Houston falls to New Mexico behind a poor shooting performance

Houston women’s basketball went to Albuquerque, N.M.,to face off against the New Mexico Lobos Saturday night, losing its second straight game 63-41 amid offensive struggles.

The Cougars shot 13-of-57 from the floor, including 4-of-18 from the 3-point line and 11-for-21 from the free-throw stripe. 

Freshman forward Jade Jones was an example of Houston’s offensive struggles, usually averaging 53 percent from the field but shooting 1-for-11 in this matchup.

The defense for the Cougars kept them competitive through the first two quarters, though, trailing only by six at the half and holding New Mexico to only 27 points.

But the second half is where shots started to fall for the Lobos, and where their lead began to grow.

The Lobos were able to score 20 points in the third quarter, nearly matching their first-half total, and Houston was unable to get the lid off of the rim.

Houston’s only consistent scorer was junior guard Kierra Merchant, who missed the previous game with an illness.

Merchant notched 10 points to be the Cougars’ only double-digit scorer, shooting 50 percent from the field.

In the end, the Cougars were unable to get their flow going, and fell to exactly .500 for the season.

Houston will head home, looking to bounce back from its two-game slide on Tuesday, Dec.16, when it faces Montana at 11 a.m. in its final game before conference play.