Porsche Landry and the Cougars are in position to finish at or near the top of their conference if they can win their final two road games, against Southern Miss and UCF. | Voltaire Archelus/The Daily Cougar
The Cougars look to build on their hard-fought 73-67 win over SMU in Dallas last weekend when they hit the road to close out the 2010 regular season against conference rivals Southern Miss and Central Florida.
UH will battle Southern Miss at 7 p.m. today at Reed Green Coliseum in Hattiesburg, Miss. The game will be nationally televised on CBS College Sports.
UH (13-11, 7-4 Conference USA) is now within reach of the league leaders at third place in the standings, just a game behind Memphis and Tulane who are each tied at 8-3 in C-USA. A win over Southern Miss (7-17, 3-8) today and UCF (7-13, 4-7) on Saturday would put them in a position to enter the postseason as a top-ranked team in the conference.
Cougars head coach Joe Curl missed his team’s gritty comeback win after being admitted to a Dallas hospital with chest pains, but recently checked out and has returned to Houston. Doctors have advised him not to accompany the team on its two-game road trip.
Assistant coach Wade Scott, who filled in admirably for Curl against SMU, is ready to lead the team for at least two more games.
“Obviously, we would rather have coach Curl join us on this trip,” Scott said, who praised his team’s ability to focus in the midst of adversity during their win at Moody Coliseum. “But we’re going to be ready to meet the challenge.”
Scott and his coaching staff have already scouted the Golden Eagles and have made the necessary adjustments to their game plan.
“Southern Miss is very long and athletic,” Scott said. “We’re going to have to come to play and play our game if we want to win. Right now, we’re going to go with the horses that pulled the cart the whole season to lead us on the offensive end, Courtney Taylor and Brittney Scott. I’m also going to be counting on Porsche Landry to be the floor leader and get her teammates and herself going.”
Saturday’s game against UCF will also be televised on Bright House Sports Network.
