Laila Blair surpassed 1,000 career points in the Cougars 82-36 victory over Tulane on Sunday. | Sean Thomas/The Cougar
Junior guard Laila Blair surpassed 1,000 career points as the Houston women’s basketball team dominated 82-36 over Tulane on Sunday at Fertitta Center.
The Cougars have now won back-to-back games in the American Athletic Conference after losing three straight conference games and now have a 5-3 record in conference, propelling to an 8-13 overall record.
UH defense made it difficult for Tulane to score and forced it to turnover the ball seven times as the Cougars led 19-5 at the end of the first quarter.
Tulane started the second quarter with a 4-0 run and were already in the bonus with 7:17 remaining in the quarter. However, UH responded with an 8-0 run and never looked back.
The Cougars finished the first half with a 33-19 lead over Tulane. They held the Green Wave to 19 points, the fewest points they have scored in the first half this season.
Junior guard Laila Blair led with eight points at half as she reached the 1,000 point milestone before halftime.
Tulane once again started early in the third quarter with a 4-0 run, but the Cougars continued to score and forced the Green Wave take an early timeout.
Coming out of the timeout, UH continued to apply pressure on Tulane as it forced eight turnovers during a 17-0 run to lead 59-27 at the end of the third quarter.
In the fourth quarter, UH did not waver defensively as it continued to create problems for Tulane.
The Green Wave couldn’t find a spark offensively and struggled to get going late in the game.
The Cougars would go on to win by 46, the largest margin of a victory this season and once more defeating the Tulane Green Wave in conference.
The Cougars were all involved in the offense in the absence of senior guard Tiara Young.
Junior forward Kamryn Jones led UH with 16 points, tying her career high in points while senior forward Bria Patterson and Laila Blair followed with 13 points.
UH will now travel to Memphis on the road on Wednesday, Feb. 1 at 7 p.m. at the Elma Roane Fieldhouse.
