Houston Women Rout Stephen F. Austin 89-59 to Start 3-0: McCowan's 27 and 10 Lead a Wire-to-Wire Win at the Fertitta Center

Houston's women's basketball team is 3-0, and Tuesday night at the Fertitta Center was the most complete of the three. The Cougars beat Stephen F. Austin 89-59, leading for 93 percent of the game and building the margin as high as 36 points, according to the ESPN and UHCougars.com box scores reported by LFG Houston. Senior guard Raegan McCowan led everyone with 27 points on 10-of-17 shooting and 10 rebounds - five of them offensive - in 33 minutes, her second straight double-double.

The support came from deep. Junior guard Kaelyn Hamilton scored 14 points and did not miss from behind the arc, going 4-for-4 from three, and Houston's defense held the Ladyjacks to 4-of-27 shooting from three-point range on the night. The quarter line tells the shape of it: Houston won every quarter - 27-14, 21-19, 20-16 and 21-10 - and never let Stephen F. Austin (1-1) turn any single stretch into a run.

There was a small measure of payback in it, too: the Ladyjacks beat Houston 82-78 last November, a result this team reversed by 34 points' worth of margin a year later. The Houston Press, in its Wednesday account, called it one of the best starts in recent years for head coach Matthew Mitchell's team - a fair description for a program that won seven games all of last season and has now won three straight at home to open this one.

The road test comes next. Houston leaves the Fertitta Center for the first time this season to visit Montana in Missoula on Friday, November 13 - the first of the away dates that will say more about this start than any home November can. For one Tuesday night, though, the numbers said plenty: 89 points, a 30-point win, and a senior guard playing like the best player on the floor.