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University of Houston Athletics
Cougars Ready for Temple Makeup Game
2/11/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Philadelphia, Pa. â€" The Houston Cougar women's basketball team will meet the Temple Owls on Friday, Feb. 12 in Philadelphia, Pa., in a game that was originally scheduled for Jan. 23, but was postponed due to a winter storm. Tipoff in the rescheduled contest is set for 6 p.m.
Fans who can't join the Cougars in Pennsylvania on Friday, can follow the game through a variety of outlets. The game will air live courtesy of the American Digital Network and can be found by clicking here. Free live audio is available at UHCougars.com/wbbradio, with Jeremy Branham calling the action. Also, live statistics will provide an up-to-the-second numerical breakdown, while the official Twitter account of Houston Women's Basketball, @UHCougarWBB, will post periodic updates. ADN BROADCAST | LIVE AUDIO | LIVE STATS | TWITTER
Houston (5-18, 1-11) dropped their most recent contest, a 44-28 defensive battle against Tulsa.
Junior Jacqueline Blake scored a career-high 12 points, while adding seven rebounds, and freshman Serithia Hawkins matched a career-best with 12 rebounds marking three of her last four games with double-digit boards.
Both teams struggled through a first half that saw each team shoot under 30 percent from the field, but a couple of big 3-pointers from junior Jacqueline Blake kept the Cougars in the game heading to the second frame. Blake finished the first half just one point shy of a career high with 10 points through the first 20 minutes.
The third quarter was more of the same for each team, as the Cougars held the Golden Hurricane scoreless for the first seven minutes of the half, before Tulsa got a 3-pointer from Ashley Clark to break the drought. Tulsa would go on to end the quarter on a 9-3 run to take a 30-23 lead into the final frame. The Golden Hurricane would outscore the Cougars 23-10 in the second half to put the game out of reach.
THE STARTING FIVE
Five names, numbers, news items and storylines that you need to know about the Temple game:
WE MEET AGAIN - Houston and Temple have met once before this season. Temple defeated the Cougars 75-66 on January 2, 2016.
HONOR ROLL - Senior Marche' Amerson averaged 15.5 points and 4.5 rebounds per game last week to earn The American Athletic Conference Weekly Honor Roll.
FRESHMAN PHENOM - The last time the two squads met earlier this season, freshman Serithia Hawkins collected a douÂble-double when she pulled down 10 rebounds and scored 12 points.
FOR THE FIRST - The Cougars are still looking for their first win in the series against the Owls after starting 0-6 all-time against Temple.
FINALLY PLAYING - The two squads were supposed to meet on Jan. 23 in Philadelphia, but a winter storm caused the game to be postponed until Friday.
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 â€" Blake tallied a career-high 12 points while collecting seven rebounds in the 44-28 loss to Tulsa.
#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 - Cenecia Newman exploded for 14 points and four rebounds against Tulsa to earn Coach Hughey's player of the game award.
#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 - Returned to action after being sidelined with a concussion to lead the Cougars with 11 points on the road at USF
#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 â€" Was named to the American Athletic Conference Weekly Honor Roll after averaging 15.5 points and 4.5 rebounds against UCF and Tulane.
#23 - Serithia Hawkins â€" Matched a career-high when she pulled down 12 rebounds against Tulsa, marking 3 out of 4 games that she pulled down 10+ boards.
#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 - Tallied a career-best 15 points against the Golden Hurricane of Tulsa on Jan. 20, while picking up five rebounds and two steals.
#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 • FEB. 10, 2016 • TULSA 44, HOUSTON 28 | Final Stats
Houston fell to American Athletic Conference foe Tulsa 44-28 on Feb. 10, in Tulsa, Okla.
Junior Jacqueline Blake scored a career-high 12 points, while adding seven rebounds, and freshman Serithia Hawkins matched a career-best with 12 rebounds marking three of her last four games with double-digit boards.
Both teams struggled through a first half that saw each team shoot under 30 percent from the field, but a couple of big 3-pointers from junior Jacqueline Blake kept the Cougars in the game heading to the second frame. Blake finished the first half just one point shy of a career high with 10 points through the first 20 minutes.
The third quarter was more of the same for each team, as the Cougars held the Golden Hurricane scoreless for the first seven minutes of the half, before Tulsa got a 3-pointer from Ashley Clark to break the drought. Tulsa would go on to end the quarter on a 9-3 run to take a 30-23 lead into the final frame. The Golden Hurricane would outscore the Cougars 23-10 in the second half to put the game out of reach.
SERIES VS. TEMPLE
Friday's game marks the sixth time the two squads will meet dating back to when the two teams joined the American Athletic Conference. The teams first met on Feb. 4, 2014, a 79-46 win for the Owls in Houston.
Temple has won all five meetings in the series holding a 3-0 record in Houston, while being 2-0 inside McGonigle Hall.
The nine-point loss that the Cougars suffered earlier this season is the closest the series has been, with Temple winning by 33, 12, 12 and 11 in the previous four matchups.
THE COACHES
Houston head coach Ronald Hughey is in his second season at Houston, with a career record of 11-42. He is 0-4 all-time against Temple.
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.
Temple head coach Tonya Cardoza has accumulated a 137-80 record two-thirds of the way through her eighth season in Philadelphia.
SCOUTING THE OWLS
Temple (16-7, 10-2) enters Friday's contest on a five-game winning streak after beating Cincinnati 74-49 on Feb. 9.
Alliya Butts leads the owls this season with 15.9 points per contest, while Feyonda Fitzgerald scores 13.5 points per contest while averaging a team-best 5.0 assists per game. Erica Covile pulls down 7.2 rebounds per game to lead Temple.
The Owls average 69.3 points per game, while holding their opponents to 61.2 percent. Temple outshoots their opponents with a 39.3 percent field goal percent to opposing team's 37.6 percent.
MARCHE'S MARCH TO 1,000 POINTS
Amerson reached the 1,000 point plateau in the team's contest at USF. Midway through the third quarter, Amerson drove to the hole, pulled up and rattled in a jumper to give her six points in the contest, and 1,000 for her career. Amerson is now the 23rd player in school history to reach quadruple digits in points. 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 wasn't the only number to monitor this season. The senior from Bryan, Texas, enters the UCF game fifth in Houston history with 111 career starts, fifth with 3,503 minutes, eighth with 107 made 3-point field goals and seventh with 352 3-point field goal attempts.
Alecia Smith is climbing the career 3-point record books, ranking fifth in made 3-pointers (137), third in attempts (547) and eight in minutes (3,146).
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 114 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
Houston returns home for two of its final three home games of the season when they play host to East Carolina on Feb. 17, and Cincinnati on Feb. 20. Tipoff against the Pirates is set for 7 p.m., with the game airing on The American Digital Network, while the matchup with the Bearcats is set to begin at 1 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.
