Houston women's basketball season ends with Big 12 tourney loss to Colorado

Cougars had four players in double figures in the first-round defeat

Houston's Laila Blair | Jerome Miron/Imagn Images

Houston went into the Phillips 66 Big 12 women's basketball tournament determined to start anew.

However, it ended up being an all too familiar feeling for the Cougars.

Colorado used a pair of pivotal runs to eventually end the Cougars' season, 66-58, Wednesday afternoon in the opening round of the Big 12 tournament in Kansas City.

Houston finished the season 5-25, winning only one conference game, a home upset against a ranked Oklahoma State squad in January. Now, the Cougars enter the offseason with some uncertainty.

What Houston women's basketball coach Ronald Hughey said following team's upset win

Perhaps one offseason question regards the future of coach Ronald Hughey, who completed his 11th season at Houston. But the Cougars haven't had a winning record since the 2021-22 season and are a combined 6-30 in conference play since joining the Big 12 prior to the 2023-24 season. Plus, Houston brought in a new athletic director, Eddie Nunez, who was hired last summer, and Nunez may prefer to bring in his own person to take over should he decide to make a coaching change.

Houston is also replacing seven seniors from its roster, including graduate guard Laila Blair, the program's second all-time leading scorer.

In her final game as a Cougar, Blair had a team-high 15 points Wednesday, one of four Cougars in double figures. She also made two 3-pointers, went 3-of-3 from the free throw line and distributed six assists.

Also in double figures for Houston were sophomore guard Gia Cooke with 13 points, including making four 3's, graduate guard Eylia Love with 11 (along with seven steals) and senior guard Leilani Augmon with 10. The Cougars nearly had five in double figures, but sophomore guard Kierra Merchant finished with 9 points.

Houston led early, 8-6, before Colorado scored 21 of the next 25 points, capped by 14 straight points as the Buffaloes took a 27-12 lead midway through the second quarter. Down 29-20 at halftime, the Cougars cut their deficit to six, 34-28, early in the third quarter before Colorado reeled off nine straight points to push its lead back into double digits.

The Cougars made a final charge late, getting to within seven (61-54) with 32 seconds left and five (63-58) after Blair completed a four-point play with 25 seconds left. But Colorado, despite committing 33 turnovers, put the game away at the foul line, making three free throws in the final 23 seconds.

Lior Garzon led Colorado with 21 points, making three 3's and going 6-of-6 from the line. Jade Masogayo added 14 points, going 7-of-9 from the field, for the Buffs, and had six of the team's 48 rebounds.