Houston Holds Off Wichita State 66-58

Sunday, January 20

Wichita, Kan.

1 p.m.

University of Houston

Wichita State

Houston

Wichita St.

1/20/2019 3:55:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score Final Stats (PDF)

Cougars win third straight to match best conference start since joining The American

Wichita, Kan. – The Houston Cougar Women's Basketball team won its third consecutive game and fifth in its last six contests with a 66-58 victory at Wichita State on Sunday inside Koch Arena.

Houston struggled to find an offensive rhythm early, shooting just 1-of-4 from the field over the early minutes of the first quarter, while the Shockers built a 7-2 lead entering the first media timeout. Houston turned the ball over three times throughout the first five minutes of the opening quarter.

The Cougars found their stroke following the timeout however, breaking out on a 7-0 run to take their first lead of the game. Barnes knocked down Houston's first 3-pointer of the game on the first possession after the break, and Houston followed that with back-to-back steals leading to four straight points for Julia Blackshell-Fair on fast-break layups.

Wichita State stopped Houston's run with a 3-point play, but Barnes knocked down her second triple of the quarter to give her eight points in the frame and give Houston a 12-10 lead after one. The Cougars held Wichita State to just three points over the final 7:28 of the quarter and forced five Wichita State turnovers in the period.

The Cougars kept the momentum going into the second period, storming out on a 7-0 run to open the quarter. Barnes again knocked down the first bucket of the frame, giving her double-figures early in the second half, before Blackshell-Fair pushed the lead to six at 16-10. Wichita State picked up their first bucket of the quarter on the next possession, but Dorian Branch answered with a 3-pointer at the other end to give Houston a 19-12 advantage and force a Shockers timeout.

Wichita State cut the lead to five following the media timeout but the Cougars responded with an offensive rebound and a putback for Alyssa Okoene and another triple from Angela Harris to push the lead to 27-17. Wichita State picked up a 3-point play with 2:17 remaining in the quarter, and neither team would find the scoreboard for the remainder of the half, giving Houston a 27-20 lead at the break.

The Cougars forced Wichita State to turn the ball over 12 times in the first half, including seven in the second quarter, leading to a 10-3 advantage in points off turnovers at the break.

Houston opened the second half on an 8-3 run to push the lead to its biggest of the game the time at 35-23. Harris opened the quarter with her third 3-pointer of the game, which the Shockers answered with a 3-pointer of their own, before Tatyana Hill found the scoreboard for the first time on a layup, and Branch capped the run with her second 3-pointer.

The Shockers cut the lead back to nine with four of the next six points heading to the media timeout, But the Cougars answered with back-to-back 3-pointers from Harris and a bucket from Hawkins to push the lead back to 11 at 45-34. However, after a Blackshell-Fair bucket gave the Cougars their largest lead of the game at 47-34, the Shockers ended the quarter on a 5-0 run to cut the lead back to eight with 10 minutes to play.

Wichita State grabbed the first three points of the final quarter to extend its run to 8-0 and cut the lead to six at 48-42. Houston would respond however with 11 of the next 17 points to extend the lead back to 58-48 at the media timeout. Angela Harris knocked down a pair of free throws to spark the spurt and a pair of buckets from Hawkins and a fast-break layup for Blackshell-Fair led to another Barnes triple to push the lead back to 10 with just over four minutes to play.

Wichita State began mounting a comeback out of the timeout, when Sabrina Lozada-Cabbage connected on a 3-pointer, and knocked down the free throw after she was fouled, to cut the lead to 58-52 with just under three minutes to play. Houston would clamp down on defense however, holding the Shockers to just one bucket and four free throws down the stretch, while Houston converted all eight of its free points to give the Cougars a 66-58 victory.

THE BASICS
Score: Houston 66, Wichita State 58
Date: Sunday, January 20, 2019
Location: Wichita Kan. | Koch Arena

TOP PERFORMERS
Houston: Houston was led offensively by junior guard Angela Harris who led all scorers with her first 20-point game of the season. Harris finished the contest with 23 points behind five 3-pointers and an 8-of-9 mark from the free throw line. Octavia Barnes finished the contest with 13 points, while Julia Blackshell-Fair added 12. Serithia Hawkins pulled down double-digit rebounds for the 32^nd time in her career with a game-high 12.

Wichita State: Wichita State had two players reach double figures in scoring including a team-high 18 from Sabrina Lozada-Cabbage. Carla Bremaud added 17 to combine with Lozada-Cabbage for 35 of the team's 58 points. Seraphine Bastin led the Shockers on the glass with six rebounds.

NEWS AND NOTES

Houston improved to 5-0 in the all-time series against Wichita State and 3-0 when meeting in Wichita. Head Coach Ronald Hughey improved to 3-0 all-time against the Shockers.
With the victory, Houston won its third-straight game and fifth in their last six contests. The Cougars moved to 3-1 in American play this season, matching their best four-game start since joining the league with the 2017-18 team.
With five 3-pointers in the game, Angela Harris now has 165 made 3-pointers in her career, moving her to third all-time at Houston. Harris passed teammate Jasmyne Harris (161) and Jana Crosby (161; 1988-90) with the effort.
Harris collected three steals in the contest, giving her 184 in her career and moving her to 11^th all-time at Houston. Harris passed Jackie Skinner (182; 1981-83) in the game.
Serithia Hawkins pulled down seven defensive rebounds in the contest, giving her 515 defensive rebounds in her career and moving her to third all-time at Houston. Hawkins passed Jennifer Jones (513; 1994-98) in the effort.
Hawkins also swatted two shots in the contest, giving her 56 career blocks and breaking a tie with Sancho Lyttle (2003-05) and Kelly McCabe (1985-88) to move to 21^st all-time.

UP NEXT FOR HOUSTON
Houston wraps its two-game road trip with a weekend matchup against Cincinnati on Wednesday, Jan. 23. Tipoff against the Bearcats is scheduled for 6 p.m., with the game airing live on ESPN3.

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