Serithia Hawkins and Dorian Branch lead Coogs' comeback win over Texas Tech

Posted: December 3, 2017 -- 10:23 pm CST.

HOUSTON, TX (H&PE Arena) -- The Houston Cougars defeated the Texas Tech Lady Raiders 79-75 Sunday afternoon in a come-from-behind thriller.

Junior Serithia Hawkins led the Coogs with 23 points while sophomores Dorian Branch (career-high 22 points) and Angela Harris (17 points) combined for 39 points.

Houston trailed 57-56 after three quarters and trailed Texas Tech 64-56 early in the fourth quarter before scoring a point in the final quarter.

After the media timeout with 4:42 remaining and trailing 68-61, the Coogs turned up the defense and responded with six quick points in 61 seconds to claw within one point.

Then, after Tech failed to score, Dorian Branch drained a three-point shot to put the Coogs ahead 70-68 with 2:10 remaining in the ball game.

Tech's Reece' Caldwell split two free throws; then, Branch drained another three-point shot for a 73-69 lead with 1:38 on the clock.

Caldwell responded with a three-point bucket from the top of the key to reduce Houston's lead to one (73-72) with 1:07 on the clock.

Serithia Hawkins answered Caldwell's three-point basket with her second three-point basket to continue Houston's torrid three-point shooting down the stretch; and, more importantly, give Houston a 76-72 lead with less than a minute left in the game.

With 20.2 seconds remaining, Angela Harris was fouled after Tech's missed field goal attempt bounced out of bounds. She split the two free throw attempts; and, Tech called timeout, with 13.8 seconds remaining, to advance the ball into the front court.

After the timeout, Caldwell swished another three-point shot to trim Houston's lead to 77-75 with 8 seconds remaining. Tech fouled Angela Harris again; but, this time, Harris sank both free throws. The Lady Raiders did not score on their final possession of the game; and, Houston improves to 7-2 on the young season.

Texas Tech (3-4) dominated Houston on the boards 48-29. However, Houston forced Tech into 20 turnovers while only committing 4 turnovers. Tech also missed 9 of 14 free throws while Houston missed 5 of 11 foul shots.

Houston made 13 three-point shots out of 38 attempts while Tech made six threes out of 12 attempts.

Houston's next game is next Sunday, December 10, versus East Tennessee State. Tip is set for 2 p.m.

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