Houston moves to 2-0 in AAC play with 70-56 win over USF

The Houston Cougars return home on Wednesday, January 4 to face Tulsa.
Photo by Darla Tamulitis, La Vita Loca Photography
Copyright 2016, All Rights Reserved

By Chris Price
Copyright 2016 TexSport Publications

TAMPA, FLORIDA (December 31, 2016) The Houston Cougars raised their American Athletic Conference record to 2-0 with a 70-56 win over South Florida at the Sun Dome in Tampa, Florida on Saturday, December 31, 2016. Three Cougars scored in double figures; with Rob Gray and Damyean Dotson tallying 25 points each, followed by Wes VanBeck with 11. The Cougars shot 42% from the field and pulled down 38 rebounds. The Bulls were led by Troy Holston with 16 points.

The Cougars will return to the friendly confines of Hofheinz Pavilion for a two-game home stand beginning on Wednesday, January 4 with an 8 p.m. CT matchup against Tulsa. They follow that game on Saturday, January 7; facing No. 23 Cincinnati at 8 p.m.

Kansas States overcome Texas Aggies for 33-28 Texas Bowl win

Jesse Ertz (16) tallied three touchdowns
and the game MVP award.
Photo by Darla Tamulitis, La Vita Loca Photography
Copyright 2016, All Rights Reserved

By Robert H Kelly
Copyright 2016 TexSport Publications

HOUSTON, TEXAS (December 28, 2016) The Kansas State Wildcats used a potent offense to keep the Texas A&M Aggies in check in route to a 33-28 win in the AdvoCare V100 Texas Bowl in Houston, Texas on Wednesday, December 28, 2016 at NRG Stadium in Houston. The win raised the Wildcats record to 9-4 for the season while the Aggies dropped to 8-5.

Kansas State head coach Bill Snyder discussed the win with the press after the game.

“You know, I’ve been impressed with the spirit of our players on this trip.  It goes back to the, what is the event they have here, the little rodeo deal.  What I was so impressed with, not the fact of who wins or loses, but the spirit that our players, unsolicited, that they showed during that period of time.  I’m don’t know if any of you were out there.  I enjoyed watching our players show that passion for the competitiveness of it and the spirit.  I kind of had a feeling it would carry over to this ballgame, and I think for the most part it did.”

Josh Reynolds caught 12 passes for 154 yards and
two touchdowns for the Aggies.
Photo by Darla Tamulitis, La Vita Loca Photography
Copyright 2016, All Rights Reserved

The Aggies tallied the first score of the game, receiving the initial kickoff and driving 75 yards in 10 plays for the score. Tailback Keith Ford took the handoff from quarterback Trevor Knight and rambled the final seven yards of the drive for the score. Daniel La Camera kicked the extra point to give Texas A&M an early 7-0 lead. A bit less than seven minutes later, the Wildcats received an Aggie punt and began their drive on their own 21-yard line. Quarterback Jesse Ertz connected with wide receiver Bryon Pringle on their first play of the possession, with a 79-yard pass, for Kansas State’s first score. Ian Patterson evened the score at seven points with his successful conversion.  The Wildcats then took the lead when Ertz rushed the final five yards of a 55-yard drive, on a quarterback keeper, for Kansas State’s second touchdown of the game. The Aggies limited the Wildcat score to six points when Patterson’s extra point attempt was blocked by Myles Garrett to make the score 13-7 at the 12:19 mark of the second quarter.

Texas A&M wasted no time in getting back the lead when they capped their next possession with a three-yard pass from Knight to wide receiver Ricky Seals-Jones for the Aggies’ second TD and the La Camera kicking conversion. The Aggies then held a slim 14-13 lead over the Wildcats. K-State took back the lead with a 40-yard field goal by Patterson with 6:13 left in the first half. They increased their lead to 23 points when Dominique Heath took a handoff from Knight on a second-and-five play and carried the ball 52 yards for the Wildcats’ third touchdown of the game. Patterson added the obligatory extra point to give Kansas State a 23-14 to close out the first half.

Head coach Kevin Sumlin discussed the Aggies’ season performance after the game.

"Oh, we’re not happy.  Just like I said last week at the press conference.  The message in there was, you know, I was thankful to these guys, to the seniors.  Really wanted it to be different tonight and send them out on a really good note because of how they’ve represented this program.  Didn’t get that done.  The message really was for the young players that this feeling that they have in that locker room right now, basically, don’t forget that.  Anytime and how we go to work from here on out, the guys that are coming back, this feeling should drive you even more throughout the spring.  We’ve got a bunch of guys that are coming in here mid-year too.   The guys who are here, the returning guys, they’ve got to be leaders in this program.  That feeling that you have right now should help motivate us even more throughout the spring and into next year.”

The Aggies began a comeback in the second half, beginning at drive with 10:56 on the clock in the third quarter. The Aggies moved the ball 90 yards in 10 plays and capped the drive with a four-yard pass from Knight to wide receiver Josh Reynolds for the touchdown. LaCamera added the extra point to cut the Wildcats’ lead to 23-21. Kansas State responded three minutes later with a Patterson 25-yard field goal to increase their lead to 26-21. The Wildcats increased their lead six minutes into the fourth quarter when Ertz carried the ball again on another quarterback keeper for another touchdown. As previously, Patterson kicked the conversion to give Kansas State a 33-21 lead. The Aggies scored with 7:50 left in the game on a 15-yard pass from Knight to Reynolds. 

North Carolina State wins 2016 Camping World Independence Bowl with 41-17 win over Vanderbilt

Jaylen Samuels (1) scored two touchdowns in the
first half and another in the second half
for the North Carolina State Wolfpack.
Photo by Darla S Tamulitis, La Vita Loca Photography
Copyright 2016, All Rights Reserved

By Robert H Kelly
Copyright 2016 TexSport Publications

SHREVEPORT, LOUISIANA (December 26, 2016) Tight end Jaylen Samuels score two touchdowns in the first half and another in the third quarter to lead the North Carolina State Wolfpack to a 41-17 win over the Vanderbilt Commodores at the 2016 Camping World Independence Bowl in Shreveport, Louisiana on Monday, December 26, 2016. The three touchdowns by Samuels established a new bowl game record for Most Receiving Touchdowns in a game. The previous record of two was shared by six players, and was set or tied beginning in 1981 and continuing to 2013. The win allowed the Wolfpack to raise their record to 7-6 while Commodores dropped to 6-7. Samuels, who caught three passes for 104 yards and the three touchdowns was selected as the game’s Most Valuable Offensive Player by a vote of the credentialed media. 

Jaylen Samuels (right) and Airius Moore
were selected the MVPs of the game.
Photo by Darla S Tamulitis, La Vita Loca Photography
Copyright 2016, All Rights Reserved

After close to nine minutes of give-and-take football, Vanderbilt got on the scoreboard with field goal by Tommy Openshaw at the 6:06 mark of the first quarter. The 52-yarder, which tied the red-shirt junior’s season best, broke the existing bowl game record of 50 yards. The record was jointly held by Missouri’s Adam Crossett and Texas A&M’s David Hardy. Hardy established the record in 1981 against Ohio State, with Crossett matching the performance in 2005 versus South Carolina. Hardy booted the record setting field goal in the third quarter of the game, in which he was successful with four field goals and three extra points. Crossett tied the record in the fourth quarter of the game. Three minutes later, the Wolfpack took the lead with a nine-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Ryan Finley to Samuels and a kicking conversion by Conner Haskins. The drive covered 41 yards in seven plays and took 3:30 off the clock. Samuels add his second TD pass of the game, a 55-yard reception, again from Finley, cap a four-play, 81-yard drive that lasted 50 seconds.

North Carolina State increased their lead after 3:10 in the third quarter when running back Reggie Gallaspy II carried the ball the final four yards on an 18-yard drive for the Wolfpack’s third touchdown, with Haskins taking on the extra point. NC State received the ball at the beginning of the drive when safety Josh Jones picked off a Kyle Shurmur pass at the Vanderbilt 43-yard line. Jones return the interception to the Vanderbilt 18-yard line to kick off the drive which lasted four plays and took 1:42.

The Commodores added seven points to score on a 30-yard touchdown run by running back Ralph Webb and an extra point by Openshaw with 55 seconds left in the third quarter, to cut the Wolfpack lead to 28-10. Vanderbilt added another rushing touchdown with 10:37 left in the game on a one-yard touchdown by running back Khari Blasingame, and another extra point by Openshaw, to make the score 28-17. On the ensuing kickoff, Nyhein Hines took the return 100 yards for the score. The Wolfpack concluded their scoring frenzy with a 32-yard AIRFAT (an interception returned for a touchdown) with no time left on the clock. NC State head coach Dave Doeren talked about Himes’ interceptions, and what was discussed at halftime, with the press after the game.

“We said at some point, momentum’s going to swing their way. Somebody in this room needs to swing it back, and Nyhein did that with that return. They had the (punt) return that went 70-something yards and then they scored the touchdown. We turned around and swung it back the other way. They never got anything going after that. That’s what you have to do if you want to win.”

Defensively, Airius Moore tallied nine tackles, eight of them solo, while sacking the opposing quarterback twice for an 11-yards. In addition, he tallied two of his tackles for an 11-yard loss and broke up two Vanderbilt plays. Because of his play, he received the Most Valuable Defensive Player Award.

Vanderbilt and North Carolina State to face off in 2016 Camping World Independence Bowl

Photo by Darla Tamulitis, La Vita Loca Photography
Copyright 2016, All Rights Reserved

By Robert H Kelly
Copyright 2016 TexSport Publications

SHREVEPORT, LOUISIANA (December 26, 2016) On Monday, December 26, 2016, the Camping World Independence Bowl will kick off at 4 p.m. CDT at Independence Bowl Stadium in Shreveport, Louisiana. The Vanderbilt Commodores (6-6, 3-5 SEC) will face the North CarolinaState Wolfpack (6-6, 3-5 ACC). These two teams will be playing each other for the second time is postseason history and the third time in each school’s program history. In 2012, the two teams faced off in the Music City Bowl, with the Commodores downing the Wolfpack by the score of 38-24. In their only other meeting, Vanderbilt defeated North Carolina State 7-0 on November 9, 1946.

Prior to the game on Monday, the bowl game parade and pep rally will be held at the Louisiana Boardwalk Outlets at 10 a.m. The Coca-Cola Fan Fest will begin at 12 noon on the State Fair Grounds surrounding the stadium. The 41^st edition of the bowl, which begin in 1976, will kick off at 4 p.m., followed by a Monday Night Football Viewing party at Hirsch Coliseum adjacent to the stadium. In the inaugural game on December 13, 1976, McNeese State squared off against Tulsa, with the Cowboys defeating the Golden Hurricane 20-16. The Most Valuable Players of the game were McNeese’s Terry McFarland on the offensive side of the ball. Tulsa’s Terry Clark was selected as the MVP on defense

McNeese State went on to play twice more in the Independence Bowl. In 1979, they fell to Syracuse 31-7 and dropped a 16-14 decision to Southern Miss in 1980. Tulsa in 0-3 in bowl history, losing to Oregon 27-24 in 1989 and Virginia Tech 55-52 in 2015.

Vanderbilt will be making its eighth appearance in a post-season bowl game, with their most recent performance being in 2014, where they downed the Houston Cougars 41-24 in the BBVA Compass Bowl in Birmingham, Alabama. The Commodores are 4-2-1 in post season play, dating back to the 1955 Gator Bowl, where they beat Auburn 15-13.

The Wolfpack are 15-13-1 in bowl game appearances. Their first post-season game occurred in the 1946 Gator Bowl where they lost to the Oklahoma Sooners 34-13 in Jacksonville, Florida. The most recent appearance was a 51-28 loss to Mississippi State in the 2015 Belk Bowl. The tie came in 1974 against the Houston Cougars; a 31-31 decision in the Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl held at the Astrodome in Houston.

Houston Texans outlast Cincinnati to take AFC South title

Alfred Blue (28) scored Houston's go-ahead touchdown
to give the Texans the AFC South title.
Photo by Darla Tamulitis, La Vita Loca Photography
Copyright 2016, All Rights Reserved.

By Robert H Kelly
Copyright 2016 TexSport Publications

HOUSTON, TEXAS (December 24, 2016) With five seconds remaining in the game, Cincinnati Bengals' kicker RandyBullock lined up to boot a 43-yard field goal, which went wide right and thus gave the Houston Texans a 12-10 victory and the AFC South title. The win was the ninth of the season for Houston and set them up for a first round playoff game against the Kansas City Chiefs.  

The first quarter was a give-and-take affair, with neither team able to game an offensive advantage. Houston quarterback Tom Savage was limited to six yards passing, while Cincinnati quarterback Andy Dalton was able to complete five passes for 25 yards. Savage was sacked three times in the first 10 minutes of the game, with the Texans achieving a mire 13 yards of total offense. The second quarter was not much better, with the Bengals finally getting on the scoreboard to close the first half. After Dalton drove the ball down the field on Cincinnati’s final possession of the half, Randy

Tom Savage (3) completed 18 passes
for 176 yards and one touchdown
against Cincinnati.
Photo by Darla Tamulitis,
La Vita Loca Photography
Copyright 2016, All Rights Reserved

Bullock connected for a 43-yard field goal to give the Bengals a 3-0 lead after 30 minutes of play. The Texans kicked of the second half by driving 68 yards in 11 plays resulting in a 25-yard field goal by Nick Novak to tie the score. They added another Novak field goal at the 13:31 mark in the fourth quarter after driving 71 yards in 12 plays. To make the score 6-3 in favor of the Texans. Cincinnati responded less than three minutes later when Dalton connected with wide receiver Brandon LaFell on a 91-yard pass for the game’s first touchdown. The pass was the long scoring pass of Dalton’s career. Bullock added the extra point to give the Bengals a 10-6 lead with 10:45 remaining in the game.

Savage finally got the drive going he had been working on all game. He started drive after the Bengals’ kickoff and in four play, scored the Texas’ first touchdown of the game. He connected with running back Alfred Blue on a 24-yard pass for six points. The extra point attempt by Novak was blocked by defensive end Margus Hunt, resulting in the Texans taking a 12-10 lead with 8:41 left in the game. With Bullock’s missing the field goal with five seconds in the clock, the Texans advanced to the playoff for the fourth time in team history.

Bullock, who was the first kicker ever drafted by the Texans in 2012, was questioned by the press after the game as to what went wrong with the kick.

“I felt like I hit it pretty well. Timing felt off a little bit, we were trying to hold it. Unfortunately, it affected the kick and that’s on me.”

In the second half, Houston head coach Bill O'Brien made adjustments in the play calling, having the Texans go with a no-huddle offense. The change seemed to work for Savage, completing 18-of-29 passes for 176 yards. Blue carried the ball 21 times for 73 yards with the Houston defense sacking Dalton three times. 

The Texans will close out the regular season on New Year’s Day matchup on the road against the Tennessee Titans with a 12-noon kickoff.

Houston Cougars fall to Harvard Crimson 57-56 in college basketball action

Rob Gray (32) scored 15 points and pulled
down six rebounds against Harvard.
Photo by Darla Tamulitis, La Vita Loca Photography
Copyright 2016, All Rights Reserved

By Robert H Kelly
Copyright 2016 TexSport Publications

HOUSTON, TEXAS (December 23, 2016) Entering the second half with a slim 34-30 over the Harvard, the Houston Cougars dropped a 57-56 decision to the Crimson in front of 4,004 fans at Hofheinz Pavilion in Houston on Friday. December 23, 2016. The loss drops the Cougars to 9-3 on the season as they prepare to begin their American Athletic Conference schedule on December 28 against UConn in Hartford, Connecticut.

The Cougars shot 33% from the field, their third lowest for the season, with Rob Gray connecting for 15 points. No other Cougar was in double digits, with Danrad Knowles added nine and Galen Robinson, Jr. contributed eight. Damyean Dotson led all Cougars with seven rebounds, all on the defensive end of the court. Houston led for most of the game with the Crimson taking the

Wes VanBeck (12) scored six points and
tallied three rebounds in his first career start for Houston.
Photo by Darla Tamulitis, La Vita Loca Photography
Copyright 2016, All Rights Reserved

lead 57-56 with 1:10 remaining in the game. The contest was at a standstill for 2:59 in the second half until Robinsonree throw to put Houston up 40-36. The score remained at 40-36 for that time until Bertrand Nkali hit a three-point to break the scoreless streak. Houston led by nine at the 10:18 mark in the second half and held the until Harvard scored a layup by Zena Edosomwan to take the lead with 1:10 remaining. Wes VanBeck, the hard-working guard for Houston got his first career start against Harvard, playing 26 minutes, scoring six points, and pulling down three defensive rebounds. Bryce Allen came off the bench for Harvard, scoring 21 points, which tied his season high that came against Stanford on November 12, 2016.

After beginning conference on the road on December 28, they travel to Florida to take on UCF on New Year‘s Eve. They return home on January 4, 2017 to face Tulsa with an 8 p.m. CST start. Harvard will host Howard University at home on December 30 to close out 2016.

Tom Savage leads Houston Texans to 21-20 win over Jacksonville Jaguars

Lamar Miller (26) carried the ball 22 times for
63 yards and one touchdown against the Jaguars.
Photo by Darla Tamulitis, La Vita Loca Photography
Copyright 2016, All Rights Reserved

By Robert H Kelly
Copyright 2016 TexSport Publications

HOUSTON, TEXAs (December 18, 2016) The Houston Texans trailed the Jacksonville Jaguars 13-5 at the end of the first half; responding with 16 points in the second half to win the game by the score of 21-20 in front of 71,803 fans at NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas on Sunday, December 18, 2016. The Texan defense held the Jaguars to seven points in the second half, with quarterback Tom Savage came off the bench in the second quarter to complete 23-of-36 passes for 260 yards. Running back Lamar Miller rushed for the Texans’ lone touchdown; a one-yard scamper late in the game. Houston tallied four field goals by Nick Novak and added a safety in the second quarter to close out their scoring.

Jacksonville scored 13 points in the second quarter on field goals of 26 and 50 yards by Jason Miller; along with a one-yard touchdown run by quarterback Blake Bortles and a Myers’ kicking conversion. The Texans responded with the safety and the first of Novak’s four field goals; a 39-yarder to conclude a six-play, 40-yard drive. They started off the third quarter with another Novak field goal, this time of 45 yards. The Jaguars answered with Marqise Lee returning the ensuing kickoff 100 yards for the score. The Texans added to their point total with the third and fourth of Novak’s field goals of 43 and 27 yards.

DeAndre Hopkins (10) caught eight passes for 87 yards
in the Texans win against Jacksonville.
Photo by Darla Tamulitis, La Vita Loca Photography
Copyright 2016, All Rights Reserved.

Savage entered the game at the 8:31 mark in the second quarter, replacing starter Brock Osweiler, who only completed six-of-11 passes for 48 yards. Miller carried the ball 22 times for 63 yards and the single Houston touchdown. Nine Houston receivers caught passes with DeAndre Hopkins and Ryan Griffin leading the way with 87 and 85 yards, respectively, with eight receptions each. Houston held Jacksonville to 150 yards offensively and nine first downs. Houston tallied 387 yards of total offense.

With the win, Houston held on to their lead in the AFC South, tied with the Tennessee Titans. They will have a short week to prepare for the Christmas Eve matchup against the Cincinnati Bengals, who dropped 24-20 decision to the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday. Game time against the Bengals is tentatively set for a 7:25 p.m. CST kickoff in Houston. Houston will close out the season on New Year’s Day against the Tennessee Titans on the road.

Houston Cougars top UT Rio Grande Valley 83-58

Houston head coach Kelvin Sanpson has the Cougars
out to an 8-2 record for the 2016-2017 season.
Photo by Darla Tamulitis, La Vita Loca Photography,
Copyright 2016 All Rights Reserved

By Robert H Kelly

Copyright 2016 TexSport Publications

HOUSTON, TEXAS (December 17, 2016) The Houston Cougars jumped out to a 39-26 lead in the first half and went on to down the UT Rio Grande Valley Vaqueros by the score of 83-58 in front of a small but vocal crowd at Hofheinz Pavilion in Houston, Texas on Saturday, December 17, 2016. The win pushed the Cougars to 8-2 for the season and gives them a 12-0 record against the Vaqueros. Starting forwards Danrad Knowles and Damyean Dotson, along with starting guard Rob Gary combined for 55 of the Cougars’ points. Dotson led all scorers with 25 points, followed by Gray with 16 and Knowles with 14. Armoni Brooks came off the bench to add 10, with Wes VanBeck contributing nine. The Cougars shot 51% from the field and 75% from the free throw line. Dotson tallied 10 rebounds for his third double-double of the season. For the Vaqueros, Antonio Green tallied 11 points.

Houston head coach Kelvin Sampson discussed the Cougars' performance in the post-game press conference

We came out and played really hard from the start. We were pleased with a lot of guys effort tonight. I’m disappointed with some things that we just have to keep working on. We must get our bigs to rebound, that’s the bottom line. We play these other teams that have really good offensive rebounding bigs. Our guards are going to do a good job rebounding. I’m really pleased with our guards rebounding. We emphasize that a lot obviously. Danrad Knowles is scoring the ball better. We’re going to him, we have a lot of confidence in Knowles. Knowles only had one rebound today, that’s not going to be good enough . With our team going on, we didn’t play well in a couple games early. We’re a lot better team today than we were then. We are going to be a lot better a month from now then we are today. Losing games is not an issue. I don’t ever worry about that. What I worry about is how do we get better. I’m excited that we have a team that can continue to get better.

Next up for the Cougars will be a Wednesday, December 21 matchup against Liberty College, followed two days later with their final non-conference game against Harvard. Both games are scheduled for a 7 p.m. CST start at Hofheinz Pavilion.

Second half surge leads Houston Cougars to 82-77 win over Rhode Island Rams

Photo by Robert Kelly, Copyright 2016, All Rights Reserved.

By Robert H Kelly
Copyright 2016 TexSport Publications

HOUSTON, TEXAS (December 10, 2016) The Houston Cougars poured it on in the second half, and went on to down the Rhode Island Rams by the score of 82-77 at Hofheinz Pavilion in Houston, Texas on Saturday, December 10, 2016. The win raises the Cougars to 7-2 on the season, while the formally ranked Rams dropped to 6-4. The duo of Rob Gray and Danrad Knowles combined for 55 of the Cougars’ 82 points in the win. Gray, a 6-2 junior from Forest City, North Carolina, scored a season high 30 points and was 14-of-16 from the free throw line. Knowles, who hails from Nassau, Bahamas, punched in 25 points and was 11-of-12 from the line. His 25 points were a career high for the 6-10 senior forward.

Houston took their first lead of the game at the 15:38 mark in the second half; connecting on one of his two three-pointers of the night to give the Cougars a 48-46 lead. From that point on, the game was a give-and-take affair building a 67-62 lead with 6:25 remaining in the game. The Rams battled back to tie the score at 68 at the 3:55 mark. After that, Houston put on the accelerator and jumped out to an eight-point lead with 24 seconds remaining.  The Cougars outscored the Rams 14-9 in the final minutes of the game to secure the win.

The win was the fifth in the series against Rhode Island, dating back to December 26, 1964. The Cougars won that matchup 74-68 at home, following it up with wins on February 12, 1989 (85-71) and December 27, 2015 (67-41). Their last two games against the Rams were on the road, with the Cougars winning 102-99 in overtime on November 13, 2006. Last season, they dropped a 67-57 decision at the Ryan Center in Kingston, Rhode Island.

Next up for the Cougars will be a 7 p.m. matchup against UT Rio Grande Valley on Saturday, December 17, 2016., with the home stand continuing against Liberty (December 21 at 7 p.m.) and Harvard (December 23 at 7 p.m.). They kick off their American Athletic Conference schedule on December 28 against Connecticut on December 28 in Hartford.

HBU Huskies take down Arlington Baptist 75-55

Photo by Robert H Kelly
Copyright 2016, All Rights Reserved

By Robert H Kelly
Copyright 2016 TexSport Publications

HOUSTON, TEXAS (December 9, 2016) The Houston Baptist University Huskies women’s basketball team notched their second win of the season with a 75-55 thumping of the Arlington Baptist Patriots at Sharp Gymnasium in Houston on Friday, December 9, 2016. The Huskies had five players scoring in double digits with Taylor Kollmorgan coming off the bench to tally 10 points and pull down 11 rebounds for her second career double-double.

Freshman Charlotte Hodges also contributed off the bench, chipping in 14 points to lead all HBU scores. Arlington Baptist starting forward Kayla Beattie led all scorers with 17 points. The Huskies also had three other players scoring in double digits; senior guard Heidi Byrd scored 12 points and was three-of-three from the free throw line. Sophomore guard AmandaJohnson added 11 points with freshman guard Lauren Carver adding 10. The Patriots had two players scoring in double digits with Zayda Gonzales and Jayzhia scoring 14 and 13 points respectively. Next up for the Huskies will be a December 21 match up against the University of Louisiana-Monroe with a 7 p.m. start at home.