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Mustangs trample Cougars with loss

The Cougars traveled to Dallas to take on Southern Methodist and got off to a great start against SMU, but could not hold off the Mustangs in the second half and lost 85-74 at Moody Coliseum.

Saturday was Houston’s fifth consecutive loss, and the Cougars are at 14-14 on the season (8-6 Conference USA). The Mustangs improved their overall record to 21-6 (11-3 C-USA), and are in second place in the conference.

In the first half, senior guard Twiggy McIntyre scored 15 points on 5-of-7 shooting, hitting 3-of-4 shots from the 3-point line. Freshman center Cobilyn Hill and freshman forward Courtney Taylor took care of the Cougars defensively with four rebounds each at halftime.

Houston shot 44.4 percent from the field and found itself with a 40-36 lead at the break, but the rest of the game was a much different story as SMU came out on fire in the second half.

The Mustangs outscored the Cougars 21-9 in the first nine minutes of the second half, and the lead was securely in SMU’s possession at 57-49 with 11:06 left.

The Cougars helped the Mustangs on their way to their season sweep of UH with poor shooting and careless play. The Cougars shot 11-of-29 from the field in the second half, making just one of six shots from the 3-point line.

Houston was also unable to take care of the basketball. The Mustangs forced 12 turnovers in the second half, which they converted into 14 points, while Houston only caused seven.

Taylor (13 points, 11 rebounds) and Hill (14 points, 10 rebounds) both finished with double doubles after a fast start.

McIntyre had a game-high 25 points to go with her three assists and two steals. Senior guard Tye Jackson continued to dish the ball well, finishing with a game-high eight assists.

The conference loss dropped the Cougars to fourth place in C-USA, in front of East Carolina at fifth place by one game. Houston has two regular season games left to play and will face ECU at 7 p.m. Thursday at Hofheinz Pavilion.

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