The UH women’s basketball team lost its home debut 83-74 to Alabama on Tuesday.
The Cougars, led by freshman forward Jessieka Palmer’s team high 19 points, came into the game attempting to rebound from a loss in their season opener against Mississippi State. Palmer has scored in double digits in both of the Cougars’ games this season.
Redshirt senior point guard Porsche Landry was plagued with foul trouble all evening and finished with 13 points. She said some good thing will come out of the loss.
“We could have played better,” Landry said. “Our team effort is positive, we trust each other, and we rebounded good. Overall, we have a lot of positives, but we could be better.”
The Cougars took their only lead of the game after freshman guard Alecia Smith made two consecutive free throws, putting the team up 18-17 with 9:40 remaining in the first half.
The Cougars won the battle on the boards with junior center Yasmeen Thompson wrangling 17 boards and junior forward Marissa Ashton pulling down 12.
The biggest discrepancy came from the 3-point line. Alabama hit nine 3s, finishing with 27 points from behind the arc, while the Cougars hit only one 3 pointer.
Though UH went into the half with a six-point deficit, the team started a late rally after junior forward Te’onna Campbell took a charge midway through the second half that eventually fell short.
“I’m really proud of our basketball team; we played with a lot of heart,” head coach Todd Buchanan said. “For this team only playing two games, the effort and commitment are there.”
“The execution part is missing. Defensively, we’re ahead of ourselves, but we’re not converting once the ball is stolen.”
The Cougars’ next game is at 7 p.m. on Nov. 17 on the road against Yale.
