First year head coach Ronald Hughey looks forward to what the Cougars will become in the future and hopes to use this past season as a building block towards success. | File Photo/The Cougar
The playoffs are over for first-year head coach Ronald Hughey as the Cougars lost to Tulane Friday night in the first round of the 2015 American Athletic Conference Women’s Basketball Championship.
The Cougars fell behind early to the sixth place Green Wave and were never able to bounce back, eventually falling 39-64.
Houston’s offense came out sluggish, going scoreless in the first five minutes of the game. Tulane played sound, fundamental defense and forced UH to try to make plays on offense, but the players were unable to so.
The rebounding battle did not fall in Houston’s favor either, leading to a slew of one-and-done possessions on offense. This, combined with 11 turnovers and a 13 percent shooting average in the first half, spelled trouble for the Cougars.
Defensively, UH was able to slow down Tulane and prevent them from breaking the game wide open for a while.
Toward the end of the opening half, however, the defense softened and the Green Wave broke through on a 12-0 run and took a commanding 30-10 lead into the break.
The Cougars came out displaying heart in the opening of the second half, scoring almost two-thirds of their points after the break, but the ball continued to bounce in the Green Wave’s favor.
Using strong teamwork and accurate passing, the Green Wave spread the ball around and kept the game out of reach for the Cougars.
Freshman guard Mariah Mitchell and junior guard Jessieka Palmer each scored a team-high seven points, while junior forward Tyler Gilbert added six points, a team-best eight rebounds and two blocked shots.
Houston closes the season 6-24 overall and 1-17 in the American Athletic conference.
“This is a great venue; we love the conference and everything it represents,” Hughey said after the loss in a news release. “We wish we would have played better, and we look forward to the opportunity to come back here next year and do better.”
