Laila Blair’s 10 points lead the team on the road against Temple. | Esther Umoh/The Cougar
The UH women’s basketball team suffered its second-straight conference loss as it fell 62-54 on the road to Temple on Saturday.
The early minutes of the first quarter saw Temple jump out to a quick 7-2 run thanks to its defense forcing offensive miscues for UH.
With the Owls leading 14-8 with 4:14 left in the quarter, the Cougars rode a 6-2 to cut the deficit to 16-14.
Both teams delivered late points as Temple led 21-17 at the end of the first quarter as guard Mia Davis scored 12 points for the Owls in the opening period.
Both teams dominated inside in the first quarter as Temple outscored UH 16-14 in the paint.
Opening the second quarter, both teams struggled to get any offense going in the first 3:27 as both teams combined for six points.
After leading 25-22, Temple broke free on an 8-0 run including the game’s first 3-pointer between both teams to extend the lead to 33-22 late in the second quarter.
The Cougars broke a scoreless period of 4:47 with five points in the final 1:16 of the second quarter but trailed 35-27 at the half.
The third quarter was even in scoring as Temple continued to hold its distance from UH midway through the period.
A slow and foul-infested third quarter finished with Temple leading UH 48-39 as 13 of both teams’ 25 combined points came at the free-throw line.
Heading into the fourth quarter, the Cougars’ kept closing the lead to seven on several trips up the court.
In the last 5:27 of the game, Temple continued to rely on its disruptive defense to maintain the lead as the clock ran down.
The Cougars’ stuck around in hopes of sparking a comeback as they cut the deficit to five points, but the Owls’ effort to hold on to the lead was too much to handle.
The UH women’s basketball team was never ahead at any point as the Owls grabbed the lead early in the first quarter and never relinquished it, forcing the Cougars to play chase for the remainder of the game.
Despite struggling in the first half, sophomore guard Laila Blair led the team in scoring with 10 points along with two rebounds and two assists.
Senior forward Tatyana Hill finished the game with a team-high nine rebounds while also recording nine points.
