University of Houston Athletics
Cougars Head East to Face East Carolina
1/12/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Greenville, N.C. â€" The Houston Cougar Women's Basketball team heads out on the road following a two-game home stand when it meets East Carolina on Thursday, Jan. 14 in Greenville, N.C. Tipoff for the American Athletic Conference matchup is scheduled for 6 p.m., and will air live on the American Digital Network.
Fans who can't join the Cougars in North Carolina on Thursday, can follow the game through a variety of outlets. Live video is available courtesy of The American Digital Network. Free live audio is available at UHCougars.com/wbbradio, with Jeremy Branham on the call. Also, will provide an up-to-the-second numerical breakdown, while the official Twitter account of Houston Women's Basketball, @UHCougarWBB, will post periodic updates. LIVE VIDEO | LIVE AUDIO | | TWITTER
Houston (4-12, 0-5) dropped a heartbreaking decision, 50-48, to SMU in their most recent game on Sunday. Sophomore guard Chyanne Butler led the Cougars with career highs in points (17) and steals (seven), while senior Jessieka Palmer also added 10 points, and freshman Serithia Hawkins collected a team-high eight rebounds.
Houston led more than 32 minutes in the contest, but the lead was cut to 44-43 with just 2:12 to play before SMU forward Keely Froling hit a jumper to give SMU the advantage. The teams traded buckets for the final two minutes, and Houston forced a turnover with just 29 seconds to play and the game tied at 48. Junior guard Kierra Graves had a clean look at a three-pointer with six seconds remaining, but just missed. The rebound came out to Mustang guard Gabrielle Wilkins who was fouled on the rebound. Wilkins would make her two free throws to give SMU the 50-48 win.
East Carolina (7-9, 1-3) snapped an eight game losing streak on Jan. 7 when they defeated UCF 71-56 in Orlando, Fla. The Pirates opened the 2015-16 campaign with five straight wins, but have since gone 2-9 since a Nov. 26 loss to Creighton in the Lone Star Showcase.
THE STARTING FIVE
Here are five names, numbers, news items and storylines that you need to know about Houston's game against East Carolina.
SERIES OF STREAKS â€" Houston won the first eight meetings in the series from Jan. 25, 2002 until Feb. 28, 2009. Since then the Pirates have claimed five of the last six meetings including a current four-game winning streak.
LAST TIME FOR A WHILE â€" Following the matchup against East Carolina, Houston will get a well-deserved break. The Cougars will not play again until Wednesday, Jan. 20 against Tulsa.
SEE YOU AGAIN â€" 2015-16 marks just the second season in which the two squads have met twice in the same year. During the 2014-15 season ECU and Houston meet on the hardwood twice for the first time.
Marche' Amerson â€" After scoring six points in the 50-48 loss against SMU, Marche' Amerson is now just 23 points shy of becoming the third 1,000 point scorer in Houston history
WHERE THEY LEFT OFF â€" Seniors Jessieka Palmer and Marche' Amerson each had big games the last time Houston met ECU on the hardwood. Palmer scored 13 points, while Amerson tallied 11 points and seven rebounds on Feb. 3, 2015.
HOUSTON ONE-SHOTS
Here's the one thing you need to know about each member of the Houston roster:
#1 - Chyanne Butler - Registered career bests in points (17) and steals (seven) in the team's 50-48 loss to SMU on Jan. 10.
#2 - Jacqueline Blake - Blake exploded for her first career double-double Dec. 7 at Incarnate Word with 11 points and 13 rebounds.
#3 - Bianca Winslow â€" Tallied a career-high six assists while playing extended minutes in the team's 76-37 loss to UConn on Jan. 9
#5 - Dionna Collins - A finalist for the 2014-15 WBCA Junior College Player of the Year award, Collins will redshirt in 2015-16 due to NCAA transfer requirements.
#10 - Cenecia Newman - Newman was instant offense at the Lone Star Showcase, scoring 12 points in just 20 minutes of court time.
#12 - Brianne Coffman - Coffman will redshirt in 2015-16 due to NCAA transfer requirements. She spent her first two collegiate seasons at Oklahoma State.
#15 - Alecia Smith - Smith graduated with a B.S. in kinesiology Dec. 17. Later that night, she scored six points in Houston's win over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.
#21 - Jessieka Palmer - Palmer erupted for six 3-pointers and a career-best 25 points against No. 24/23 George Washington on Nov. 26.
#22 - Marche' Amerson - Amerson needs 27 points to become the 23rd member of Houston's 1,000-point club.
#23 - Serithia Hawkins - Hawkins earned her second career double-double in the team's 75-66 loss to Temple. She tallied 12 points and 10 boards with two assists.
#24 - Mariah Mitchell - Mitchell finished just one rebound shy of her first career double-double when she scored 11 points with nine boards against Temple.
#25 - Kierra Graves - Graves matched a career-high when she scored 12 points to finish as one of four Cougars in double-figures against Temple.
#32 - Sharayla Brown - Brown scored the first four points of her collegiate career Nov. 26 against No. 24/23 George Washington and made her first start Dec. 5 at Rice.
#33 - Tyler Gilbert â€" Exploded for a game-high 16 points in the team's 76-37 loss against No. 1/1 UConn, leading all scorers.
#35 - Taylor Gilbert - Gilbert received a medical hardship redshirt due to career-ending knee injuries. She remains on scholarship and is an active part of team functions.
LAST TIME OUT • JAN. 10, 2016 • SMU 50, HOUSTON 48 | Final Stats
Houston dropped its sixth straight contest, falling to SMU 50-48 on Jan. 10, inside Hofheinz Pavilion.
Sophomore guard Chyanne Butler exploded for career highs in points with 17 and steals with seven. Senior guard Jessieka Palmer had a big night offensively with 10 points, while freshman Serithia Hawkins added eight rebounds.
Houston started strong in the contest and jumped out to a 19-13 lead at the end of the first quarter. The strong play continued throughout the rest of the contest as the Cougars led for over 32 minutes in the game.
SMU was able to outscore Houston 26-17 in the second half to claim the win. The Cougars led 44-43 with just 2:12 to play before SMU forward Keely Froling hit a jumper to give SMU the lead.
The teams traded buckets for the final two minutes, and Houston forced a turnover with just 29 seconds to play and the game tied at 48. Junior guard Kierra Graves had a clean look at a three-pointer with six seconds remaining, but just missed. The rebound came out to Mustang guard Gabrielle Wilkins who was fouled on the rebound. Wilkins would make her two free throws to give SMU the 50-48 win.
SERIES VS. EAST CAROLINA
Thursday's game marks the 16th time the two squads will meet dating back to when East Carolina and Houston were each in Conference USA. The two teams first met on Jan. 25, 2002, a 61-60 win for the Cougars in Greenville, N.C.
Houston opened the series with East Carolina as winners of the first eight contests, but have since gone 1-5 over the last six games.
The series has been one of streaks over the ages. After Houston won the first nine games, the teams traded wins on Jan. 15, 2010 (94-87 ECU) and Feb. 13, 2011 (77-60 Houston) before the Pirates began their current four-game winning streak.
THE COACHES
Houston head coach Ronald Hughey is in his second season at Houston, with a career record of 10-36. He is 0-2 all-time against East Carolina.
Hughey accumulated a 163-154 (.514) career record in 10 seasons as an NCAA Division I assistant coach at South Carolina State, South Carolina, UCF, Rutgers, Texas and Florida State. He is a veteran of seven postseason tournaments (6 NCAA, 1 NIT) including two NCAA Second Rounds (2013, 2014), four NCAA First Rounds (2009, 2010, 2011, 2012) and one WNIT Second Round (2008).
A vaunted recruiter, Hughey orchestrated multiple national top-15 recruiting classes at both Texas and Florida State. At Houston, he signed an eight-player recruiting class in 2014-15, including two NJCAA All-Americans and four players rated as 3-star recruits by ESPN Hoopgurlz.
Hughey brought five more highly regarded recruits into the Houston program in the early 2015 signing period. Included in the group is Lufkin, Texas, native Natasha Mack, the first ESPN Hoopgurlz national top-100 recruit of his head coaching tenure.
East Carolina head coach Heather Macy has compiled a 101-63 record through five seasons at ECU and hold a career mark of 216-112 in 10 season. Macy graduated from Greensboro College in 2000.
SCOUTING THE PIRATES
East Carolina (7-9, 1-3) snapped an eight game losing streak on Jan. 7 when they defeated UCF 71-56 in Orlando, Fla. The Pirates opened the 2015-16 campaign with five straight wins, but have since gone 2-9 since a Nov. 26 loss to Creighton in the Lone Star Showcase.
East Carolina has not shown much depth this season, with only 10 players touching the court for the Pirates so far. Leading the way for ECU has been senior Jada Payne who enters Thursday's contest averaging 20.8 points and 9.8 rebounds per game.
Senior forward I'Tiana Taylor has also been a big contributor this season for the Pirates. The Pflugerville, Texas native averages double figures in scoring with 13.4 points per game, while also bringing down 9.6 boards per contest.
East Carolina averages 70.0 points per game while allowing their opponents to score 67.5. The Pirates outrebound their opponents by an average of 3.4 rebounds per game (41.2-37.8)) and average 12.8 assists per contest. ECU is shooting 40.3 percent from the field, but is just 29.1 percent from 3-point range.
KEY STATS FOR HOUSTON
Houston is one of the best teams in the American Athletic Conference when it comes to blocking shots. The team ranks fourth with 3.4 rejections per game, while senior Tyler Gilbert ranks fourth with 22 blocked shots this season.
The Cougars have continued to assert themselves on the offensive glass this year and are averaging almost a half a rebound more than their opponents.
MARCHE'S MARCH TO 1,000 POINTS
Amerson enters the East Carolina game with 977 career points and is just 23 points shy of Houston's 1,000-point club. When she accomplishes the feat, Amerson will be Houston's 23rd 1,000-point scorer. Current Atlanta Dream standout Sancho Lyttle (2003-05) occupies the 22nd spot, with 1,092 career points, while Ann Moon (1977-81) checks in at No. 21 with 1,094 points.
MILESTONE WATCH
Amerson isn't the only Cougar who is climbing the Cougar record books in 2015-16, and her journey to 1,000 points isn't the only number to monitor this season. The senior from Bryan, Texas, enters the East Carolina game fifth in Houston history with 104 career starts, fifth with 3,287 minutes and eighth with 97 made 3-point field goals and 329 3-point field goal attempts.
Alecia Smith is climbing the career 3-point record books, ranking tied for fifth in made 3-pointers (129), fourth in attempts (519) and ninth in minutes (2,187).
Gilbert climbed two spots on the Houston career shot-blocking charts with her three rejections in the UNLV game. She is now ranked sixth in school history with 104 blocks, and she's chasing Toni Mooney, who finished her career with 122 blocks, for fifth place. Gilbert became just the sixth player in Houston history with triple-digit blocks.
REGENTS APPROVE RENOVATIONS TO BASKETBALL ARENA
The University of Men's and Women's Basketball programs moved closer to a new competition home facility when school regents approved the start of the design process for the renovation of the Houston Basketball arena during its meeting Nov. 19.
Regents approved a project budget of up to $60 million with an anonymous donor pledging a $20 million gift to facilitate the arena's renovation.
Design work is scheduled to begin in March 2016 with construction starting one year later. Plans for the Cougars' home facility during the 2017-18 season have not been finalized and will be announced at a later date. The renovated facility is expected to be ready for game competition for the beginning of the 2018-19 season.
"This project has been long overdue, and we are grateful that Dr. Khator and our Board of Regents saw the need for this step with our basketball arena," Vice President for Athletics Hunter Yurachek said. "We look forward to starting the design process in the next few months and creating a facility that will provide the highest level of amenities to our fans and a significant home-court advantage for our Men's and Women's Basketball student-athletes."
Preliminary estimated capacity for the renovated arena will be reduced to 7,420 from its current seating bowl of 8,479. However, initial plans call for the court level to be raised three feet with fan seating moved closer to the court as part of an emphasis to improve the overall fan experience.
More than 2,000 premium seats will be developed to give fans the ultimate luxury seating options. That total includes a preliminary design of 1,750 club seats, 20 loge boxes with four seats in each, two open-air suites with 32 seats per unit and 90 courtside seats.
The arena's concourse level will be expanded to improve circulation with significant upgrades to the sound system, video board and arena seating.
Guy V. Lewis BASKETBALL CENTER NEARS COMPLETION | Live Webcam
The Houston Women's Basketball held their first full practice in the brand new Guy V. Lewis Basketball Center on Nov. 24, and they will move into the full facility in just a few short days. Once completed, the $25 million facility will be the home base for both Cougar hoops squads.
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.
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.
UP NEXT FOR THE COUGARS
The Cougars get a much-deserved break as they have six days off between contests. Houston will resume American Athletic Play when they host Tulsa, on Jan. 20, at Hofheinz Pavilion. Tipoff for that contest is scheduled for 7 p.m.
$50 SHASTA PASS NOW AVAILABLE
The Houston Fan Experience Headquarters is proud to offer the Shasta Pass for the 2015-16 athletic season. For only $50, Cougar fans can purchase one Shasta Pass, which allows season-long general admission entrance to all remaining Houston Women's Basketball and Softball home games.
The Shasta Pass offers Houston fans a substantial savings as single-game tickets start at $8 for all four sports. To purchase a Shasta Pass, CLICK HERE.
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.
