by Don Mooney
FORT WORTH, Texas – Tiara Young dropped a career-high 26 points and the No. 4 seed Houston women’s basketball team topped No. 8 Wichita State 72-64 at Dickies Arena on Wednesday for the program’s first-ever American Athletic Conference Tournament title game berth.
Young’s 26 points is the second-most by a Cougar in any American Tournament game and is the most by a Houston player in a semifinal game. Young entered the game with two made three-pointers this season and finished the game with two more as the senior finished the game 10 for 26 from the field with a team-high three assists.
The Shreveport, La., native scored Houston’s first five points of the game and then went on an 8-0 run over her own as Houston used a 13-0 run in the fourth quarter to open a 15-point lead with a little over a minute to play. Houston (15-15) outscored Wichita State (18-14) in every aspect of the game, 19-8 off turnovers, 15-5 on fast breaks, 30-26 in the paint and 29-7 off the bench.
Guards Laila Blair scored 19 points and Britney Onyeie scored 13 points to propel the Cougars to the title game. The Cougars led for 28 minutes and 37 seconds of the game and never trailed the final 7:48 of the game after Young hit a jumper to tie the game at 53.
Houston is seeking its first conference tournament championship since 2004 and first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2011. A win Thursday would be Houston’s third conference title and sixth NCAA Tournament appearance.
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Houston will play No. 3 East Carolina in the conference championship game on Thursday at 8 p.m. inside Dickies Arena. The championship game appearance is Houston’s first title game since joining the conference and first since 2004 in Conference USA.