Sophomore guard Laila Blair scored a game-high 23 points in the UH women’s basketball team’s loss to Tulane on Sunday. | Esther Umoh/The Cougar
The UH women’s basketball team suffered a heartbreaking 76-72 loss on the road to Tulane on Sunday.
The Cougars now fall to below .500 for the fifth time this season, honing a 12-13 overall record while dropping to 5-8 in conference play.
Junior forward Bria Patterson led the charge for UH in the early-going, having scored six points in the first quarter as the Cougars jumped out to a 21-15 lead.
Despite zero points between both teams in the first 2:13 of the second quarter, Tulane came out stronger defensively as it began to chip into the UH lead.
Tulane outscored UH 15-11 in the second quarter, but the Cougars remained in front 32-20 at halftime.
Sophomore guard Laila Blair led the Cougars in scoring in the second quarter with seven points.
The Green Wave came out firing offensively in the third quarter, having totaled 28 points and limiting the Cougars to 17 points and taking a 58-49 lead.
The Cougars sparked momentum heading into the fourth quarter as they produced a 9-0 run to tie the game nearing the midway point of the period.
Both teams traded shots down the stretch, as Tulane extended the lead to six points in the final minute.
Junior guard Britney Onyeje later hit a three-point shot that cut Tulane’s lead down to three with 31 seconds left in the game.
Both teams exchanged trips to the free-throw line with the clock running down, followed by a quick layup by Blair to cut the Tulane lead down to four.
The Cougars had 10 seconds to work with, but ultimately ran out of time and the Green Wave held on for the victory.
Blair led all Cougars in scoring with 23 points while Onyeje recorded 16 points and six rebounds in the loss.
