Women's Basketball Falls to Houston, 61-57

Feb. 22, 2002

HOUSTON, Texas - A furious comeback by Marquette fell four points short as the Golden Eagles (14-12, 7-6 C-USA) fell to Houston (20-6, 10-3 C-USA) 61-57 at Hoffheinz Pavilion. Chandi Jones led all scorers with 21 points, while Marquette's Rachel Klug scored 16.

The Cougars were able to respond to a Marquette run and extended the lead to as many as nine after Marquette had trimmed the margin to five. MU was at least five points down until the 2:46 mark. Rashida Gales hit a layup and was fouled, converting the three point play to trim the Houston lead to four at 58-54.

After a Kelly Schwerman free throw, Rashida Gales' layup with just under one minute to play cut the lead to 59-57. On the next possession, Schwerman forced a steal, but gave the ball back as Nicole Oliver stole the ball to regain possession with 34.2 seconds remaining.

The Cougars had the opportunity to extend its two point lead with 15.2 seconds, but Shondra Bush committed a lane violation on her first attempt of a one-and-one to give the ball back to MU. However, Kristin Seffern's pass to a cutting Kristi Johnson was high and sailed out of bounds, ending MU's chances of a comeback. Jones knocked down a pair of free throws to extend the final margin to four.

Houston had jumped out to a lead as big as 11 points at the 14:52 mark. Jones scored 10 of Houston's first 14 points of the second half to extend the UH lead to 43-32. However, Marquette fought back. The Golden Eagles chipped into the Houston lead, cutting it to four at the 12:14 mark after a pair of Katie O'Grady free throws. Sarah Zawodny scored five points to key a 9-2 MU run to cut the lead to 45-41.

In the first half, the Golden Eagles kept the game close for much the way, never trailing by more than five points. Marquette got an early spark from Klug who scored six points in the first five minutes of the half to put MU up 8-6. Klug led all MU scorers in the half with those six points

Jones responded to Klug's efforts with nine points in the half to lead all scorers, all coming after the 15:08 mark. Nicole Oliver provided a surprise seven points in the first half. Oliver averages 5.8 points per game on the season. Katie O'Grady came off the bench for Marquette to provide a spark of her own and five big points.

The Golden Eagles conclude their regular season on Sunday, Feb. 22 at TCU. Game time is scheduled for 1 p.m. at Daniel-Meyer Coliseum.