UH sophomore guard Laila Blair scored a career-high 28 points in the Cougars’ loss to Baylor on Saturday. | Esther Umoh/The Cougar
The Houston women’s basketball team fell to 3-4 on the season after suffering a 74-58 loss to the No. 6 Baylor on Saturday in the team’s final in the Cancun Challenge.
UH went out to an early lead against the Lady Bears, building a 14-8 lead by the midway point of the opening quarter largely thanks to the effort of sophomore guard Laila Blair, who scored 10 of the Cougars’ first 14 points.
Baylor, however, followed with a 6-0 run out of a timeout to tie the game.
In the waning seconds of the first quarter, Blair drilled a 3-pointer to give the Cougars a 17-14 lead going into the second. Blair led the way for UH offensively in the first, scoring 13 of the squad’s 17 total points in the quarter.
In the second, Baylor began to produce much more effectively on offense.
The Lady Bears eventually took the lead at 28-27 and never gave the lead back.
On a 10-0 run, Baylor expanded their lead to 34-27 at the half. UH went scoreless in the final four minutes of the first half, and in total was outscored 20-10 in the second quarter.
In the first half, Blair led the Cougars with 15 points, including three 3-pointers.
Baylor brought its second quarter momentum into the third, expanding its lead to 42-27 early in the third quarter.
UH failed to score in the third quarter until the 4:22 mark, when Tiara Young knocked down a 3-pointer to end the lengthy scoring drought. Baylor’s dominance continued, however.
The third quarter ended 51-32. UH scored only five total points in the entire third quarter, all scored by Young.
Baylor’s strong run of play continued into the final quarter, with its lead expanding to a game-high 28 early in the fourth. The Lady Bears outscored the Cougars by 13-4 in the opening minutes.
UH cut into the large Baylor lead with a quick 9-0 run on three consecutive 3-pointers from Blair with just under five minutes to play.
Despite this run and UH’s much-improved effort down the stretch of the game, the deficit was far too large to overcome.
The Cougars dropped to 1-2 in their Cancun Challenge effort with a tough 74-58 loss.
Blair scored a career-high 28 points.
Graduate forward Fatou Diagne pulled down 12 rebounds.
Baylor’s effort was powered by senior forward NaLyssa Smith on both sides of the ball. Smith registered 21 points and 19 rebounds in the contest.
The Cougars struggled from the field, shooting only 30 percent on field goals in the loss.
