HOUSTON, Texas – Despite a career-high 31 points by junior guard Taylin Underwood, Southeastern Louisiana saw its valiant upset bid of Houston fall short in a narrow 83-80 loss to the Cougars in non-conference women's basketball action Sunday afternoon at Hofheinz Pavillion.
 
After a pair of missed free throws by Houston's Jasmyne Harris, freshman guard Tyler Morrison grabbed the rebound, but her last-ditch attempt to tie the game missed the mark, dropping SLU to 0-2 overall and allowing the host Cougars (1-0) to escape with a victory in their season opener.
 
"Taylin and (junior guard) Ashailee (Brailey) hit two shots in the first 90 seconds and that allowed our players to relax and play with some confidence," Southeastern head coach Errol Gauff said. "Did we make some mistakes today? Definitely. But they were correctible mistakes. We were extremely proud of the effort and passion our young ladies showed today."
 
Underwood's point total topped her previous career-high of 27 set last season versus Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. Her 31 points are the most by a Lady Lion since former multi-time All-Southland Conference performer and current SLU assistant coach Aja Gibson poured in 33 points in an 85-84 double-overtime win at Houston Baptist on Jan. 25, 2014.
 
"Taylin took 13 free throws today, which was an indication that she was very aggressive going to the basket," Gauff said. "As she becomes more willing to attack and not settle for threes, she's going to continue to be a more potent offensive player."
 
Underwood netted three three-point field goals to give her 101 in her career. The Livingston, Lousiana native is the eighth player in school history to top 100 career three-point field goals.
 
Underwood was one of three Lady Lions in double figures, as she was joined by Morrison (14 points) and Brailey (11 points). Morrison, who played the entire 40 minutes for Southeastern, shared game-high honors with fellow freshman Taz Stinston with eight rebounds apiece. Morrison, who hails from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, also dished out a team-high four assists.
 
Gauff singled out two players who didn't fill up the box score for praise following the contest.
 
"It was evident early that Houston wanted to pound us down low like Ole Miss did on Friday (in an 81-31 Lady Lion loss)," Gauff commented. "(Senior forward) Chey (Stewart) and (freshman forward) Chambria (Harrison) did an excellent job stabilizing our interior defense."
 
Angela Harris led three Cougars in double figures with 22 points, as Jacqueline Blake added 15 points and Chyanne Butler chipped in 13. Seritihia Hawkins led UH with a game-high 11 rebounds, while Butler was credited with a team-high six assists.
 
Houston built up an early lead, closing the opening quarter on a 16-4 run to give the Cougars a 27-17 lead at the close of the first period. UH started the second quarter off strong, scoring the first seven points of the period and looked poised to pull away from Southeastern early.
 
However, the Lady Lions had other ideas. Southeastern rolled off 19 consecutive points in midst of a 24-2 run to close the first half. Brailey ended the half with a three-point field goal to give the Lady Lions a 41-37 halftime lead.
 
Houston would chip into the lead over the next 10 minutes, as the third quarter closed with the Lady Lions protecting a narrow 61-60 lead and setting up a dramatic finish.
 
The lead see-sawed back and forth six times in the first five minutes of the final quarter. After Underwood put Southeastern on top, 72-71, with a layup, a Butler score, a pair of free throws by Jasmyne Harris and a three-pointer by Angela Harris made up a quick 7-0 UH run to give the Cougars a 78-72 lead with just over two minutes left.
 
Southeastern would never get back on top. With 23 seconds left, sophomore Jaclyn Scholvin netted a pair of free throws to cut the Houston advantage to 80-78. However, Kierra Graves answered for Houston with a quick layup to push the lead to 82-78 with 16 seconds left.
 
However, Morrison drew a foul and made a pair of free throws to cut the UH advantage to 82-80 with 10 seconds remaining. Forced to foul, the Lady Lions sent Graves to the free throw line to shoot a pair. She made one of two, giving SLU one last shot, but Morrison was off target at the buzzer.
 
The Lady Lions will open their home schedule on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. with a non-conference contest versus Mobile in the University Center. The first 150 fans will receive a trading card featuring Gauff and the SLU coaching staff courtesy of PRIDE.
 
The game will be broadcast live in the Hammond area on KSLU-FM (90.9), online at www.LionSports.net/listenlive and via the TuneIn Radio app. LionVision subscribers will be able to access a live video stream of Wednesday's game at www.LionSports.net/watch.