The women’s basketball season got off to a rocky start on Tuesday after losing their opening game 69-38 against Georgia Tech. The ladies head home to face Southeastern Louisiana on Saturday. | File photo
The women’s basketball team struggled to get into any rhythm offensively in Atlanta on Tuesday night, dropping their 2019-20 season opener 69-38 against Georgia Tech.
The Cougars started off strong by forcing early turnovers and capitalizing on easy fast break points, building an 11-5 lead midway through the first quarter.
Georgia Tech responded to Houston’s fast start by going on a 9-2 run to end the first quarter and took a 16-15 lead into the break.
The Yellow Jackets would then catch fire and go on to outscore the Cougars 26-1 in the second quarter, shooting 11 of 20 from the field while forcing seven Houston turnovers.
Georgia Tech took a 42-16 lead into the locker room at the half.
Houston tried to mount a comeback in the second half, led by sophomore forward Tatyana Hill’s seven third-quarter points, but they still trailed the Yellow Jackets 53-24 going into the fourth.
In the fourth quarter, the teams would trade buckets until the final three minutes of the game, when senior forward Dorian Branch and freshman forward Bria Patterson knocked down Houston’s only two 3-pointers of the night.
Despite the late scoring efforts, the Cougars could not climb back from the huge deficit they fell into in the first half and ultimately fell to the Yellow Jackets 69-38.
Hill was Houston’s one bright spot in the game. She went 4 of 7 from the field scoring 10 points while also pulling down six rebounds and four steals, which were all team-highs.
Overall, the Cougars struggled to find any consistency in their offense, as they turned the ball over 23 times and made 15 of 48 shots from the field, including 2 of 17 from beyond the arc and 6 of 13 from behind the foul line
The Cougars will look to bounce back from their season-opening loss on Saturday afternoon when they take on Southeastern Louisiana at the Fertitta Center.
