Houston weathers the storm: Women’s basketball takes down Tulsa behind trio guard effort

Houston women’s basketball went up against Tulsa on Sunday in its second game of the Baha Mar Classic for the consolation match of the Goombay Division after losing to Arkansas State on Friday.

Houston was looking to cut down on turnovers, and was successful in its 66-61 win Sunday. 

Last game, the Cougars had 38 turnovers, but they cut it by more than half against Tulsa, turning it over only 15 times.

Houston was led by a trio of guards in senior TK Pitts (season-high 17 points), redshirt senior Kyndall Hunter (15 points) and graduate Briana Peguero (season-high 16 points) who accounted for 48 of the 66 points and for 39 of the Cougars’ 61 field goal attempts.

Houston led throughout most of this game and for the entire final three quarters, leading by as much as 11.

In the fourth quarter, Tulsa started battling back and eventually got the Cougars’ lead down to three with a minute left in the game. The Golden Hurricanes forced a miss, and freshman guard Alisha Peavy ended up having a wide-open three to potentially tie the game, but missed.

Pitts rebounded the ball and the Cougars were able to hit clutch free throws down the stretch to give them the 66-61 win.

Both teams defended the 3-point line well, with Tulsa only shooting 10% from behind the arc and Houston shooting 14% on its end.

With the win over Tulsa, the Cougars have already matched their win total from last season at five. 

They also achieve their first neutral site win since beating Wichita State in the semifinals of the American Athletic Conference on March 8, 2023. Both of which are big accomplishments for first-year head coach Matthew Mitchell and the program.

The Cougars will look to keep the momentum going as they face Southern University on Sunday, December 7, at 2 p.m. in the Fertitta Center.