Graduate guard Julia Blackshell-Fair finished the game with eight points for the Cougars against USF. | Sean Thomas/The Cougar
The Houston women’s basketball team failed to end their season on a high note, losing to USF 71-38 in their last game of the regular season.
The Cougars had a rough time on offense to start the game as they were held to six points in the first quarter.
The second quarter saw much of the same defensive woes from UH as USF jumped out to a 14-2 run to lead 31-8 with 7:18 left in the quarter.
All momentum stayed with the Bulls as they ended the quarter on an 18-8 run to close out the half at 49-16.
Things were just as difficult for the Cougars on the other end of the floor, they couldn’t find a way to stop the Bulls’ offense, giving up 32 points in the second quarter alone.
Juniors guard Britney Onyeje and forward Jazmine Lewis both led the Cougars in scoring at the half with four points each as USF shot 61.3 from the field compared to UH’s 18.5 percent in the first half.
The Cougars had their best quarter of the game in the third, as they leveled out offensively and held their own defensively to spread the game even nearing the midway point of the quarter.
Heading into the late third quarter, the momentum swung UH’s way for the first time in the game as it rode a 9-4 to close the third quarter but still trailed by 30 points heading into the fourth quarter at 59-29.
The fourth quarter saw the least action out of all quarters as USF played to preserve the lead as they outscored the Cougars 12-9 to end the game.
Graduate guard Julia Blackshell-Fair led the Cougars with eight points while senior forward Tatyana Hill recorded 10 rebounds on the night.
The loss dropped the Cougars to a .500 record on the season at 14-14, finishing 6th in the American Athletic Conference standings.
The Cougars now hold the 6-seed in the AAC Tournament where they will face Cincinnati in the first round on March. 7 at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth.
