Turnovers plagued the Cougars in the second half, leading to a blowout loss. | Justin Tijerina/The Daily Cougar
Even though the Cougars have hit a rough patch recently, head coach Wade Scott said that his team will always give great effort — even when facing a nationally ranked team.
Though UH has lost eight of its last nine games, things didn’t get any easier as No. 5 Louisville came to Hofheinz Pavilion. The Cougars were outmatched on all levels, falling to the Cardinals in a 93-52 loss.
Sophomore forward Marche Amerson and senior center Yasmeen Thompson led the way for the Cougars with 10 points each. Senior forward Marissa Ashton put in eight points of her own, including two first-half 3-pointers in the first half to bring the Cougars within striking distance.
An entertaining match-up in the first half, in which the Cougars found themselves down only five points with under two minutes left, quickly turned into a blowout. The Cougars were plagued by what has killed them all season long — turnovers.
“When you miss those easy ones, everybody’s (players” confidence kind of shakes a little bit,” Scott said. “Our players gave great effort, they did what they were asked to do, but sometimes you just got to tip your hat off to the other (team).”
The Cougars were making all the right plays in the first half: deflecting balls in the passing lanes, making the hustle plays to get offensive rebounds and showing the sense of urgency needed when facing a more talented opponent.
But after halftime, UH’s abundance of turnovers turned what was an interesting contest into a blowout as it was outscored 58-23. Louisville’s full-court press presented problems for the Cougars all night, making it difficult to even get across half-court.
“It was more of us. We beat ourselves,” Amerson said. “A lot of people may not see it that way, but we are a good team. If we can get those small things down and stay together through the entire game, we have a chance to shock a lot of people. I don’t think it was more of what they did differently in the second half, we just have to learn to play for a full game.”
