Cougars put up a fight as Huskies rebound
Beating top-ranked Connecticut is a near-impossible task for the rest of the American Athletic Conference.
On Sunday, University of Houston coach Ronald Hughey found other ways to measure progress.
The Cougars kept things interesting for 12 minutes before the Huskies pulled away for an 81-61 victory at Fertitta Center in the AAC opener for both teams. UH had lost the previous six meetings by an average of 51 points to the top program in women’s college basketball.
“It’s been 40, 45, 50 points,” Hughey said of previous losses in the series. “To have the game right at 20 is growth for us.”
UConn (12-1, 1-0 AAC) was coming off a 68-57 loss to No. 8 Baylor on Thursday, which snapped its streak of 126 consecutive regular-season wins. While that streak ended, the Huskies continued another Sunday, improving to 97-0 in AAC play.
“I thought we came out and didn’t play afraid,” Hughey said.
The Cougars (6-8, 0-1 AAC) led four minutes into the game but weredown 2421 at the end of the first quarter. Connecticut started the second quarter on a 13-2 run to build a 37-23 lead. At one point, Houston went nearly four minutes without scoring as the Huskies used a fast tempo and size to take control.
The Cougars, picked to finish third in the AAC in the preseason, got no closer than 16 points in the second half.
“Second quarter, they showed who they are with the transition buckets,” Hughey said. “It was a rebound, one dribble, and they were passing it up the floor. That was the start of the downfall for us.”
UConn guard/forward Katie Lou Samuelson had 19 points and nine rebounds, and forward Napheesa Collier added 18 points and nine rebounds. The All-America duo accounted for 37 points and 18 rebounds on 13-of-20 shooting.
Forward Octavia Barnes had 15 points, including three 3-pointers, for UH, and Serithia Hawkins added 10 points and eight rebounds. Guard Jasmyne Harris, a preseason firstteam all-conference selection, was benched in the second half. She finished with eight points and four turnovers in 14 minutes.
“She got a little frustrated with what we were asking her to do versus what she was seeing on the floor,” Hughey said. “We were trying to get on the same page with that and get her through the frustration part. Once we got into a rhythm, we just decided to go with what we had out there.”
The loss snapped a twogame winning streak for the Cougars, who return to action Wednesday at SMU.