University of Houston Athletics
Cougars Host Bearcats on Blackout Weekend
2/18/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
HOUSTON â€" The Houston Cougar women's basketball team wraps a short 2-game homestand when they welcome the Cincinnati Bearcats to town on Saturday, Feb. 20. Tipoff inside Hofheinz Pavilion is scheduled for 1 p.m., and the game will be part of Houston Basketball's Blackout Weekend in which the women's and men's will don black jerseys in each of their games.
The first 100 kids through the doors at Hofheinz Pavilion on Saturday, will receive a FREE Houston Basketball Blackout T-Shirt. Fans can also purchase Houston Blackout T-Shirts by visiting UHFanShop.com or by clicking .
Fans who can't join the Cougars in Hofheinz on Saturday, can follow the game through a variety of outlets. 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.
LIVE AUDIO | | TWITTER
Houston (5-20, 1-13) dropped their most recent contest falling 68-59 in their matchup against East Carolina inside Hofheinz Pavilion on Wednesday.
Senior Tyler Gilbert paced the Cougars with 11 points and nine rebounds, while senior Marche' Amerson and freshman Serithia Hawkins also added 10 points of their own.
THE STARTING FIVE
Five names, numbers, news items and storylines that you need to know about the Cincinnati game:
OFFENSIVE GLASS â€" The last time the two squads met on January 30, the Cougars won the battle on the offensive glass. The 11-9 advantage led to 10 second-chance points for Houston while allowing just two for Cincinnat.
FRESHMAN PHENOM â€" Freshman Serithia Hawkins had one of many dominating rebound performances when the two teams played last month. Hawkins pulled down a career-best and game-high 12 boards in the effort.
SO MUCH DEPTH â€" Houston outscored the Bearcats 20-0 on bench points in the last meeting. The Cougars held five Cincinnati non-starters scoreless over 41 total minutes.
IN THE PAIN â€" The Cougar bigs were able to have their way with Cincinnati in Ohio to the tune of winning the points in the paint battle 22-14.
BLACK OUT â€" The Cougars will team with the Houston men's basketball team on Sunday to hold a joint blackout weekend in which each team will wear black uniforms in their respective games.
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 matched a career-high with 11 points while also adding nine rebounds en route to earning Coach Hughey's player of the game honors against ECU.
#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€" Registered her third career double-double after scoring 12 points and collecting 11 rebounds against Tulane.
#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. 17, 2016 • EAST CAROLINA 68, HOUSTON 59 | Final Stats
Three Houston Cougars scored in double-figures including a game-high 11 from Tyler Gilbert, but the Cougars were unable to complete a second half comeback, falling to the ECU Pirates 68-59 inside Hofheinz Pavilion, on Wednesday.
The Cougars jumped out to an early 8-2 three lead on a couple of 3-point baskets by Marche' Amerson and Mariah Mitchell, but the Pirates were able to settle the Cougars down and went on a 19-6 run to end the first quarter with a 21-14 lead.
Houston came out strong in the third quarter and outscored the Pirates 18-15 to cut the lead to 49-43 heading into the final quarter. The Cougars would pick up where they left off in the fourth quarter and opened the frame on a 5-2 run to cut into the lead. Houston worked the scored down to 61-58 with just 2:11 to play, but the Pirates would end the game on a 7-1 run to close out the contest.
SERIES VS. CINCINNATI
Saturday's contest marks the 19th time in program history that the two teams will meet on the hardwood, with the Bearcats holding a 13-5 advantage.
Cincinnati won the first seven games in the series from February 1997 until 2001. The Cougars responded to win four of the next six contests, but are 1-4 since the two teams renewed their rivalry by joining the American Athletic Conference in 2014.
The teams last met earlier this season on Jan. 30, when the Bearcats defeated the Cougars 56-50 in Ohio.
THE COACHES
Houston head coach Ronald Hughey is in his second season at Houston, with a career record of 11-44. He is 0-3 all-time against Cincinnati.
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.
Cincinnati head coach Jamelle Elliot is 77-131 as her eighth season at Cincinnati begins to wind down. The 1996 graduate of UConn has spent all eight season of her head coaching career with the Bearcats.
SCOUTING THE BEARCATS
Cincinnati (7-18, 3-11) enters Saturday's contest on a 5-game losing streak that dates back to the last time these two squads met on Jan. 30. Cincinnati dropped an 88-34 decision to No. 1/1 UConn on Wednesday.
Sophomore Ana Owens leads the Bearcats offensively, scoring 13.2 points per game while adding 2.8 assists per contest. Owens scored 13 points and pulled down seven rebounds while assisting on three baskets the last time the two squads met. Jasmine Whitfield scored on average 12.2 points per game for Cincinnati, while pulling down 5.5 rebounds per contest.
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 Cincinnati game tied for fifth in Houston history with 112 career starts, fourth with 3,555 minutes, eighth with 108 made 3-point field goals and seventh with 356 3-point field goal attempts.
Alecia Smith is climbing the career 3-point record books, ranking fifth in made 3-pointers (139), second in attempts (552) and eighth in minutes (3,196).
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 116 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
One final road trip looms for the Cougars as they head east for their second trip to Florida. The Cougars will joust with UCF on Tuesday, Feb. 23 before returning to Texas to take on SMU in Dalls on Saturday, Feb. 27. Tipoff against UCF is scheduled for 6 p.m., with that game set to air on ESPN3, while the SMU game tips at 2 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.
