The UH women’s basketball team looked poised to improve on last season’s 6-25 record following a 100-37 exhibition win against the Huston-Tillotson University Rams Sunday afternoon at Hofheinz Pavilion.
The Cougars came out strong in their 100-37 win over the Huston-Tilleston Rams Sunday afternoon as every Cougar scored at least four points, with five scoring in the double digits. | Justin Tijerina/The Cougar
In head coach Ronald Hughey’s debut, the Cougars showed they were ready to start the 2014-2015 season after a performance in which they scored in double-digits and forced turnovers.
The Cougars got off to a quick start scoring the first 15 points of the game, and capitalized on 26 first half Huston-Tilltoson turnovers to head into the break with a 50-23 lead.
The Cougars forced the Rams into early foul, getting to the bonus with 13:48 left in the first half and went 12-17 from the line to widen the early lead.
Sophomore guard Alexia Sanders scored 9 of her team high 13 points in the first half and added 6 assists and 8 steals on her way to earning player of the game honors.
Five Cougars scored in double digits in a game where the team shot 44.3 percent and every Cougar scored at least 4.
In addition to the high-power offense, the Cougar defense was on point as they forced the Rams into 51 turnovers on 38 steals and held them to 30 percent shooting, including just 14 points on 26.3 percent shooting in the second half.
The Cougars were dominant on the boards, out-rebounding the Rams 54-36 with an equal mix of 26 offensive and 28 defensive rebounds.
While this game served as a nice tune-up, the Cougars still have room to improve going into the regular season opener following a 23:17 assist to turnover ratio and only shooting 57.7 percent (15-26) from the free throw line.
The Cougars will look to start the season with a victory as they travel to Denton for the regular-season opener against the University of North Texas Friday night and then returning home for the team’s home opener against Incarnate Word at 7 p.m. on Nov. 17.
