Houston Cougars defeat St. Thomas Celts 65-41 in Exhibition Game
Posted: November 9, 2011 -- 8:58 a.m. CT.
Monday night, November 8, the Houston Cougars played the St. Thomas Celts at Hofheinz Pavilion in an exhibition game. The 2011-2012 season marks the first season of women's basketball for the Celts; and, the Cougars' '11-'12 squad features seven newcomers including six freshmen. In addition to all of the newcomers for the Coogs, Houston's star senior point guard, Porsche Landry, did not play in the game due to injury. Combine all three of those factors and the result is a less than stellar basketball game.
However, aesthetics are not a requirement in a basketball game. The Cougars defeated the Celts 65-41; and, UH head coach Todd Buchanan learned a few things about his squad.
"I'm not making excuses, but without Porsche we are a completely different basketball team," Buchanan said after the game. "When you have our situation and you don't have your senior all-conference point guard and you are trying to replace that by committee, that's easier said than done."
The Cougars committed four turnovers in the first plus minutes of the game which helped the Celts score the first seven points of the game. Houston senior Roxana Button broke the ice for the Coogs with a made basket; then, junior college transfer, Tasha Tubbs, drained a jump shot. Houston freshman post Terran Alford scored a layup to give the Coogs a 10-9 lead at the 12:30 mark of the first half. The Cougars never trailed the rest of the game.
Houston led 34-23 at halftime; but, Coach Buchanan was not pleased with his team's first half effort.
"I really challenged them at halftime," said Buchanan. For the most part, the biggest thing was we can't have one kid dominate us on the glass. I challenged our basketball team to get after it and to do the things we've worked so hard on in practice. A lot of my disappointment at halftime was because I didn't feel like we played very hard. We just sat back and got pushed on our heels and allowed them to dictate the way the game was being played. I was not happy with our tempo at all. Those were the two or three main areas of my concern."
The Celts out-rebounded the Cougars 29-26 in the opening half."In a nutshell, we had to step it up," said Roxana Button.
The Cougars' were more aggressive in the second half and more active on the boards; and, as a result, Houston won the board battle 30 to 16 in the second twenty minutes.
Houston did not shoot the ball well from the field (25 for 77, 32.5%) nor the foul line (11 for 22, 50.0%); but, Tasha Tubbs acknowledged offense may not be the strength of the team this season.
"Our defense (is our strength)," said Tubbs. "It's harder to score 5-on-5 for us, so we're going to use our defense as a transition. I think that is how we are going to score most of our points."
Alford scored nine points (4 for 7 from the field); pulled down seven rebounds; blocked three shots; and picked up two steals in 22 minutes of action.
"I'm proud of her," Button said of Alford's game. "She stepped up. We needed rebounds and she got them. She had seven. She shot over 50 percent from the field. I'm very proud of her."
Alford admitted she was nervous; but, once the game started, the nerves disappeared.
"I was nervous in the beginning," Alford said. "But, as Tasha (Tubbs) said, once the ball tips off the nervousness leaves. I was ready to execute and prove to our coaches that we were able to execute. I think I did ok. I still have a lot of things I need to work on."
The Cougars also received solid production from freshman forward Amanda Lawson (7 points, 9 rebounds); freshman guard Mileka Loydrake (4 assists, 2 rebounds in 19 minutes); freshman post Voche' Martin (three blocks and six boards in eight minutes; and sophomore Mae Woods (9 points and four rebounds in 14 minutes).
Houston opens the 2011-2012 season this Friday, November 11, with a home game versus New Mexico State. Tip is set for 7 p.m.
The HRR on Twitter
Tweets by TheHRReview
The HRR on Facebook