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Women's Basketball Beats Southern Miss 71-61 With Strong Second Half
Jan. 20, 2008
HOUSTON - Twiggy McIntyre (Sapulpa, Okla./Sapulpa HS/Kansas State) scored a game-high 24 points to lead the University of Houston women's basketball team to a 71-61 victory over Southern Miss, Sunday in Conference USA action on Guy V. Lewis Court at Hofheinz Pavilion. McIntyre was 7-for-14 from the field and was 8-for-8 from the charity stripe. It was her fourth-straight 20-point game and fifth of the season. She also had four rebounds, three assists and three steals. Houston (10-9, 4-1 C-USA) won its fourth-straight game as the Cougars improved their record over .500 for the first time since beating Texas Southern, 76-58, in the season opener. Southern Miss (10-8, 1-4 C-USA) has dropped four-straight games. After a tepid offensive performance in the first 25 minutes of the game, Houston erupted on a 20-6 run that turned a 35-27 Southern Miss lead into a 45-41 advantage for the Cougars with just over seven minutes to play. The Golden Eagles pulled to within two, 47-45, with 5:44 to go, but Houston closed the door with a 15-for-18 (.833) effort from the free-throw line in the game's final five minutes. Houston fired at a 52-percent clip (15-for-29) in the second half after struggling with a 7-for-41 effort in the first half. The Cougars capitalized on better looks late in the game, outscoring the Golden Eagles 24-6 in the paint in the second half along with converting eight second-half turnovers into 12 points. Courtney Taylor (Crockett, Texas/Crockett HS) scored 14 points and grabbed 12 rebounds, her fifth double-double of the year. Taylor also had two blocks and two steals. She helped pace an inside attack for Houston that outscored Southern Miss 36-16 in the paint for the game. The Cougars were waylaid by a season-low, 17.1 shooting percentage (7-for-41) in the first half. UH was also just 1-for-9 from behind the three-point line. Despite the poor shooting, UH was only in a 29-21 halftime hole. Tye Jackson's (Houston, Texas/Westfield HS/Purdue) struggles from the field continued as she shot just 2-for-13, but dished out five assists, grabbed seven boards and was 5-for-6 from the charity stripe. Jackson has been mired in an 8-for-58 (.138) shooting slump since league play began on Jan. 4. Cobilyn Hill (Houston, Texas/Eisenhower HS) was double-teamed the entire game but managed three blocks on the defensive end. Ryan Meyers (Arlington, Texas/Arlington HS/Grayson County CC) had nine points off the bench. Southern Miss was led by Pauline Love who finished with 19 points and 16 rebounds. Liz Biland also posted a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Houston returns to the court looking for the season sweep against crosstown rival Rice on at 2 p.m. on Jan. 26 at Sharp Gymnasium (HBU). UH will play three-straight and seven of its next nine games on the road. 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.
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