Houston posts double-double in DC’s loss at Cleary

LANSING, Mich. – The Defiance Yellow Jackets dropped a 65-33 decision to the Cleary Cougars at Gannon Gymnasium on Wednesday but had a standout individual effort from freshman Kayla Houston on her way to her first career double-double.

The Cougars (9-8, 7-4 WHAC) dominated the first half by building a 48-11 lead on 58 percent shooting and outrebounding the Yellow Jackets (3-14, 0-11 WHAC), 25-16. Cleary also created 16 points in the first half off 13 DC turnovers. Defiance struggled shooting the basketball, making 4-of-29 attempts in the first half to attribute to the early deficit. The Jackets actually started the contest with leads of 2-0 and 4-2 before the Cougars closed the first quarter on a 23-2 run.

In the second half, the Yellow Jackets outscored the Cougars 22-17 to narrow the gap. Defiance had a stretch of nearly 13 minutes of game time without a field goal. After Houston made a layup at 8:43 left in the second quarter, her bucket with 5:21 left in the third was the team's next hoop.

For the game, Defiance shot 19 percent and were 1-for-20 from 3-point range. Cleary's shooting fell off after halftime as they closed the game at just 38 percent after the hot start. Houston led the Jackets with 15 points and 11 rebounds for her first double-double.

UP NEXT
The Yellow Jackets return home for their next contest as the second round of WHAC games begins. DC welcomes the Lawrence Tech Blue Devils to the Weaner Center on Saturday for a 1 p.m. tipoff.

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