Women's Basketball Suffers 80-55 Defeat At No. 24 UTEP
Feb. 14, 2008
EL PASO, Texas - The University of Houston women's basketball team suffered its worst road defeat of the season as No. 24 UTEP handed the Cougars an 80-55 defeat, Thursday in Conference USA action at the Don Haskins Center. Houston (14-11, 8-3 C-USA) has lost two-straight games while the Miners (19-2, 11-0 C-USA) have won a league-record 16-straight games and are 11-0 at the Haskins Center this season. The Cougars led only once, 3-0, with just over two minutes gone in the game. UTEP erased that with a 20-6 run and never trailed by less than 21 after halftime. With the loss and UAB and SMU wins, UH is now in a three-way tie for second place in the league with five games to play in the regular season. Houston finished with 20 turnovers, which UTEP converted into 23 points. The Cougars also had 19 free-throws made, compared to only 16 made field goals. Courtney Taylor (Crockett, Texas/Crockett HS) was the only UH played to find double figures. The freshman forward scored 10 and grabbed a team-high nine rebounds. Tye Jackson (Houston, Texas/Westfield HS/Purdue) finished with nine points and six rebounds. All nine of her points came in the first half. Zane Jakobsone (Riga, Latvia/Trinity Valley CC), Ashlee' Joseph (Houston, Texas/Booker T. Washington HS) and Jasmine Johnson (Omaha, Neb./Omaha Central HS) came off the bench to score six points apiece in the second half. Joseph added five rebounds. Houston was in a 41-20 halftime hole after making just seven field goals in the first half while giving up 12 turnovers. UTEP shot almost 50 percent (18-37/.486), knocked down four triples and converted UH's 12 turnovers into 16 points. The Cougars led 3-0 out of the gate, but a 20-6 UTEP run had the Miners up 11 with just over 11 minutes left. UH would get no closer then 10 the rest of the half. One bright spot was Jackson's team-high nine first-half points. The senior guard was held scoreless for the first time in her collegiate career in Houston's loss to SMU on Feb. 9. UTEP was led by Izabela Piekarska who scored 17 points. Jareica Hughes dropped in 13 along with nine assists while Natasha Lacy scored 12 and grabbed seven steals. Claudia Porras came off the bench to grab 10 rebounds. Houston continues a four-game road swing Saturday at Tulane. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m. CST at Fogelman Arena. 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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