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University of Houston Athletics
Cougars Head to Sooner State for Tulsa Rematch
2/8/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
HOUSTON -- The Houston Cougar women's basketball team returns to action with a short 2-game road trip when they hit the trail north to Tulsa, Okla., where they will face the Tulsa Golden Hurricane on Wednesday, Feb. 10. Tipoff for the second matchup of the season between the two teams is scheduled for 7 p.m.
Fans who can't join the Cougars in Oklahoma on Wednesday, 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 | LIVE STATS | TWITTER
Houston (5-17, 1-10) dropped their most recent contest, a hard-fought 59-56 decision against Tulane.
Freshman Serithia Hawkins collected her third career double-double when she tallied 12 points and collected 10 points, earning her Coach Ronald Hughey's player of the game honors.
After a sluggish first quarter for each team, the Cougars trailed 10-7 heading into the second period. Behind Hawkins' four points and six rebounds in the first quarter. Tulane would open the second frame on a 9-0 run and cruised into the second quarter with a 25-16 lead.
Houston used a 40-point second half to claw their way back into the game and shot 46.9 percent from the field in the final 20 minutes. With just 44 seconds to play in the game, senior Alecia Smith buried a 3-point bucket to cut the lead to three for the first time since the start of the second quarter at 55-52. However, just 22 seconds later, Kolby Morgan connected on a three of her own to give Tulane the lead for good.
THE STARTING FIVE
Five names, numbers, news items and storylines that you need to know about the Tulsa game:
WE MEET AGAIN - Houston and Tulane have met once before this season. Tulsa defeated the Cougars 79-62 on January 20, 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 guard Cenecia Newman had a career night, scoring 14 points and adding four rebounds in just 14 minutes of game action.
FAMILIAR FOES- The two squads have met 19 previous times on the hardwood in a series that dates back to when the Cougars and Golden Hurricane were in Conference USA.
STOP THE SLIDE - The Cougars have lost seven straight games in the series dating back to Jan. 19, 2012. Prior to that Houston had won four of six in the matchup.
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. 6, 2016 • TULANE 59, HOUSTON 56 | Final Stats
Houston fell to American Athletic Conference foe Tulane 59-56 on Feb. 6, in Houston, Texas.
Freshman guard Serithia Hawkins scored 12 points and collected 11 rebounds for her fourth career double-double, but the Cougars fell just short of a comeback bid losing to Tulane 59-56 inside Hofheinz Pavilion, on Saturday.
After a sluggish first quarter for each team, the Cougars trailed 10-7 heading into the second period. Behind Hawkins' four points and six rebounds in the first quarter. Tulane would open the second frame on a 9-0 run and cruised into the second quarter with a 25-16 lead.
The Green Wave picked up where they left off to begin the second half, and put together an 8-0 run coming out of the locker room. However, down by 17 points just two minutes into the half, the Cougars switched to a full-court press and began their run.
Houston used a 40-point second half to claw their way back into the game and shot 46.9 percent from the field in the final 20 minutes. With just 44 seconds to play in the game, senior Alecia Smith buried a 3-point bucket to cut the lead to three for the first time since the start of the second quarter at 55-52. However, just 22 seconds later, Kolby Morgan connected on a three of her own to give Tulane the lead for good.
SERIES VS. TULSA
Saturday's game marks the 20th time in school history that the two teams will meet, including once already this season on Jan. 20.
Tulsa won that contest earlier this season 79-62 and have now won seven straight contests against Houston dating back to Jan. 19, 2012.
The two squads met twice in 2014-15 with each game going to the Golden Hurricane. Tulsa won 74-52 on Jan. 17, before beating the Coogs on Feb. 7, 67-51.
THE COACHES
Houston head coach Ronald Hughey is in his second season at Houston, with a career record of 11-41. He is 0-3 all-time against Tulsa.
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.
Tulsa head coach Matilda Mossman is in her fifth season at Tulane and has compiled a 68-77 record in her tenure with the Green Wave. Over her career, Mossman is 215-170 in 12 seasons as a head coach.
SCOUTING THE GOLDEN HURRICANE
Tulsa (8-15, 5-7) enters Wednesday's contest exactly one week after knocking off East Carolina 55-54 in a thriller in Greenville, N.C. The win for the Golden Hurricane snapped a 3-game losing streak.
Senior guard Ashley Clark has been dominant for the Golden Hurricane this season and leads the squad in points and rebounds averaging 14.0 points and 5.8 boards per game. In the meeting with the Cougars earlier this season, Clark dropped 31 points on 14-of-21 shooting and collected six rebounds and four assists.
Tulsa enters the contest scoring 62.0 points per game, while allowing their opponents to score 69.7. The Golden Hurricane shoot 38.7 percent from the field, and defensively have let opposing teams shoot 42.8 percent. Tulsa loses the rebounding battle by an average of 3.6 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 UCF game fifth in Houston history with 110 career starts, fifth with 3,477 minutes, eighth with 107 made 3-point field goals and seventh with 350 3-point field goal attempts.
Alecia Smith is climbing the career 3-point record books, ranking fifth in made 3-pointers (136), fourth in attempts (541) and ninth in minutes (3,115).
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 113 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 has a quick turnaround following their game against the Golden Hurricane and will have just one day of rest before heading to Philadelphia, Pa., and facing the Temple Owls in a game that was rescheduled from Jan. 23, when a winter storm hit the northeast. Tipoff against the Owls in the make-up game is scheduled for 6 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.
