Sports Women's Basketball

Cougars unable to rally, fall to Rams in Holiday Classic Finals

Julia Blackshell-Fair, who finished with 17 points in Monday's loss against the Rams, driving down the lane. | File Photo

Julia Blackshell-Fair, who finished with 17 points in Monday’s loss against the Rams, driving down the lane. | File Photo

The Cougars were not able to overcome a 16-point first-half deficit as they fell 63-54 to the Rams in the Fordham Holiday Classic Championship game.

Freshman Bria Patterson got Houston’s offense going, scoring five points early in the first quarter. Midway through the first, the Cougars trailed the Rams 12-9.

Fordham’s excellent 3-point shooting in the first quarter helped the Rams maintain a lead for nearly the entire period as the Rams knocked down five first-quarter 3-pointers.

After the first 10 minutes of play, Fordham led 17-11.

The Rams hot start offensively carried into the second quarter as Fordham knocked down two more 3-pointers and outscored the Cougars 19-9 in the quarter which helped Fordham take a comfortable 36-20 lead into halftime.

Down 16 at the half, the Cougars came out of the locker room ready to fight back. Junior Julia Blackshell-Fair went 4/4 from the field and scored nine third-quarter points to lead Houston.

The Cougars also held the Rams scoreless over a five-minute stretch in the quarter to cut Fordham’s lead down to 10. After three, Fordham led 48-36.

In the fourth period, the teams went back and forth trading baskets.

The Cougars went on a 7-0 run over the final 1:30 of the game, but it was too little too late to overcome their big halftime deficit.

Houston lost the game 63-54 and falls to 7-7 on the season.

Blackshell-Fair led the Cougars with 17 points and six rebounds. Sophomore Tatyana Hill also got into double-digits with 11 points.

In addition, Hill was named to the All-Tournament team. Sophomore Dymond Gladney was also named to the All-Tournament team.

The Cougars return to action on Sunday when they begin conference play against the Tigers at 3 p.m. at Fertitta Center.

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