Junior guard Brittney Scott exploded for a game-high 24 points on 7-of-17 shooting to lead the Cougars to a dominant 81-58 win over in-town rival Rice on Thursday night at Hofheinz Pavilion. | Yulia Kutsenkova/The Daily Cougar
Good things come in threes.
The UH women’s basketball team probably can’t cite the source of the saying, but after getting head coach Joe Curl back on the bench, securing the No.2 seed in next week’s Conference USA Championships and wrapping up the season sweep of in-town rival Rice in a 81-58 victory Thursday night at Hofeinz Pavilion, they can confirm that it’s more than just lip service.
“I’m sicker than hell,” said Curl, who had been out since Feb.13 with medical issues stemming from chest pains. “Lesslee Mason couldn’t get to the gym because she was hurting so bad, and Courtney (Taylor) was under the weather, too, but stuck it out. It’s always had a dogfight when we play Rice. I was trying to coach every four minutes. I don’t even look at the score until it’s winning time, which is the last eight and four minutes of the game.”
Junior guard Brittney Scott poured in 18 of her game-high 24 points in the opening half to ensure that the Cougars (16-13, 10-6 C-USA) and lone senior Ashlee’ Joseph — who was honored for Senior Night — closed out the regular season on a high note in their own backyard in felling the Owls (13-16, 7-9).
“When Brittney started out, the basket was bigger than a bathtub,” Curl said. “Which was great because we wanted to have the best season possible for Ashlee’. She’s accomplished a lot, and she’s grown a lot since she’s been here.“
UH reserve sparkplug Roxanna Button contributed 17 points, and Taylor recorded her 39th double-double with 14 points and 14 rebounds. Freshman Opal Taskila paced Rice with 16 points and eight rebounds.
Field goal percentage made the difference in the first half for UH, which shot 48.5 percent compared to the Owls’ woeful 25.8 percent. The Cougars’ 50-point first half was the second highest total for the opening half this season (58 against North Texas Dec. 5).
“Kudos to Houston, they played well,” said Rice head coach Greg Williams, who added he was very happy that Curl was back. “The game was over pretty early, quite frankly. I thought we were prepared coming in, but we shot 25 percent in the first half, and that’s not a good formula for success.”
With 16:42 remaining in the second half, Joseph made a strong move under the goal for a basket that put UH up 63-31. The Owls tried to make a run on the strong play of Taskila, but they never got any closer than 23 points.
The Cougars begin postseason play Tuesday, when they’ll face the winner of the Rice — UTEP matchup on Monday. UH beat the Owls and the Miners over the last three games of the season and are confident that momentum will be the perfect assist.
“We finished as the No. 2 seed, which is exciting,” Curl said. “We love getting this seed because it allows us to have a bye. This is anybody’s tournament, and I think we have a great shot at winning it because we’re playing some of our best basketball right now.”
