The Cougars improved to 14-9 on the season and 8-1 in Conference USA as Houston defeated Tulsa at Hofheinz Pavilion 63-49 Thursday. The victory extends their winning streak to eight.
A 3-pointer by senior guard Twiggy McIntyre and a jumper by freshman center Cobilyn Hill in the last five minutes of the first half gave the Cougars a 28-25 lead after four ties and five lead changes.
Even though they had a 3-point advantage at halftime, the Cougars’ performance was even better in the second half. Houston was out-rebounded 21-16 in the first half, and allowed Tulsa nine second-chance points and offensive rebounds in the first half.
"That was one of the things we talked about as an adjustment at half time," interim head coach Danny Hughes said, "just keeping them to one shot."
Houston was kept alive by its defense in the first half, as they forced 15 turnovers, and held Tulsa to just 35.7 percent from the field.
Houston held the lead throughout the second half, but the Hurricane would make it close, coming within one point three times in the second half.
With 10:08 left in the game, Tulsa sophomore forward Teka Brooks made a layup that brought Tulsa within one point, 41-40, but the Cougars caught fire, and another three pointer by McIntyre with 9:30 left would trigger the scoring barrage. The Cougars proceeded to go on a 17-5 run and pulled away to a 61-45 lead with just 2:38 left.
McIntyre scored 17 of her 20 game-high points in the second half, going 5-of-8 from the field, and 3-of-6 from behind the arc.
Senior guard Tye Jackson finished with a game-high nine assists, half of the Cougars’ total of 18. The Cougars were out-rebounded over the course of the game, 40-37, as Tulsa sophomore forward Larissa Williams grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds. Freshman forward Courtney Taylor led the way for the Cougars, grabbing 9 boards.
After starting the season 6-9, the Cougars have turned the season around and won eight in a row, all against C-USA opponents. Jackson attributed the team’s recent success to "team chemistry."
"We’re playing together, so that’s how we’re playing good," Jackson said.
Hughes agreed with Jackson.
"We’ve learned some things from that start, and we’ve kept our head knowing that the direction we were going was the right direction."
Houston hopes to extend its winning streak against C-USA opponents to nine against Southern Methodist at 2 p.m. Saturday at Hofheinz Pavilion.
