College of Charleston
1-0
Houston
0-1
Big Third Quarter Propels The College Past Houston 55-48
11/14/2015 1:28:00 AM | Women's Basketball
CHARLESTON, S.C. – The College of Charleston women's basketball team picked up the start to the season they were looking for Friday, pulling away from the Houston Cougars (0-1) with a 55-48 win.
“It feels really, really good,” head coach Candice M. Jackson said. “I'm really proud of the team and the effort they put in. Just the way we played together and communicated…I think it's a big weight lifted off our shoulders.”
The game got off to a slow start, with both teams tied 15-15 in the waning minute of the second quarter. A three followed by a go-ahead layup to close out the half gave Houston a 20-15 lead heading in to the locker room. The College responded with a huge third quarter, going on a seven-minute run in which CofC outscored UH 22-8 to take the 39-31 lead with 1:05 to go in the period.
Breanna Bolden scored 19 points on the night, going 3 of 4 from deep and a perfect 4 of 4 from the line. In addition, the junior picked up six boards, and matched her career-high in assists with four. She added two steals to complete the well-rounded display.
“She was classic Bre, her shooting performance says a lot,” Jackson said. “Four assists to one turnover wasn't what she's known for, and that's big. I think having Darien (Huff) and Kelsey (Booth) and some of the new girls around her allow her to be a lot more comfortable out on the floor.”
The College as a team was perfect from the line, converting all 15 of their attempts. Darien Huff led the way in that department with six, as the freshman scored 11 points with four rebounds and four assists in her first collegiate start. Also of note, CofC was commendable from deep, going 8-for-12. That stood in stark contrast to Houston's 7-of-29.
On the glass, both teams were somewhat evenly matched, with The College edging out the 42-40 advantage thanks in large part to a team-high seven-rebound night from senior Kelsey Booth. Houston thrived patrolling the interior with eight blocks, but losing the turnover battle 21-15 proved too large an obstacle.
“We recognized their size and their three point shooting, and we knew that they were going to take a lot of threes,” Jackson said. “We wanted them to take more outside shots and prevent the ball from getting inside, and we were going to see what we got from there. We did a good job.”
The Cougars (1-0) will treasure the momentum they've picked up with the win, because they're in for a challenging early-season three-game road trip this coming week. They'll fly to the Mountain Time Zone for a Monday showdown with Boise State (22-11 in 2014/15), followed by a Wednesday matchup with Weber State (11-18 in 2014/15). They'll finish things off by coming back out east to face off with Virginia Tech (12-20 in 2014/15) on Nov. 22 before finally returning home to play Charleston Southern (5-25 in 2014/15) on Nov. 28.
