The UH women’s basketball team bounced back into the win column with a dominant 60-37 victory against Tulsa at Fertitta Center on Saturday.
UH struggled in the opening minutes of the first period, conceding an 8-0 from the opening tip-off.
Propelled by an improved defensive effort, UH managed to halt Tulsa’s run and pull the game to an 11-10 deficit by the end of the first quarter.
In a period even more defensive-minded than the first, UH only scored eight points all quarter, still managing to outscore Tulsa, who only managed five points in the period as the Cougars led by a slim 18-16 margin at halftime.
The Cougars were led by graduate student forward Tatyana Hill, who scored seven points and pulled down 12 rebounds in the first half alone. Senior guard Tiara Young followed with six points.
In the first half, UH shot just 22 percent from the field, including going 0-for-6 on three-pointers.
UH’s shooting performance had a sharp turnaround entering the second half. Within the third period’s first three minutes, UH had build a 30-20 lead over Tulsa and had already hit two three-pointers in the quarter.
Senior forward Bria Patterson and junior guard Laila Blair led the Cougars en route to a 13-point lead at the end of the third quarter. Patterson and Blair each tallied six points in the period, as did redshirt senior guard Britney Onyeje.
Any questions about a potential second-straight fourth quarter collapse were silenced quickly, as UH had expanded its lead to as high as 22 points in the game’s final quarter to solidify its bounce-back win.
UH finished with a 60-37 victory, led by Blair with 13 points and Hill and Young with 12 points each respectively.
After their struggling first half shooting clip, UH turned up the heat in the second half, shooting 50 percent from the field and 44 percent from behind the arc en route to the victory.