Houston women’s basketball can’t weather ‘The Phog’ in loss to Kansas

Despite a competitive game early on, Houston women’s basketball couldn’t sustain its rhythm suffering an 85-68 loss to Kansas at Allen Fieldhouse in Lawrence on Saturday.

“I thought our players came out with a lot of fire and a lot of hustle today, but Kansas operated at an extremely high level,” coach Matthew Mitchell said.

As the Jayhawks bullied the Cougars’ interior defense, with 22 of their 41 first-half points coming from inside the paint, Houston only trailed 41-36 at the half.

A big part of it was their shooting, as the Cougars went 52% from the field and connected on four of their six 3-point attempts. Graduate guard Briana Peguero had 14 points at the half, shooting 66% from the field and connecting on her two 3-point attempts.

However, the Cougars faced struggles in the second half that continued to define their season.

The team’s shooting efficiency took a hit, as despite nailing 10 of its 12 free throws and making four triples on seven attempts, Houston only shot 32% from the field. Meanwhile, Kansas went nuclear, going 61% from the field and 43% from downtown.

“We hit these droughts where we can’t get the ball in the basket,” Mitchell said.

The Jayhawks continued to break down Houston in the paint as well, winning that battle 52-22, and also dominating rebounds 37-23 with 12 offensive boards that led to 16 second-chance points.

“Anything that I was disappointed with our team today was our willingness and effort to go to the boards,” Mitchell said. “We need to try to create more with our offensive rebounding.”

Four players reach double-digits for Kansas, with junior guard S’Mya Nichols and freshman forward Jaliya David scoring 22 and 25, respectively.

Senior forward Lily Meister grabbed a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds, her third of the season.

Three Cougars reached double figures, including Peguero and her season-high 23 points, the second most of her collegiate career.

Senior guard TK Pitts had 16 points, with six rebounds and two steals.

With four regular season games remaining, the Cougars, at 7-18 overall and 1-13 in league play, will try to gain momentum before the Big 12 tournament in March.

That continues Wednesday, Feb. 18, when they rematch No. 17 TCU at 6:30 p.m. inside Fertitta Center.