Feb. 22, 2007

Box Score

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HOUSTON - The University of Houston women's basketball team had three players finish with 20-plus points as the Cougars snapped a six-game losing streak with an 86-73 win over Memphis Thursday in Conference USA action on Guy V. Lewis Court at Hofheinz Pavilion.

Alona Obaze (Dallas, Texas/Bryan Adams HS/Trinity Valley CC) scored a career-high 24 points on the night, including six three pointers, to lead all players. She finished the night 8-13 from the field, 6-10 from behind the line with four assists, three rebounds and three steals.

Tye Jackson (Houston, Texas/Westfield HS/Purdue) and Whitney James (Edmond, Okla./Edmond Memorial HS/North Oklahoma College) each tallied double doubles, with Jackson adding 22 points and 11 assists and James scoring 21 with 10 rebounds.

Houston (8-17, 5-10 C-USA) turned a six-point halftime lead into a 15-point advantage five minutes into the second half in the Cougars first home game since Feb. 3, 2007. Memphis (4-25, 1-14 C-USA) never led in the game as UH took its third-straight win over the Tigers.

UH opened the second half on a 12-3 run, leading by 15, 53-38, with 16:38 to go. Memphis had it down to 11 moments later, but the Cougars came back with an 8-0 run to lead by 18, 63-45, with 13:05 remaining. Houston pushed the lead to as many as 21 with just over four minutes left but nearly allowed Memphis back in the game as the Tigers pulled off an 11-1 run over a period of three minutes. Houston's defense took over, holding Memphis without a field goal for the final 1:55.

Houston set season highs with 22 assists a 55.6-percent effort from behind the arc and 10 three-pointers made, also tying the teams' season best mark with a 50-percent effort (34-68) from the field. UH's 10 triples tied a Hofheinz Pavilion record and is also tied for the fifth-best team mark of all time.

Ashlee' Joseph (Houston, Texas/Booker T. Washington HS) pulled down a career-high 12 rebounds, seven coming on the offensive glass, helping Houston to 20 second-chance points off 19 offensive rebounds. UH won the rebounding battle 44-31.

The Cougars opened the game on a 6-0 run, but Memphis brought the margin back to two moments later. A 17-9 Houston run over the next 7:31 gave UH its first double-digit lead of the night, 23-13 with 9:09 to go in the half. With UH holding a 10 point, 32-22 lead with 5:25 left, the Tigers pulled off a 13-4 run over 3:25 to trail by one, 36-35 with 1:33 remaining. The Cougars closed the half out on a 5-0 run to lead 41-35 at the break.

Memphis was paced by 21 points from Aroha Jennings and 16 points and eight rebounds from Jazmyn Green. Alysse Davis added 11 and Devin Necaise dropped in 10.

UH closes out the regular season Saturday at 2 p.m. CST against UAB. The Cougars will honor senior Sha'Quaylon McKinney (Dallas, Texas/Skyline HS/Trinity Valley CC) in a pregame ceremony. Fans can take advantage of UH's `Senior Day Special' as all general admission tickets will be priced at $1. The 2007 Conference USA Championship, presented by Aèropostale, is scheduled to run from March 1-4 at the Reynolds Center in Tulsa, Okla.