State.
| #CHASINGGREATNESS WITH THE COUGARS |
Three student-athletes have signed to join the Houston program next season.
Chyanne Butler, a native of Costa Mesa, Calif., will transfer to Houston at the start of the spring 2015 semester and will play for the Cougars in 2015-16. The USC transfer averaged 17.0 points and 3.3 steals per game during her prep career. She was tabbed as the Class of 2014's 25th-ranked point guard by ESPN Hoopgurlz.
Sharayla Brown is a 6-3 post player out of Tulsa, Okla., and East Central HS. She averaged 12.0 points per game as East Central advanced to the championship game of the 2014 OSSAA Class 5A State Tournament.
Serithia "MoMo" Hawkins is a 5-10 guard from Moore, Okla., and Southmoore HS. She is ranked as the 69th-best Class of 2015 guard by ESPN Hoopgurlz, and she is a 3-star prospect. Led by Hawkins, Southmoore upset the top-ranked team in the state of Oklahoma, Edmond Santa Fe, on Tuesday evening.
| QUICK HITS |
- Houston set a season high with 11 steals as a team in the Cincinnati game. Amerson, Gilbert, Demetria Foreman and Mitchell each grabbed two.
- Foreman led Houston with a season-high six assists against Cincinnati.
- The Cougars had 23 bench points against Cincinnati, while the Bearcats had just eight.
- The Cincinnati game featured six lead changes and six ties.
- Houston has pulled in double-digit offensive rebounds in four straight games.
| UP NEXT FOR THE COUGARS |
Houston returns home on Saturday, Feb. 7 to host Tulsa. It's Dads & Daughters Date Day at Hofheinz, and for $15, fans can get two tickets, a hat for dads and a pink flower for daughters. Plus, a photo station will be set up for families to take a commemorative photo above the Hofheinz Pavilion court. The ticket package is available online only, so set your browser and plan to join us for Dads & Daughters Date Day! | TICKETS
| STAY CONNECTED |
Fans can receive daily information and in-game updates by following @UHCougarWBB on Twitter. Fans can also catch up with the latest news and notes on the team by clicking LIKE on the team's Facebook page at facebook.com/UHCougarWBB .
| DADS & DAUGHTERS DATE DAY |
Houston will host Dads & Daughters Date Day on Feb. 7 at the Tulsa game. Dads can purchase a ticket bundle for two online for just $15. | TICKETS
The ticket bundle includes two tickets, a special hat for dads and a pink flower for daughters. Also, a photo station will be set up for dads and their daughter to take a special picture overlooking the Hofheinz court.
| NATIONAL GIRLS AND WOMEN IN SPORTS DAY |
The Cougars will celebrate National Girls and Women in Sports Day when they host Memphis on Wednesday, Feb. 11. Houston will also hold their Coogs for the Cure event on that night, raising money for cancer awareness.
The Feb. 11 women's basketball game will be a "Pay as You Wish" event, where Cougar fans can enter the game by making a donation in the amount of their choosing. Fans are encouraged to give generously, as a portion of the proceeds will benefit the Coogs for the Cure program, which is dedicated to the fight against cancer.
All Houston women's student-athletes will be in attendance, and the Cougars will honor their achievements on and off the court throughout the night. In addition, the first 250 fans will receive a Coogs for the Cure t-shirt, and the first 1,000 fans will receive a commemorative pink pom-pom.
Fans are encouraged to join the festivities and bring their group to be a part of the fun. For more information and to register your group, please contact Daniel Foster at dfoster3@Central.uh.edu or (713) 743-9453.
| STUDENTS - CHEER ON YOUR COUGARS |
All UH main campus students are admitted FREE to regular season women's basketball home games with a valid student ID.
--UHCougars.com--
