Jan. 10, 2007

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HOUSTON -> A three-pointer by Alona Obaze (Dallas, Texas/Bryan Adams HS/Trinity Valley CC) with just over a minute left helped to seal an 82-77 win over East Carolina for the University of Houston women's basketball team, in Conference USA action Wednesday on Guy V. Lewis Court at Hofheinz Pavilion.

With the shot clock winding down, the junior guard found herself open on the right side, taking a pass from Sunshine Misa-Uli (Honolulu, Hawai'i/Farrington HS/Barton County CC) and burying the triple with 1:15 left. Houston (5-10, 2-3 C-USA) snapped a two-game losing streak and won its sixth-straight over the Pirates (7-10, 2-2 C-USA).

Houston had led by as many as 12 with 8:55 left in the game. An 8-2 run by the Pirates had the lead at two, 68-66, with 4:57 left. UH quickly moved it back to six at 72-66 with 3:17 remaining. ECU would not go away and had it back down to two moments later. The Pirates were within three with 1:37 left, setting up Obaze's three that gave UH a six-point cushion.

The Cougars shot a season-high 36 free throws, but only connected on 24 (.667). When it counted, in the final 31 seconds, Houston knocked down 4-6 from the charity stripe to seal the win.

Whitney James (Edmond, Okla./Edmond Memorial HS/North Oklahoma College) netted her first-career double-double, hitting for a career-best 20 points and 11 rebounds. She is the fifth UH player to hit a double double this season.

Tye Jackson (Houston, Texas/Westfield HS/Purdue) led all scorers with 31 points. She set a season high and earned her fourth-career 30-point game.

Obaze finished with 12 points while Misa-Uli had nine points and seven boards. UH dominated the rebounding battle against a bigger ECU team, finishing the night with 44 boards to 34 for the Pirates. The Cougars converted 24 offensive rebounds into 21 second-chance points.

LaCoya Terry led the Pirates with 21 points. Cherie Mills and Jasmine Young both finished with 15. ECU's Gabriela Husarova came off the bench to score a career-best 12 points.

UH led at the half for only the second time this season following a slow first two-plus minutes that saw the two squads combine to miss their first eight shots over the first 2:20, UH ran off a quick 4-0 lead forcing ECU to burn a timeout. After that spurt, both teams settled in and traded baskets for several minutes swapping the lead six times.

With 10:35 left in the half, ECU ran off a 7-0 run to lead 23-26, but UH came back to take a 27-26 lead with 7:02 remaining. UH pushed its lead to eight, 36-28, with 4:13 to go and ECU got within three twice in the last few minutes, but a three by Jackson, her 19th point of the first half, gave Houston the 43-37 halftime advantage.

Following a swing of four games in eight days, Houston will have its second 11-day layoff of the season, returning to action on at 3 p.m. CST on Jan. 21 at Autry Court against the Rice Owls. That game is scheduled to be televised live on ESPN2 with Bob Wischusen and Nancy Lieberman calling the action.