Louisville's Houston gives Lafayette problems
Dec. 10—PONTOTOC — Jacilyn Houston met little resistance Saturday afternoon.
The senior forward had 19 points and 15 rebounds to lead Louisville past Lafayette, 61-35, at the Tangle on the Trail. The 5-foot-10 Houston was a mismatch for the Lady Commodores all game.
"She plays with everything, and she'll play through everything, so it's easy to translate onto the court for her," Louisville coach Mitchell McCurry said. "I'm very honored to coach her. She's an amazing kid on and off the court."
All nine of Houston's field goals came in the paint. Her layup with 4:00 left in the third quarter gave the Lady Wildcats (7-2) a 37-22 lead. Lafayette (7-4) had been within 28-22 early in the period but fell apart against Louisville's full-court press.
The Lady Dores committed 33 turnovers, including 11 in the third quarter. Louisville had a comfortable 45-26 edge entering the fourth.
"We knew they were physical," Lafayette coach Shayne Linzy said. "I thought at times we matched the physicality, but in the end if you can't make free throws and layups, you're going to be in trouble. They made those shots, where we missed a lot of them."
Lafayette shot 29.8% from the floor and 4 of 12 from the free throw line. The Lady Commodores' best player, Mariah Reed-Jones, was shut out in the second half and finished with 10 points.
"We went man-to-man full court on her, tried to wear her out as much as we could, because she's a great player," McCurry said. "We were able to get in her head a little bit, and we were able to take off after that."
Guard Aniyah Hunter led Louisville with 20 points and was a strong complement to Houston. Hunter knocked down three 3-pointers in the game and scored nine points during the critical third quarter.
Three-Pointer
Turning Point: Louisville's 11-0 run in the third quarter opened up a 39-22 lead.
Point Maker: Houston shot 9 of 16 from the field.
Talking Point: "Our objective is to pick you up full court the whole game, and then eventually you're going to break. And once we break you, we're going to break the game open." — McCurry, on Louisville's defense
