University of Houston Athletics
Cougars Ready for Joust With Knights
2/21/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
ORLANDO -- The Houston Cougar women's basketball team will embark on its final road trip of the regular season, when they travel to Orlando, Fla., to take on the UCF Knights on Tuesday, Feb. 23.
Fans who can't join the Cougars in Orland on Tuesday, can follow the game through a variety of outlets. The matchup against the nights will air live via ESPN3 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.
ESPN3 | LIVE AUDIO | | TWITTER
Houston (5-21, 1-14) dropped its most recent contest falling 67-61 in their matchup against Cincinnati inside Hofheinz Pavilion on Saturday.
Senior Marche' Amerson led the Cougars with 13 points while adding 11 rebounds, while Tyler Gilbert posted her second consecutive double-figure game scoring 10 points, while also pulling down a team-high nine boards.
THE STARTING FIVE
Five names, numbers, news items and storylines that you need to know about the UCF game:
CREATING CHANCES -- The last time these two team's met, the Cougars forced UCF to turn the ball over 24 times leading to 24 points off turnovers.
OFFENSIVE GLASS -- The Cougars were able to win the battle on the offensive glass, outrebounding UCF 8-6 on their shooting side. This led to seven second-chance points for the Cougars.
SO MUCH DEPTH -- Houston outscored the Knights 25-18 in bench points when the two squads last met on Feb. 3 inside Hofheinz Pavilion.
SECOND HALF TEAM -- The Cougars came out on fire in the second half in the previous meeting with UCF, making 46 percent of their shots including 5-of-9 from three and outscoring UCF 43-30 over the last two quarters.
LAST LEG -- The UCF contest marks the beginning of the final road trip of the regular season that sees the Coogs head to Dallas following Tuesday's game to face SMU on Saturday, Feb. 27.
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 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 -- 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 -- 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 -- 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 -- 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. 20, 2016 • CINCINNAT 67, HOUSTON 61 | Final Stats
The Houston Cougar women's basketball team wrapped up a short two-game home stand falling to Cincinnati inside Hofheinz Pavilion on Saturday.
Houston jumped all over the Bearcats in the first half, kicked off by an 8-0 run over the first six and a half minutes of the first quarter. After one, the Cougars held a 12-4 advantage behind four points apiece from senior Marche' Amerson and freshman Serithia Hawkins. The second frame was more of the same for the Cougars who would go on to win the quarter 20-15 and extend their lead to 13 at 32-19 heading into the locker room.
The Bearcats came roaring back in the second half, opening the third quarter on an 8-0 run by back-to-back 3-pointers by Jasmine Whitfield and Bianca Quisenberry to force a timeout by the Cougars. Houston would weather the storm but not before Cincinnati was able to knot the score at 41. The teams opened the fourth by trading buckets, but after the Bearcats took a 43-21 lead with 9:44 to play, the Cougars would never hold the lead again.
SERIES VS. UCF
Tuesday's contest marks the 16th time in program history that the two teams will meet on the hardwood, with the Knights holding a 9-6 advantage.
The two teams split the first two games of the series before the Cougars went on to win four of the next six from 2008-2012. However, the Knights then won six straight contests before falling to the Cougars 64-55 earlier this season.
THE COACHES
Houston head coach Ronald Hughey is in his second season at Houston, with a career record of 11-45. He is 1-2 all-time against UCF.
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.
UCF head coach Joi Williams is in her 12th season as a head coach, compiling a 167-222 all-time record. The 1988 South Florida graduate is in her eighth season at UCF and holds a 113-161 record with the Knights.
SCOUTING THE KNIGHTS
UCF (6-21, 3-13) enters Tuesday's contest on the back of a 66-54 victory over SMU, in Orlando, Fla., on Saturday.
Junior Zykira Lewis leads UCF in scoring this year averaging 14.7 points per game, while collecting 59 assists and 51 steals on the season. Redshirt-junior Joslyn Massey paces the Knights on the glass averaging 7.5 rebounds per contest while also contributing 8.3 points per game.
UCF shoots 37.4 percent from the field per contest, which leads to an average of 62.5 points per game. The Knights outrebound their opponents by 4.5 boards per game, collecting 42.7 loose balls and allowing opponents to pick up just 38.2.
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 fourth in Houston history with 113 career starts, fourth with 3,583 minutes, eighth with 109 made 3-point field goals and seventh with 361 3-point field goal attempts.
Alecia Smith is climbing the career 3-point record books, ranking fifth in made 3-pointers (140), second in attempts (556) and eighth in minutes (3,220).
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
Houston will head to Dallas, Texas to face the SMU Mustangs in the final road game of the regular season on Saturday, Feb. 27. Tipoff for the second meeting of the year between the two squads is scheduled for 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.
