Cook scores career high in win over Wiley

Thursday, November 11

Huntsville

6:30 PM

1-0,0-0WAC

Wiley College

0-1

Team	1	2	3	4	F
Wiley	10	19	18	15	62
Sam Houston	20	20	26	20	86

Photo by: Sara Cox

Cook scores career high in win over Wiley

11/11/2021 9:48:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

HUNTSVILLE – Faith Cook pumped in a career-high 30 points as one of four Sam Houston Bearkats in double figures, leading the Bearkats to a convincing 86-62 win over Wiley in the season opener on Thursday night at Johnson Coliseum.

Cook, who led the Southland in minutes per game last season, played 35 minutes and filled up the stat sheet with seven assists and five rebounds to go with her 30 points. She nailed a trio of 3-point baskets and was 9-for-11 from the foul line.

She got plenty of help, though, starting with fellow senior Courtney Cleveland who scored the first six points of the game and went on to finish with 16 points and seven rebounds in her season debut. Kaylee Jefferson added 11 points and seven rebounds, while Damaya Telemaque also reached double figures with 11 points in her first game as a Bearkat.

The Kats led by as much as 12 in the first quarter, but Wiley, a team playing in its fifth game this season, started off strong in the second quarter, cutting the deficit back to 22-19 as part of a 7-2 run just three minutes into the period.

But a layup by Madelyn Batista got the Kats going once again and an 11-3 spurt pushed the lead to 40-25 for the Kats before eventually taking a 40-29 lead into the halftime locker room.

The third quarter, however, was just what Sam Houston needed, and they did it from the foul line, hitting 13-for-18 from the stripe in the period, pushing the advantage to as much as 21 and never looking back, eventually going up as much as 27 late in the fourth quarter.

The Kats did much of their damage on the defensive end, forcing 33 Wildcat turnovers that resulted in 32 points. Sam Houston hit just 41 percent from the floor, but held Wiley to just 36 percent shooting.

Sam Houston will now hit the road for a pair of tough contests, starting Saturday with a matinee game at UT Arlington, followed by a noon contest on Monday at Tulsa.

The Kats game on Saturday at UTA is set for a 2:00 p.m. tipoff at College Park Center and will be aired on ESPN+.