UH woke up from its nightmarish conference start after getting its first conference win by beating Cincinnati last weekend. But after Tuesday’s game against Rutgers, it was knocked out once again.
The Cougars (5-19, 1-12) were outmatched from the start until the final buzzer, as they lost 74-42 to the Scarlet Knights.
Senior center Yasmeen Thompson was the only spark for the Cougars, as she scored a game-high 24 points and grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds. She was their only player in double figures.
“I was more into it mentally, and my teammates found me when I was moving to the basket,” Thompson said.
Other than Thompson, the Cougars struggled on offense, especially from the backcourt. Junior guard Demetria Foreman and sophomore guard Alecia Smith combined for only two points.
In the first half, UH often made too many passes on the perimeter and struggled to get the ball inside. But in the second half, it finally did, as Thompson was able to score 14 points, compared to her six in the first half.
“Against (Rutgers’) zone, you have to penetrate and kick. We should have penetrated one more time and taken it inside,” said interim head coach Wade Scott. “In the first half, we were probably on the perimeter too much and not enough inside. In the second half, we got it inside and got a few more points.”
Thompson said she could have been more aggressive.
“For me, I wasn’t starting strong in the first half. We need to communicate more and attack.”
UH has now lost 12 of its last 13 games, and it doesn’t get any easier. Two of the next three games will be against Louisville and Connecticut, teams that combined for a 45.5 margin of victory over UH in the first meetings.
“It’s not the way we envisioned it when we got together in October, but these kids work hard. They haven’t thrown in the towel,” Scott said.
“Sometimes the ball goes in, and sometimes it doesn’t. It went in for us on Saturday (against Cincinnati), and today it didn’t go in as much.”
