University of Houston Athletics
Cougars Welcome Memphis on Senior Day
2/28/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
HOUSTON â€" Fresh off a 63-54 victory over SMU in the final road game of the regular season, the Houston Cougar Women's Basketball team returns home for the regular season finale at 7 p.m., on Monday, Feb. 29, against Memphis, inside Hofheinz Pavilion.
Monday's matchup against the Tigers will serve as Houston's Senior Day. The Cougars will honor the careers of their five seniors Bianca Winslow, Alecia Smith, Jessieka Palmer, Marche' Amerson and Tyler Gilbert in a pregame ceremony. Fans are encouraged to arrive early to enjoy the festivities and honor Houston's seniors.
Fans who can't join the Cougars inside Hofheinz Pavilion on Monday, can follow the game through a variety of outlets. The 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 (6-22, 2-15) travel to Dallas, Texas and defeated the SMU Mustangs 63-54 in the regular season road finale on Saturday.
Palmer led the Cougars with 19 points, while freshman Serithia Hawkins added 11, and Amerson scored 10 of her own.
THE STARTING FIVE
Five names, numbers, news items and storylines that you need to know about the Memphis game:
STREAK SNAPPER â€" Houston snapped a 6-game losing streak in a win over SMU on Saturday. The Cougars had lost four of those six games by single digits.
HOME COURT ADVANTAGE? â€" Though the Cougars trail the all-time series against the Tigers 13-17, the teams are 7-and-7 all-time inside Hofheinz Pavilion. The Cougars will look to claim home court advantage Monday.
ON THE GLASS â€" Despite falling earlier this season in Memphis, the Cougars dominated the battle on the boards, outrebounding the Tigers 40-29 including 22-8 on the offensive end.
CUT THEM DOWN â€" Though they have been better in the category of late, the Cougars will look to cut down on the 28 turnovers they committed back in January.
THANK YOU SENIORS â€" Houston will honor its five seniors, Bianca Winslow, Alecia Smith, Jessieka Palmer, Marche' Amerson and Tyler Gilbert in a ceremony before Monday's game.
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 â€" Led all Cougar scorers with 15 points in the team's 63-54 win over SMU in Dallas.
#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€" Hawkins picked up her fourth career double-double when she scored 12 points and collected 10 rebounds against the Knights of UCF.
#24 - Mariah Mitchell â€" Mitchell scored a career-high 19 points against the UCF Knights behind the strength of four 3-pointers and 5-of-6 shooting from the free throw line.
#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. 27, 2016 • HOUSTON 63, SMU 54 | Final Stats
The Houston Cougar women's basketball team traveled to Dallas, Texas on Saturday and came away with a 63-54 victory over the SMU Mustangs in their final road game of the 2015-16 regular season.
Freshman guard Cenecia Newman led the Cougars with four points in the first quarter on 2-of-2 shooting despite just logging two minutes of action. Houston's defense locked down on the Mustangs early as the Cougars held SMU without a field goal for the first 9:14 of the game. However the Mustangs would go to the free throw line 10 times in the first 10 minutes making nine to keep them in the ball game. In the second quarter, the defense continued to clamp down on the Mustangs, holding SMU to just 2-of-10 shooting in the second frame. Mariah Mitchell and Jessieka Palmer led the Cougars with five points apiece heading to the break, as nine different Houston players found the scoreboard in the first 20 minutes.
Both teams were able to find their offense in the third in what proved to be the highest scoring quarter of the game. Houston shot 40.0 percent from the field (6-of-15), while the Mustangs topped the mark with 41.2 percent shooting (7-of-17) to cut the lead to three at 43-40 heading to the final quarter of play. The two teams traded a pair of points to open the fourth quarter, but with the pace quickening Hughey called for a timeout less than a minute into the final frame. Coming out of the timeout, the Cougars responded with an 11-4 run over the next five minutes, including eight points from senior Marche' Amerson to extend the lead to 10 with just 4:31 to play. SMU cut the lead to six at 60-54 with just 26 seconds to play, but Alecia Smith and Serithia Hawkins were able to make three clutch free throws down the stretch to seal the win.
SERIES VS. MEMPHIS
Monday's game is the 31st in the series between Houston and Memphis. The Cougars trail the all-time series with a 13-17 deficit.
Memphis won the first nine games in the all-time series, however the Cougars have responded to win 13 out of the last 22 contests despite falling to Memphis earlier this season.
THE COACHES
Houston head coach Ronald Hughey is in his second season at Houston, with a career record of 12-46. He is 0-3 all-time against Memphis.
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.
Memphis head coach Melissa McFerrin is in her sixth season with the Tigers and has accumulated a 124-97 record including a 17-11 mark this season. In her 10 seasons as a head coach, McFerrin is 174-167 all-time.
SCOUTING THE TIGERS
Memphis (17-11, 11-6) enters Monday's contest fresh off a 93-83 overtime win over East Carolina. Three of Memphis' last four games have gone into overtime.
Ariel Hearn has been Memphis' leader on the offensive end throughout the season, averaging 14.5 points per contest, while pulling down 4.4 rebounds and tallying 113 assists. Asianna Fuqua-Bey (6.6) and Brianna Wright (6.5) have been a force on the glass this season to lead the Tigers in rebounds.
Memphis shoots 42.4 percent from the field as a team, while allowing opponents to shoot 41.4 percent. This leads to 67.5 points per game for the Tigers, while their opponents score 67.6 per contest. On average the Tigers are outrebounded by 3.4 boards per game at 38.8 to 35.4.
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 Memphis game third in Houston history with 115 career starts, fourth with 3,652 minutes, eighth with 113 made 3-point field goals and sixth with 374 3-point field goal attempts.
Alecia Smith is climbing the career 3-point record books, ranking fifth in made 3-pointers (142), second in attempts (564) and fifth in minutes (3,280).
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 118 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 have three days to prepare for a postseason run when they travel to the American Athletic Conference Championships in Uncasville, Conn. The tournament is scheduled to last from March 4-7, with the first three rounds airing on ESPN3 and Monday's championship game airing on ESPN.
$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.
