Houston’s 2023-24 season came to a close in the Cougars’ Big 12 Tournament First Round loss to Texas Tech on Thursday night. | Oscar Herrera/The Cougar
The Houston women’s basketball team faced an early end to its Big 12 tournament run and 2023-24 season following a 74-60 loss to Texas Tech on Thursday.
Neither team found rhythm in the first period, with Houston shooting just 27% from the field and the Red Raiders an only marginally better 29% in the quarter en route to an 11-11 stalemate entering the period break.
Texas Tech was the team to build the first formidable lead of the Big 12 Tournament First Round matchup, coming out of the gate in the second period with an 8-0 run to lead 19-11.
The Cougars followed with a run of their own, scoring seven unanswered to pull within one point before Texas Tech seized control once again. The pace of the matchup evened out in the final minutes of the half and UH assured the game was relatively close entering halftime.
With a 30-24 lead entering the third Texas Tech pressed on the gas, pushing its lead to double-digits within the early minutes of the quarter while Houston struggled to keep up.
The Red Raiders only got stronger in what became a lopsided and deciding period of competition, at one point leading by a game-high 20 point margin before senior guard Laila Blair and junior forward Maliyah Johnson brought it down to 14 at the third period whistle.
Blair and Johnson’s contributions carried over into fourth period momentum. UH worked on breaking down the double-digit Texas Tech lead, propelled by six points from senior forward Peyton McFarland and a pair of three-pointers from her fellow teammates. As McFarland’s third layup of the period fell, Houston trailed by just six points.
Similarly to the previous quarter though, the Red Raiders found their shot at the right time as UH went cold at the wrong time. Blair would be the lone scorer for Houston in what became the final six minutes of UH’s season whereas Texas Tech put its stamp on the tournament matchup by once again moving ahead by double-digits before the final buzzer.
Handed a 74-60 loss, the Cougars’ season comes to an early close. In its inaugural season in the Big 12 Conference UH went 14-16, finishing 5-13 in the conference.
