Coogs hold on and defeat North Texas 66-61

Posted: November 20, 2013 -- 10:58pm CST.

HOUSTON, TX (Hofheinz Pavilion) -- The Houston Cougars almost wasted a solid 32 minutes of basketball. Almost. The Cougars eked out a 66-61 victory over Mean Green of North Texas in front of an announced crowd of 563 fans inside Hofheinz Pavilion.

With 7:34 left in the game, the Cougars led the Mean Green 53-38. Over the next four and a half minutes, the Coogs lost 14 points of the lead and were clinging to a 57-56 lead with three minutes remaining in the game.

After a Houston turnover, North Texas had opportunities to take the lead; but, missed three shots, turned the ball over and committed a foul which sent sophomore forward Marche' Amerson to the foul line.

Amerson, unlike most of her Cougars' teammates, made both free throws to the Cougars a 59-56 lead. After UNT turned the ball over once again, Amerson dished to center Yasmeen Thompson for a layup and a 61-56 lead for the Coogs with 64 seconds remaining.

The Cougars (1-3) led 32-20 at halftime. Senior Te'onna Campbell came off the bench and scored six points and grabbed eight rebounds in 15 minutes. Campbell's also played pesky defense and drew two charges against the Mean Green.

Campbell's main negative was foul shooting. She made just 2 of her six free throw attempts. The Cougars made just 8 of 18 (44.4%) from the foul line in the first half which negated the Cougars 44.0% (11 for 25) shooting from the  floor.

The Cougars continued missing free throws in the second half; however, they went cold from floor as well. Thompson's layup at the 1:04 mark was the Cougars only bucket in the final 7:34 of the game.

Marche' Amerson scored a team-high 15 points. Campbell added 12 points and a team-high 13 rebounds. Sophomore guard Alecia Smith chipped in 12 points also.

The Cougars shot a frigid 60% (27 for 45) from the free throw line and were outrebounded 53-31; however, someway, somehow, the Cougars earned win number one in the 2013-'14 season.

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