Jan. 13, 2008

Box Score

Game Book in PDF Format

HOUSTON - The University of Houston women's basketball team rode an 8-2 run over the final minute of the game to beat cross-town rival Rice University 71-66 Sunday in Conference USA action on Guy V. Lewis Court at Hofheinz Pavilion.

UH (8-9, 2-1 C-USA) closed out a six-game homestand 4-2. It was the program's longest string of games at home since the 1996-97 season.

Rice (7-10, 0-3 C-USA) dropped its fourth-straight game has lost five in-a-row at Hofheinz Pavilion.

With Houston trailing by one, 64-63, with 1:10 remaining in the game, Whitney James (Edmond, Okla./Edmond Memorial HS/North Oklahoma College) drew a charge as Brittney Hudson drove to the basket on a fast break. Rice head coach Greg Williams was issued a technical foul for his protest of the call, giving the Cougars two from the charity stripe and the ball.

Twiggy McIntyre (Sapulpa, Okla./Sapulpa HS/Kansas State) sank both free throws to give the Cougars a one point lead, 65-64. On the ensuing UH possession, James converted an ally-oop layup from Tye Jackson (Houston, Texas/Westfield HS/Purdue) to extend the lead to three, 67-64 with 55 seconds to play.

The Owls would get no closer then four as the Cougars knocked down six-of-eight free-throw attempts in the final minute to seal the win.

"It was a crucial win for us," interim head coach Danny Hughes said. "We got aggressive late and figured out we needed to make plays despite things not going well. Now we can head out on the road with some confidence and hopefully pick up some more victories."

Tied at 36 at halftime, Rice ran out to a 56-48 lead with 11:02 to play. The Cougars kept the Owls within single digits; finally taking their first lead in the second half with 2:39 left thanks to a 6-1 run that was paced by buckets from Hill and Ryan Meyers (Arlington, Texas/Arlington HS/Grayson County CC).

UH outscored Rice 16-4 inside the paint in the second half and grabbed 54 rebounds compared to 35 for the Owls. The Cougars, the top offensive rebounding team in C-USA, also held a 12-5 lead on the offensive glass and tallied 10 second-chance points.

McIntyre, the reigning C-USA Player of the Week, led Houston with a game-high 24 points along with five boards and two assists. She was 12-for-13 from the free-throw line and had her streak of 29-straight free-throws made snapped late in the game.

Cobilyn Hill (Houston, Texas/Eisenhower HS) added 16 points and six rebounds, her best offensive performance in the past five games.

Courtney Taylor (Crockett, Texas/Crockett HS) set a career-high with 14 rebounds before being forced from the game with a knee injury with just over six minutes remaining. Her status is day to day.

The Cougars struggled from the field to start the game, shooting 4-for-19 (.210) over the opening 13 minutes. During that span, Rice used a 16-4 run to lead by 17, 31-14, with 7:42 to go.

A three-pointer by Brittney Scott (Orange, Texas/West Orange Stark HS) with 7:13 left in the half started a 22-5 Houston run that left the score knotted at 36 at the break.

Over the final seven minutes of the half, Rice shot 2-for-11 from the field with three turnovers after firing at almost a 70-percent clip (13-19/.684) for the first 13 minutes.

Morgan Mayse and Tara Watts led the Owls with 14 points apiece. Hudson chipped in 10 off the bench and Kadie Riverin added 10 along with five assists.

Houston heads out on the road for the first time since mid-December, taking on UCF on Jan. 17 at 6 p.m. CST in the UCF Arena. The Knights will also play host to the 2008 C-USA Championship which runs from March 6-9.

Fans can listen to a free internet radio broadcast of all UH games this year by clicking on the Stretch Internet Broadcast link at UHCougars.com. Streaming video for all home games will also be made available through the All-Access package at UHCougars.com.