Women's Basketball
Women's Basketball to Face UCF in C-USA Championship Quarterfinals

Cougars hope to pad postseason resume with 20th victory of the season

First Team All-Conference USA selection Courtney Taylor will lead the Cougars against UCF Friday in the C-USA Championship Quarterfinals.
 
First Team All-Conference USA selection Courtney Taylor will lead the Cougars against UCF Friday in the C-USA Championship Quarterfinals.
  
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March 5, 2009

Follow all the action of the Conference USA Championship at - TOURNAMENT CENTRAL

NEW ORLEANS, La. - The postseason begins on Friday for the University of Houston women's basketball team as the fourth-seeded Cougars will face off against No. 5 seed UCF at 2:30 p.m. in the quarterfinals of the Conference USA Championship at Fogelman Arena.

Led by sophomore forward Courtney Taylor, who this week garnered First Team All-Conference and All-Defensive Team honors, Houston (19-9) is seeking the eighth postseason appearance in school history and the first since the 2005 NCAA Tournament.

Taylor highlights a young Cougar roster that features only one senior among just three upperclassmen. The Crockett, Texas, native averages a double-double this season, leading the Cougars and ranking in the top three in the conference with 16.5 points and 10.1 rebounds per contest. Taylor's rebounding average currently ranks second in the UH record books for single season, trailing only Sancho Lyttle who pulled down 12.1 rebounds a game during the 2004-05 campaign.

In addition to Taylor, sophomore guard Brittney Scott has emerged as one of C-USA's top scoring options in her second year in the program. She enters the tournament scored 12.8 points per game and is coming off a career-best 27-point performance against East Carolina in the Cougars' last outing.

Second-year center Cobilyn Hill has come on strong in the second half of the season, averaging 8.7 points and 5.1 rebounds during conference play. For the year, Hill leads the Cougars with 60 blocked shots and ranks third in C-USA with an average of 2.2 blocks per contest. In addition to Hill, sophomore Brittany Mason has developed into one of the league best defenders, while freshman Porsche Landry is on the rise at the point guard spot.


 

 

The Cougars finished the regular season in a tie for second place with an 11-5 league record, but due to league tie-breakers they enter the tournament as the field's No. 4 seed. The top four seeds at the C-USA Championship received a first round bye and did not have to play Thursday. UH is 8-11 all-time at the C-USA Championships, including an 8-9 mark under head coach Joe Curl. Under Curl's leadership, the Cougars claimed the 2003-04 post season tournament title after claiming the regular season crown for the C-USA Championship.

UCF, moved into the tournament's second round, by edging Rice 66-64 Thursday.

The Golden Knights will be looking for a measure of revenge against the Cougars, who handed them an 80-65 defeat at Hofheinz Pavilion back on Jan. 25. Taylor led the way for UH in the win over UCF, making 10-of-13 field goals for a career-best 27 points. A win on Friday would give the Cougars the 11th season of 20 or more victories in school history.

Houston leads the all-time series with UCF by the count of 3-1 but they have never met in post season tournament play.

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