December 21st, 2008: Houston at Buffalo (Chartwells Holiday Classic)

Houston Cougars 80, Buffalo Bulls 62

Houston holds a lead this time, and long skinny posts are all the rage.


Okay, we've now established that Houston likes to build big leads and Buffalo isn't all that good. Sorry, Coach Hill-McDonald. You were really nice to the strange Liberty fan, and those bony posts of yours are fun to watch on the boards, but your team's got a long way to go.

Courtney Taylor is something else, I'm starting to think. Around the face a little, she looks like Thompson, and she's got game with some range. A nice array of moves, and killer on the boards, too. I'm still liking Brittney Scott, too. If nothing else, it always amazes me when a sophomore jumps the queue to become a team captain. We got to see a little more of their bench today, as Houston let up on the Bulls. I like Jasmine Johnson a lot. But just in general, they've got a good passing game- I'd say most of their turnovers were on technical violations, not on bad plays. With only the one senior, I think the next couple of years will be good for the Cougars- which is good, women's hoops fans in Houston could use a boost.

Despite allowing 80 points, Buffalo did have some great defensive plays. Brown, Matthys, and Kendricks all had nice blocks, and Hedderson and Kendricks were all over the boards. Holmes dueled well with Houston's Landry- I do love to watch the small guards go at each other. Am I wrong for that? Hitting their free thows might have made a difference, and I'll give Hill-McDonald a lot of credit for adjusting her lineup as quickly as she did- she almost completely shuffled her starting lineup from the St. John's game, taking the players who played well in that game and giving them the start this time 'round.

Play of the game for Houston: Roxana Button's steal and fast-break layup. It was a thing of beauty.

Play of the game for Buffalo: Brittany Hedderson's rebound and save on the baseline.

Extremely inconsistent refereeing. And the crew chief was behind some of the worst calls.

Apparently, I spent more time pondering the folks in the stands than I did the game. Recee was hanging out with one of the Houston families, and the crew for the next game was watching from a corner. I was very tempted to ask them about some of the questionable calls, but I thought that might be either tacky or creepy. Still, there's nothing quite as heart-warming as Denise Brooks-Clauser watching the halftime biddy game and cheering on the little kids, at one point yelling "Shoot it!" to one of them.

It's going to be a long season for the Bulls in the MAC, but I think it'll be a good season for the Cougars in C-USA.