Megan Morton (2) drives toward the basket in a game against Memphis. Roxanna Button was the star Thursday, scoring 18 points off the bench to lead the Cougars to an 84-54 win over UTEP on Thursday night at Hofheinz Pavilion. | Yulia Kutsenkova The Daily Cougar
Reserve guard Roxana Button didn’t need much time to get into her offensive rhythm when UH assistant coach Wade Scott called her number in the early going against UTEP on Thursday night.
Button didn’t miss a shot or free throw in the first half, netting 12 points on 4-for-4 shooting from the field and 2-for-2 at the foul line in a decisive 26-12 run to lead the Cougars to a convincing 84-54 win over UTEP at Hofheinz Pavilion.
Sparked by Button’s instant offense, UH (14-13, 8-6 Conference USA) took a comfortable 46-32 advantage over the Miners (15-13, 6-8 C-USA) into the locker room at halftime and were never threatened the rest of the way.
“I put Button out there and she rung the bell,” said Scott, who is leading the team in the absence of ailing head coach Joe Curl. “I think this year she’s been a little passive with her shot, but tonight she was aggressive and that helped us get off to a quicker start than we’ve had in the last two games.”
Button and forward Courtney Taylor each scored 18 points for the Cougars, who snapped a two-game losing streak in the first of a three-game homestand to close the regular season.
Briana Green and Anete Steinberga paced UTEP with 14 and 12 points, respectively.
With 18:03 remaining in the second half, Brittney Scott iced two free throws to put UH ahead 54-34. But Green didn’t wave the white flag, connecting on an array of teardrops and floaters in the lane in an attempt to keep her team in it.
It didn’t matter.
Taylor, who also had eight rebounds and five steals, operated with the precision of a surgeon using a scalpel in the post with crisp drop steps and strong moves to the rack to pad the Cougars’ lead to 25 at the 9:14 mark. Scott nailed a long jumper from behind the arc three minutes later to put UH up by 30, and the Miners never got any closer.
“When we want to play, we will play,” Scott said. “I’m going to look at Tulane tonight, look at our plan of attack, and we’ll be ready to go on Saturday.”
