Dec. 6, 2006

Box Score

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HOUSTON - Behind a career-best 22 points from Ryan Meyers (Arlington, Texas/Arlington HS/Grayson County CC), the University of Houston women's basketball team earned its first win of the season, knocking off Cal State Bakersfield 78-66 on Guy V. Lewis Court at Hofheinz Pavilion Wednesday.

Meyers was 9-of-13 from the floor, including a 4-for-5 effort from the charity stripe. She is UH's first 20-plus point scorer of the season and also tallied UH's first double-double of the year, tying a season high with 16 rebounds.

Houston (1-6) stopped a six-game losing streak, scoring a season-high 78 points while shooting a season-best 34.1 percent from the field. The Cougars were dominant in the boards, outrebounding the Roadrunners (3-2) 60-40, including a 24-8 edge on the offensive glass. Houston parlayed those 24 offensive rebounds into 18 second-chance points.

All-America Candidate Tye Jackson (Houston, Texas/Westfield HS/Purdue) made her season debut after missing UH's first six games due to a knee injury. Just 20 days removed from arthroscopic surgery, Jackson played 21 minutes, finishing with 14 points, six rebounds and three steals. Half of her points came in the final 1:14 of the game.

Leading by 11 at the break, Houston used an 8-2 run to push the lead to 17, 43-26, just over two minutes into the second half. UH pushed the margin to as many as 22, leading 55-33 with 12:29 remaining. CSUB hung in there using an 11-4 run of its own to pull within 15 at 59-44 with 9:48 left. An 8-1 UH run had the lead at 20, 67-47, with 5:10 left.

UH's offense started to wane in the final minutes and the `Runners were right back in it with an 13-2 run that spanned just under four minutes and had the lead back into single digits, 69-60, with 58 seconds left. During the run, the Cougars were 0-for-5 from the floor with a pair of turnovers. UH did not fold, hitting 7-of-8 free throws in the final minute and using some timely fast breaks to earn the 12-point win.

Sha'Ratta Hawkins (Houston, Texas/Jesse Jones HS) finished with 11 points and eight rebounds. It was the sixth-straight game the sophomore guard has scored in double digits. Rhondi Naff's 13 points led five `Runners in double figures. Kelley Tarver and Krista Arase each added 12, Naomi Johnson finished with 11 and Jessi Loring added 10.

Houston led at the half for the first time this season with Meyers' seven points and 11 rebounds leading the way. CSUB only had 18 rebounds as a team in the opening 20 minutes as UH controlled the glass by a 37-18 margin. The Cougars also held a 14-1 advantage on the offensive boards.

After a sluggish start, shooting 1-for-5 in the first 2:20, Houston started to find the offense, trading buckets with CSUB prior to going on a 9-0 run to lead 16-8 with 11:02 left. CSUB pulled off a 6-0 run to get right back in it at 16-14 with 8:54 left. A 7-0 run for the Cougars had the lead back at nine 90 seconds later and UH maintained the lead for the rest of the half, pushing it to 11, 35-24, on a layup by Onikute with 15 ticks left on the first-half clock.

With finals week on the horizon, Houston will be off for eight days, returning to action in the Women of Troy Classic at the Galen Center in Los Angeles, Calif. on Dec. 15-16. UH takes on local foe Prairie View A&M on Dec. 15 at 5 p.m. CST before taking on host USC on Dec. 16 at 4 p.m.