Houston Wraps Non-Con with Win at Southern Miss

Sunday, December 30

Hattiesburg, Miss.

2 p.m.

University of Houston

6-7

Southern Miss

8-5

Houston

Southern Miss

12/30/2018 4:56:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

Head Coach Ronald Hughey tabs 50th-career victory

Hattiesburg, Miss. – The Houston Cougar Women's Basketball team wrapped up the non-conference portion of its 2018-19 schedule with a 61-44 win on the road at Southern Miss on Sunday. The win for the Cougars was Head Coach Ronald Hughey's 50^th of his career.

Sunday's contest began as a defensive battle, which saw the Cougars hold Southern Miss without a field goal for the first 4:48 of the game. However, the Cougars could only build a 4-0 advantage on a pair of buckets from Jasmyne Harris over that stretch.

Southern Miss would answer with a 4-0 run of its own with buckets from Kelsey Jones and Camille Anderson, before Alyssa Okoene and Octavia Barnes found the scoreboard on back-to-back possessions to give Houston an 8-4 advantage. Jones would add four more over the remaining minutes for USM to retie the game and bring the score to 10-all through one quarter.

Houston forced Southern Miss to turn the ball over six times during the first 10 minutes including on the first three possessions to open the game.

Defense continued into the second quarter, and this time it was the Cougars who were held without a field goal for the first 2:52 of the frame. After Alaire Mayze gave USM its first lead of the game, Houston responded with five-straight points on a bucket from Tatyana Hill and an old-fashioned 3-point play from Angela Harris to reclaim the lead at 15-13.

Southern Miss would steal the lead back with four straight of their own, but the Cougars would close the half on an 8-2 run to take a four-point advantage into the half. Julia Blackshell-Fair and Mayze traded buckets before a 3-pointer by Dorian Branch and another 3-point play from Angela Harris brought the score to 23-19 in favor of Houston after 20 minutes.

The Cougars held Southern Miss to just 32.0 percent (8-of-25) shooting in the first half but shot just 34.5 percent (10-of-29) on their own end.

Houston opened the lead to six with five of the first seven points of the third quarter. Angela Harris opened with a layup before Myyah West added three straight points to give Houston a 28-22 lead. Southern Miss would answer however, using a 6-0 run with three points each from Respect Leaphart and Shonte Hailes to pull even at the under-5 media timeout.

Houston would clamp down on defense the remainder of the quarter however. With the score tied at 30 apiece, the Cougars used a 12-3 run over the final five minutes to take their largest lead of the game at that point. Branch and Barnes grabbed the first two buckets of the spurt before Branch connected from deep to give Houston a 37-30 lead. After a USM bucket, Jasmyne Harris rattled off five of the next six points in the game to give Houston a 42-33 lead after three.

The Cougars opened with back-to-back three pointers from Branch and Jasmyne Harris to kick off the fourth quarter. However, with the advantage sitting at 48-33, USM used a 3-pointer from Anderson and back-to-back buckets from Hailes and Megan Brown to cut the lead back to single digits at 48-40. The teams would trade buckets including a big 3-pointer from Octavia Barnes to give Houston a 53-44 advantage at the under-5 media timeout.

Houston would not allow Southern Miss to score for the remaining 4:32 of the contest, finishing the game with eight straight points, including four from Myyah West to take the contest 61-44. The Cougars shot 58.3 percent from the field in the second half (14-of-24) while holding the Lady Eagles to 10-of-30 (33.3 percent) in the final 20 minutes.

THE BASICS
Score: Houston 61, Southern Miss 44
Date: Sunday, December 30, 2018
Location: Hattiesburg, Miss. | Reed Green Coliseum

TOP PERFORMERS
Houston: Houston had a pair of players reach double figures in scoring, including a game-high 15 from Jasmyne Harris. Dorian Branch added 11 points including a 3-of-4 night shooting from beyond the 3-point line. Houston was led on the glass by a game-high seven rebounds from Serithia Hawkins.

Southern Miss: Alaire Mayze led USM in scoring with nine points, while Respect Leaphart, Megan Brown and Kelsey Jones each added seven. Jones and Leaphart led the Lady Eagles on the glass with six rebounds each.

NEWS AND NOTES

The 44 points allowed by the Cougars is a season best, topping their previous low mark of 56 allowed at George Mason on Dec. 21.
Playing in front of a bevy of friends and family, Mississippi product Octavia Barnes matched a career-high with four assists.
Houston held a 30-24 advantage on points in the paint.
The Cougars won the bench scoring battle 23-14.
With 15 points in the contest, junior guard Jasmyne Harris now has 1,179 in her career, moving her into 15th all-time at Houston and passing Roxana Button (1,169; 2008-12).
Harris connected on three 3-pointers in the game, moving her into a tie for fourth all-time at Houston and matching teammate Angela Harris' 159.
Harris picked up three assists in the game, giving her 229 in her career. Harris passed Jennifer Jones (226; 1994-98) and Brittney Scott (228; 2007-11) to move to 18^th all-time at Houston with the effort.

UP NEXT FOR HOUSTON
The Cougars open American Athletic Conference play after the turn of the New Year, when they welcome 1/1 UConn to the Fertitta Center on Sunday, Jan. 6. Tipoff against the Huskies is scheduled for 11 a.m., and the contest will air live on CBSSN.

SEASON TICKETS ON SALE NOW
Season tickets for the 2018-19 season are on sale now and start at just $50 for General Admission seating and feature options for reserved seating as well.

Houston has also opened up a 4-game mini plan option beginning at $20 for General Admission seating and ranging to $30 for Priority Seating. With the mini plan, fans can choose four games from any of Houston's 13 home games throughout the 2018-19 season.

For more information or to purchase tickets, visit UHCougars.com/tickets or click HERE. Fans can also reach the UH Ticket Office by phone at 713-GO-COOGS (462-6647).

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.