The TCU women’s basketball team held off a late rally by the Houston Cougars to secure a 60-51 victory Sunday.

After allowing Houston’s Porsche Landry two quick buckets to start the first half, TCU used a 16-0 run to take control of the game, and never relinquished the lead.

TCU head coach Jeff Mittie said that he felt the game was sloppy, crediting Houston’s defense for how well they kept TCU off balance.

“They did a great job of mixing things up against us and keeping our guards really uncomfortable for most of the day,” Mittie said. “Obviously you’ve got to survive a few of those throughout the year and we did that.”

Sophomore Natalie Ventress led TCU with 16 points and eight rebounds. Freshman Veja Hamilton also scored in double figures for TCU with 10 points.

Mittie said that he thought Hamilton played exceptionally well.

“I thought Veja gave us great minutes today,” Mittie said. “She has no assists, but there were numerous times that she got in the paint and found people.

“She made the pass that led to the pass that led to the score.”

Landry came out strong in the second half for Houston, scoring the Cougars’ first 11 points of the half and cutting TCU’s lead to two.

TCU responded to Landry’s hot shooting with several buckets from Hamilton and Ventress and extended their lead back to nine.

Mittie said that Junior Latricia Lovings, TCU’s leading rebounder and shot blocker, played limited minutes due to an unspecified stomach illness.

Lovings, despite only playing 14 minutes, did manage to block four shots.