The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
Houston
UAB Falls To Houston In Overtime, 80-76
2/3/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Feb. 3, 2008
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The UAB women's basketball team dropped an overtime contest to the Houston Cougars, 80-76, Sunday afternoon at Bartow Arena. Senior guard/forward Diamond Rogers scored a career-high 29 points and became the newest member of the 1,000-point club in the loss to Houston.
UAB moves to 10-11 on the year and 6-2 in Conference USA. Houston improves to 13-9 overall and stays in second place in the league at 7-1.
Houston started the game quick, going up by seven, 9-2, in the opening minutes of the contest. UAB then went on a 12-4 run that spanned the next six minutes to take its first lead of the game since the opening tip, 14-13, at the 11:26 mark.
The Cougars made a run of their own by scoring nine unanswered points to take an eight point lead, 22-14, with 5:50 left in the first half. UAB cut Houston's lead to three, 24-21, before the Cougars outscored the Blazers 11-4 in the closing minutes of the half to take a 10-point lead at the break, 35-25.
UAB starting chipping away at Houston's lead in the second half, eventually tying the game at 43-all on a free throw by Rogers at the 13:17 mark. A pair of free throws by Rogers at 11:23 gave the Blazers their first lead of the half, 45-43.
UAB went up by four, 47-43, on two free throws by sophomore Erica Simpson at the 11:02 mark. A trio of layups by the Cougars gave them the lead back, 51-49, at 9:17.
Houston held onto a minimal lead during the next five minutes before a three-point bucket by Rogers at 4:51 put UAB on top, 57-56. UAB and Houston traded baskets down the stretch, with the Cougars going up by three with 15 seconds left on a pair of free throws by senior guard Tye Jackson. UAB junior guard Britney Jones sank a trey with six seconds remaining to tie the game at 69-all and force overtime.
UAB took a quick one-point lead, 70-69, in overtime on a free throw by senior center Christon Ingram. Houston took its first lead in the extra period at the 3:05 mark and never looked back, eventually topping the Blazers, 80-76.
"This was a physical, hard-fought game on both sides," said UAB head coach Audra Smith. "It is unfortunate that we came up a little short in the end, but we gave it everything we had today.
"It was a good matchup for us and a great test. They have strong guards and big inside presence. We knew that it was going to be a tough battle with them because they are so talented."
After shooting just 29.7 percent in the first half, the Blazers rebounded with 46.9 percent shooting in the second half. For the game, UAB hit 35.0 percent of its shots from the field, 20.0 percent from three-point range and 83.3 percent from the charity stripe.
Rogers nabbed her fifth double-double of the season by adding 10 rebounds to her game-high 29 points for the Blazers. Entering the game versus Houston, the Jackson, Miss. native needed 21 points to reach 1,000 career points. Despite just having nine points at halftime, Rogers nailed a pair of free throws at 11:23 in the second half to surpass the 1,000-point milestone.
Jones had a big night for UAB with 23 points, led by a quartet of three pointers, and nine rebounds.
Houston had the hot hand in the first half, hitting 41.9 percent of its shots. The Cougars finished the game shooting 37.1 percent from the field, 31.6 percent from beyond the arc and 78.6 percent from the free throw line.
Freshman center Cobilyn Hill paced Houston with 19 points on 8-of-17 shooting. Senior guard Twiggy McIntyre hit four treys on her way to 18 points and freshman forward Courtney Taylor had a double-double with 17 points and 12 boards.
Jackson, C-USA's Preseason Player of the Year, tallied a triple-double with 11 points, 16 rebounds and 12 assists.
UAB will be back in action when it travels to Orlando, Fla. to take on the UCF Knights on Thursday. Tip-off is slated for 7:00 p.m. ET.
