Head coach Todd Buchanan pumped his fist as freshman forward Marche’ Amerson knocked down her second consecutive 3-pointer late in the second half.
Down 57-58 with four minutes remaining, Amerson was able to score seven of the last eight points, and UH knocked off Conference USA by leading SMU 65-58 at Hofheinz Pavilion on Sunday.
Despite going scoreless until the four-minute mark, Buchanan said the two-time Freshman Award of the Week recipient came up big for her team.
Amerson got off to a slow start after foul trouble limited her to 11 minutes in the first half. She initially lost confidence but knew she needed to make plays in the clutch, Amerson said.
“That’s what great players do,” Buchanan said. “She was struggling for the most part today, but she really had the tenacity and the heart to come back and make the biggest shots that she made on the biggest stage.”
UH handed SMU its second conference loss of the season. The Cougars improve to 12-14 overall.
Freshman guard Alecia Smith recorded a game-high 18 points, including four 3-pointers. Junior center Yasmeen Thompson was able to record her fifth double-double with 13 points and 13 rebounds.
Redshirt senior guard Porsche Landry was able to place herself in the record books by tallying 1,506 points for her career and moving into the eighth spot in school history.
The Cougars were able to keep Mustangs junior guard Keena Mays under control in the first half but was able to knock down three 3-pointers in the second half.
“In the second half, we didn’t pay as much attention to her as we needed. We let her get hot, and once she got going, she knocked some shots down,” Amerson said. “We came together and said we need to lock her down and tighten up our defense as a whole.”
SMU has been on top of the conference since the season started, but the Cougars feel comfortable if they have to see them again.
“We match up well with them. They’re not dominantly big or anything like that. We have a lot of athletes; they have a lot of athletes,” Buchanan said. “I think Mays and Landry really offset each other a lot of times, and I think (junior forward) Te’onna (Campbell) did a really, really good job defending her.”
