Dec. 4, 2007

LUBBOCK, Texas - The University of Houston women's basketball team snapped a 16-game road losing streak by knocking off previously undefeated Texas Tech 66-63 Tuesday at the United Spirit Arena.

Houston (3-6) won its first road game since February 2006 and its first game in Lubbock since Feb. 9, 1985. Texas Tech (9-1) had won each of the previous 16 meetings in the series.

"It's a great road victory for our basketball team," interim head coach Danny Hughes said. "To be able to come in, compete and beat a quality team like Texas Tech on the road speaks highly of the effort our players gave tonight. Hopefully this gives us some momentum as we go on a little road swing here."

Twiggy McIntyre (Sapulpa, Okla./Sapulpa HS/Kansas State) scored a game-high 17 points, 12 of them on 3-pointers.

Houston built a 7-point lead midway through the second half by scoring 10 straight, including a pair of 3-pointers by McIntyre.

But Tech came back to take the lead 58-55 on a 3-pointer by Raquel Christian, who scored eight of her 11 points in the second half. The second half featured 10 lead changes.

Houston finished the game on an 11-5 run, including five from Courtney Taylor (Crockett, Texas/Crockett HS). She blocked a shot by Jordan Murphree and then drove the court and scored on a layup to give the Cougars a 4-point lead with less than a minute to play.

Taylor had her second-career double-double with 13 points and a career-high 11 rebounds.

The Cougars held a 38-30 advantage in the paint and tallied 20 points off of 20 Tech turnovers. Despite being outrebounded 52-42, UH converted its 18 offensive rebounds into 17 second-chance points.

Murphree scored 14 to lead the Lady Raiders, who had won all of their games by at least 10 points. Dominic Seals had a double-double for Tech with 12 points and a game-high 14 rebounds.

The Cougars were held scoreless for the first four minutes of the game, shot 34.2 percent (13-38) in the first half and still managed to carry a three-point, 31-28 lead into the locker room at halftime.

Houston was 2-for-16 in the first 9:45 of the contest and trailed 17-4 with 10:15 remaining. Moments later, a three by McIntyre started a 27-11 run to close out the half that saw UH go 11-for-22 (.500) from the field.

UH continues a three-game road trip on Dec. 8 at Miami (Fla.). The Cougar and Hurricanes will tip it off at 1 p.m. CST at the BankUnited Center.

UPCOMING GAMES/RESULTS
DECEMBER
Tuesday, 4
Houston def. Texas Tech, 66-63
Marshall def. North Texas, 82-70
South Alabama def. Southern Miss, 76-74
Missouri State def. Tulsa, 72-61

Wednesday, 5
Tulane at Rhode Island 6 p.m.
Charlotte at UAB 7 p.m.

Thursday, 6
Coppin State at SMU 7 p.m.
TCU at Rice 7:30 p.m.

Saturday, 8
#9 Oklahoma at Tulsa (Sooner Sports Network) 3 p.m.
New Mexico State at UTEP 3:05 p.m.
Houston at Miami (Fla.) 6 p.m.
UT-Arlington at SMU 7 p.m.
Southern Miss at Louisiana Tech 7 p.m.

Sunday, 9
Florida Gulf Coast at UCF 1 p.m.
North Carolina State at East Carolina (WITN) 2 p.m.

MARSHALL 82, NORTH TEXAS 70
Hart's 23 Leads Herd Women Past North Texas, 82-70
DENTON, Texas - Senior Kizzy Hart scored a career-high 23 points as the Marshall women's basketball team took down North Texas in dominating fashion, 82-70, Tuesday night at the Super Pit. North Texas (5-5, 0-0 Sun Belt) jumped out to a 6-4 lead early in the game, but it was all Marshall (4-4, 0-0 C-USA) from that point on as they would jump on top of the Mean Green and lead the rest of the way.

For the seventh time in eight games thus far, Marshall held a lead at halftime, up 44-30 at the break. After spotting North Texas a 6-4 lead two minutes into the game, the Herd took control of the contest.

Following a bucket by Kizzy Hart that knotted the score at six, the Herd was off to the races, going on an 18-8 run to take a ten point lead halfway through the period. The lead would reach as many as 15 points with just under a minute left in the half while a late North Texas free throw would cut the halftime lead to 14.

The Mean Green did not give up in the second half, opening with an 8-4 run and eventually cutting the lead to single digits, 56-47, halfway through the period. After going without a point for almost a four-minute stretch, Tynikki Crook hit a pair of free throws to bring the lead back into double-digits.

Another North Texas bucket cut the lead to nine once again, however, Marshall responded with a 6-0 run to extend the lead to 15 and it would grow to as many as 18 with 5:48 left in the game. Ten points by Kizzy Hart down the stretch put the game out of reach for the Mean Green.

Hart's total of 23 marked the most points scored by a Marshall player this season and also the first 20-point game since Meg Withrow had 20 against East Carolina on January 28.

Casey Baker, not to be overshadowed by Hart, also set a first for the team this season, notching the first double-double since Modupe Ishola did it against UCF last year. Baker scored 14 points to go with a career-high 11 boards. She also tied her career mark of five steals, which she set on Saturday against Pittsburgh.

Rounding out Marshall's four double-digit scorers were Alix Barnette and Tynikki Crook. Barnette had 14 points for the second time in three games and tied her career mark, connecting on three three-pointers. Crook bested her career-high of nine points with 12.

Chantelle Handy had a quiet night on the scoring-wise, but quietly had four points, five rebounds and five assists over the course of 37 minutes, tops in her Marshall career.

Amber Jackson, the Mean Green's top scorer entering the night, averaging 13.6 points per game, did not disappoint, scoring 18 points to lead her team.

Two stats made the difference for the Herd in Tuesday's win. Entering the game, North Texas led the Sun Belt, averaging 45.2 rebounds per game. Marshall put a stop to that, holding the Mean Green to 31 boards, their lowest total of the season. The other stat was Marshall's shooting percentage of 52.7%, a season high. It marked the second time the Herd shot 50% or better from the field.

The Herd will have a ten-day layoff before returning to action at Ohio University on December 14. Following that game, Marshall will play host to Navy on December 16. The Navy game will also mark the annual Jam The Cam event.

SOUTH ALABAMA 76, SOUTHERN MISS 74
HATTIESBURG, Miss. - South Alabama's Monique Jones scored on a driving layup with .04 seconds remaining in the game, giving the Lady Jags a 76-74 win over Southern Miss Tuesday night.

South Alabama improved to 8-1 on the season, while Southern Miss lost for the third-straight time, fell to 6-3.

"We wanted to contain them (South Alabama)," Coach Joye Lee-McNelis said. "We wanted them to dribble and not make the pass with our zone defense with no trapping, just containment. You have to give them a lot of credit. Shakira Nettles put the ball on the floor, they reversed it and Monique Jones got ball and went to the goal, knowing that we were in a two-shot foul."

Pauline Love recorded her seventh double-double with a game-high 17 points and 15 rebounds, while Stephanie Helgeson came off the bench to score 17 points, as well. Kendra Reed chipped in 12 points.

Jeanette Tucker led the Lady Jags with 13 points, followed by Jessica Starling with 11 points and Monique Jones added 10 points.

South Alabama led by as many as 12 points, 63-51, with 7:55 remaining in the game. Southern Miss, then, scored 13 straight points fueled by Love and Helgeson scoring four points apiece.

"I believe we did a nice job of executing down the stretch when we were down by 12 points," McNelis said. "I thought our team played well in that stretch. You have to make free throws in crunch times and you have to make defensive stops and we did not do that."

Over the next 4:48, there were three ties and four lead changes. With 17 seconds remaining, South Alabama Patriece Brunner hit two free throws, giving the Jags a 74-73 lead. On the Lady Eagles next possession, Amber Eugene had a chance to give Southern Miss the lead with five seconds remaining, but missed the first of two free throws and made the second.

South Alabama made three passes, with the third hitting Jones for the score and foul with .04 seconds remaining. Jones missed the free throw, allowing the remaining time to run off.

The first half featured four ties and nine lead changes. Southern Miss led 12-6 early, but South Alabama fought back, using an 8-0 run, taking a 14-12 lead.

Both team traded baskets over the next four minutes, until the Lady Jags outscored the Lady Eagles, 5-0, to take a 24-20 with 4:19 remaining before the half. Eugene then scored back-to-back baskets, tying the game at 24-24. With the game knotted at 29-29, the Lady Eagles closed out the half with an 8-2 run for a 37-31 halftime lead.

Southern Miss controlled the boards, out rebounding South Alabama, 46-34. The Lady Eagles had only 16 turnovers, but the Jags were able to score 18 points off the miscues.

Southern Miss returns to action, when the Lady Eagles travel to Ruston, La., for a 7 p.m., game against Louisiana Tech Saturday.

MISSOURI STATE 72, TULSA 61
Williams led TU with 27 points and 10 rebounds
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. - Larrissa Williams tallied 27 points and 10 rebounds for the Golden Hurricane on Tuesday night at the Hammons Student Center in Springfield, Mo., but it wasn't enough as Tulsa fell 72-61 in the contest. The Golden Hurricane dropped to 2-7 on the season while the Bears picked up their first win for a 1-6 record.

TU got off to a fast start, posting a 10-point lead (18-8) at the 10:28 mark, but Missouri State fought back and went on a 28-7 run to own an 11-point advantage with 2:07 left in the first half. Tulsa cut the Bears' lead to six, but MSU went into the break with a 42-31 advantage.

In the second half, Missouri State continued their run to post a game-best 23-point lead at the 12:04 mark, but it was TU's turn to score and they cut the lead in half to conclude the game.

Tatum Beer added 18 points for the Golden Hurricane in the contest.

Marisha Brown posted a team-best 14 points for the Bears, while Tahnee Balerio added 13, Maggie Dwyer added 12 and Tiffany Coppage recorded 11 in the game. Dwyer pulled down a team-best 10 rebounds.

Tulsa will return to action on Saturday to host ninth-ranked Oklahoma at the Donald W. Reynolds Center. Game time is set for 3:00 p.m.