HBU Huskies to face Toledo Rockets in first round of WNIT

By Robert H Kelly
Copyright 2022 All Rights Reserved

AKRON, OHIO (March 18, 2022) The HBU Huskies women's basketball team will face the Toledo Rockets at 6 p.m. CT at Akron's Savage Arena in the first round of the Women's National Invitational Tournament (WNIT). The Huskies were the Southland Conference regular season champions and had an early exit from the conference tournament to eventual champions Incarnate Word Lady Cardinals, dropping their semifinal game 54-33.

The Huskies were 16-10 for the 2022 season with a 12-2 conference record and will be facing a 26-5 Toledo team who was 19-1 in conference play before going 1-1 in the Mid-America Conference tournament. They dropped a 71-66 decision to Ball State. The WNIT first round match-up will be the first meeting between the two squads and the first NCAA post-season appearance for the Huskies. 

The Huskies are led by Southland Conference Player of the Year Timia Jefferson who averaged 12.7 points per game for the season. She was aided by N'Denasija Collins, who averaged 9.4 points per game while pulling in 6.4 rebounds and shooting 35 percent from the field. Marilyn Nzoiwu pulled down 7.4 rebounds per game to lead HBU. Abbey Sutherland is tied with Nzoiwu for the team lead in blocks with 32.

Toledo was led this season by Quenesha Lockett who averaged 17.5 points and 5.6 rebounds for the Rockets. Sophia Wiard drops in 12.8 points per game for Toledo and leads the rockets in assists with 137.

The game can be viewed on ESPN3.

HBU Huskies advanced in SLC Tournament with 74-60 win over McNeese State

Story and photo by Robert H Kelly

Copyright 2021 All Rights Reserved

KATY, TEXAS (March 10, 2021) Paced  by the 20 points of Jilija Vujakovic, the No. 8 HBU Huskies downed the number nine ranked McNeese State Cowgirls by the score of 74-60 to advance to the second round of the 2021 Hercules Tires Southland Conference  Women's Basketball Tournament.

Those in attendance at the Leonard E. Merrell Center saw three Huskies join Vujakovic, who hails from Bereldange, Luxembourg, connect for double digit scoring.   

N'Denasija Collins (Timberview HS, Mansfield, Texas) tallied 18 points, with Timia Jefferson (Timberview HS, Mansfield, Texas) adding 16, and Kennedy Wilson (Timberview HS, Mansfield, Texas) chipping in 10. Head coach Donna Finnie only played eight players in the game, with the four mentioned above accounting for 64 of the Husky's 74 points.

Divine Tanks  (Barbe HS, Lake Charles, LA) and Shaela Gardner (Chipola College, Memphis, TN) led the Cowgirls with 12 and 11 points, respectively.

Next up for the Huskies, in the second round, will be the number five ranked Central Arkansas Sugar Bears. The Sugar Bears received a first-round bye in the tournament, with their last game being a 45-40 loss to Northwestern State on March 6. Central Arkansas and HBU did not play each other this season; having last played on January 1, 2020. In that matchup, the Sugar Bears came out on top by the score of 63-39.

SOUTHLAND WOMEN’S BASKETBALL GAMES POSTPONED

FRISCO, TEXAS (January 9, 2020) The Southland Conference has announced the postponement of two women’s basketball games, in accordance with COVID-19 protocols.

Houston Baptist’s matchup against Lamar (January 9) and the Huskies’ game at Abilene Christian (January 13) will be rescheduled in consultation with the two opponents and the Southland office and announced at a later date.

HBU Huskies women's basketball kicks off season with 83-54 loss to Rice Owls

By Robert H Kelly
Copyright 2020 All Rights Reserved

HOUSTON, TEXAS (November 25. 2020) The HBU Huskies women's basketball team led the Rice Owls after 10 minutes of play and trailed their cross-town opponents by four at the half, however a second half scoring drought left them short at the end of the game, as they dropped a 83-54 to the Owls at Tudor Fieldhouse in Houston.

HBU jumped out to a 17-16 lead after the first quarter, with N'Denasija Collins accounting for seven of the Huskies' 1st quarter points. The Owls rebounded in the second quarter, outscoring the Huskies 14-9 to take a 30-26 lead at halftime. Then Rice got their bearings, outscoring the Huskies 20-18 in the third quarter and 24-10 in the final period in route to downing HBU.

The Huskies were led by Abbey Sutherland with 15 points, nine of them from three-point range. HBU head coach Donna Finnie stated after the game "I thought Abbey did pretty good defensively and offensively."

Sutherland was joined in double figures by Collins, with 10 points,. Marilyn Nzoiwu led HBU with seven rebounds.

Rice had four players in double figures; led by center Nancy Mulkey with 23 points and 13 rebounds. Also scoring in double figures for the Owls was Arianna McCurry (12 points), Katelyn Crosthwait (12 points) and Haylee Swayze (11 points).

Finnie added, "We knew these were going to be two tough games to open the season (Rice and Texas Tech). We know basically what  we have to work on after today so we got to do a better job and keep looking for improvement. We are not going to see anyone in our conference that looks like this (Rice) or Texas Tech."

The Huskies will next face Texas Tech on Saturday, November 28 in Lubbock with a 2 p.m. tipoff.

HBU Huskies kick off 2020-2021 season against Rice Owls

File photo by
Darla S Tamulitis
La Vita Loca Photography
Copyright 2020 All Rights Reserved

By Robert H Kelly
Copyright 2020 All Rights Reserved

HOUSTON, TEXAS (November 23, 2020) The HBU Huskies women's basketball team kicks off their 2020-2021 schedule on Wednesday, November 25 against the Rice Owls. Tipoff is scheduled for 2 p.m. CST at Tudor Fieldhouse on the campus of Rice University.

The Huskies, who are picked 11th in the 13th member Southland Conference pre-season poll, have previously played the Owls four times, dating back to 2010.  In that year, they faced off on December 21, when Rice coming out on top by the score of 82-46 at Sharp Gymnasium. They next met on November 16, 2011 at Tudor Fieldhouse, with the Owls again coming out on top, 75-42. It would be five years until they played again. On November 19, 2016, Rice again came out on top, 79-53 at Sharp. The final meeting was November 18, 2017, with the Owls winning at home, 67-45.

The Huskies return eight letter winners from 2019-2020 including all five starters; Timia Jefferson, Julija Vujakovic,  Marilyn Nzoiwu,  Abbey Sutherland, and Kennedy Wilson. Also returning for the 2020-2021 season are Patience Idoko, N’Denasija Collins, and Megan Valdez-Crader. Newcomers include Anna Maguire, Enya Maguire, Linda Brueckner, Naomi Pierce, and Armani Reed.

The Huskies will again be led by head coach Donna Finnie, who is in her eighth season at the helm at HBU. She will be assisted by Becca Allison and Anna Strickland.