The Associated Students of Colorado State University convened online due to inclement weather Feb. 22 for the 20th session of the 52nd senate.

After a new senator was sworn into office by Chief Justice Marcus Zacarias, senate viewed a presentation from New Era Colorado, the Cobalt Abortion Fund and the Raíz Planned Parenthood Action Fund, which educated senate on their ongoing efforts to lobby the Colorado legislature concerning local, state and national issues including housing prices, eviction guidelines and access to reproductive and gender-affirming healthcare, among other pressing issues facing young voters. 

The presentation was led by guest speakers Kate Kelly, Kathia Garcia and Emily Jaggers, who also explored the “power of storytelling,” which will ideally allow for increased education and open dialogue on social justice issues.

The presentation then detailed the benefits of writing letters to the editor, which grant an opportunity for individuals to advocate for a cause or take a personal stance on an issue through news publications.

Executive reports followed, with Vice President Elijah Sandoval updating senate on current Student Fee Review Board processes and the ongoing search for additional members.

During judicial reports, Zacarias issued the Supreme Court’s ruling on Case #5202, determining by a 6-0 vote that the Legislative Cabinet wrongfully terminated a member of the cabinet by not abiding by the ASCSU bylaws, which mandate the termination of a cabinet member must be decided through the passing of an official piece of legislation. 

Speaker of the Senate Nick DeSalvo issued a brief statement in response to the court’s ruling.

“I want to express, on behalf of myself and the rest of Legislative Cabinet, how sorry we are that the process wasn’t followed correctly and that individuals were hurt as a result of that process not being followed,” DeSalvo said. “This was uncharted territory for everyone within Legislative Cabinet, and we didn’t really have any idea of how to proceed with such a process.”

The ratification of two new members of SFRB then took place.

“I understand what it feels like to be part of a group that is underrepresented and faced with certain issues in society. I think I’m going to try and bring that to SFRB by making sure that every voice feels heard.” – Ben Stickland, CSU student

SFRB is primarily responsible for overseeing the determination and distribution of CSU student fees, reviewing legislation relating to student fee allocation and providing funding for student organizations, events and initiatives across campus.

Senior Ben Stickland and sophomore Ashton Barbone were nominated for the positions.

“I understand what it feels like to be part of a group that is underrepresented and faced with certain issues in society,” Stickland said. “I think I’m going to try and bring that to SFRB by making sure that every voice feels heard.”

The candidates were approved with unanimous consent.

Senate then discussed Lex 5205, “Amending a Gap in the Constitution.”

The lex aims to make small edits to the ASCSU constitution in an effort to maintain transparency and specificity during the senate ratification process.

The legislative authors hope these edits will reduce confusion and simplify the process of the ratification of elected officials after instances of procedural error prohibited the confirmation of elected officials in past senates.

The lex passed with unanimous consent.

Lex 5206, “Constitution Caucus Constitutional Amendments,” was also considered.

The legislation seeks to update the ASCSU constitution to reflect the amendments discussed and passed by the constitution caucus, which include minor edits to senate membership requirements and the process of approving future amendments and pieces of legislation.

The lex passed with unanimous consent but will need to be considered again in a later session after further committee review.

ASCSU Senate will resume Mar. 1.

Reach Sam Hutton at news@collegian.com or on Twitter @Sam_Hut14.

USC agreed to pay $13.05 million Thursday to settle a class-action lawsuit alleging the school mismanaged its retirement plans offered to faculty and staff, billing participants with duplicated service costs and offering higher-cost, underperforming investment choices.

The net settlement amount will be allocated and distributed to current participants of the retirement plans, authorized former participants and a beneficiary or alternate payee of such a person in the form of checks or contributions to their accounts in the plans.

The plaintiffs, nine former and current participants in the USC retirement plans, first filed a lawsuit in August 2016 accusing USC of violating the Employee Retirement Income Security Act. Passed in 1974, ERISA is designed to protect employees’ pension rights from mismanagement in retirement plans. It established enforcement provisions that protect the funds and allows participants to sue for benefits and fiduciary violations.

USC denied any misconduct or liability and sought arbitration instead of trial based on the employment agreements signed by workers — which Judge Virginia Phillips denied and saw approved on appeal.

The settlement comes as more than 20 universities across the country have faced lawsuits alleging retirement plan mismanagement since 2016.

The Ninth Circuit affirmed the lower court’s decision on Munro v. USC in 2018, and the Supreme Court declined to hear the case in 2019. In the same year, class certification was granted to more than 30,000 participants of USC’s retirement plans by the federal district court.

USC revealed discontent and argued against a class action certification on the grounds that its management of the retirement plans hasn’t affected all the participants in the same way, Law360 reported in September 2019. The University further contended that the class action should be denied because it failed to satisfy Rule 23 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, which requires the questions of law to be common to the class. 

The two retirement savings plans that USC offers are the 401(a) Defined Contribution Retirement Plan and 403(b) Tax-Deferred Annuity Plan. The 401(a) plan is a lower-risk investment program that allows both employer and employee to contribute, while the 403(b) plan offers more limited investment choices and is specifically designed for employees of public schools and tax-exempt organizations.

In the settlement, USC agreed to conduct a request for proposal for recordkeeping and administrative services within 180 days of the settlement effective date.

This article will be updated with comment from the University.

The post USC to pay $13 million to settle lawsuit appeared first on Daily Trojan.

For students who want to contribute to their community or conduct research on new topics, the University of Utah Study Locator provides a gateway to do so.

With over 10 categories of studies, students can participate in and generate research that ranges from COVID-19 surveys to in-person heart research.

Joni Pierce, a fifth-year doctorate student studying biomedical informatics, said many of these studies revolve around answering new questions either through surveys or through active experimental research with participants.

“Generally when we’re conducting research studies, we’re trying to produce original research to advance the knowledge levels that we have,” Pierce said. 

The research conducted at the U is also very innovative, said Aaron Fischer, an endowed professor of school psychology. This is because the U is a Research 1 institution, so they receive federal funding for their research. This classification allows for there to be a larger amount of opportunities for students to conduct their own research, Fischer said.

“What’s so great about our university being a Research 1 institution is that there are so many great chances for undergraduate students, graduate students to get involved with research, whether that be as participants or as research assistants,” Fischer said. 

When students join or conduct a study, there is no long-term commitment past coordinating the research for that study, according to Fischer, which allows students to explore research opportunities even if they are unsure if they want to pursue it in the future. 

“It’s a really exciting opportunity for folks to just have kind of an appetizer or a taste of what research can be like without having to commit too much to it,” Fischer said.

For doctorate students who are graduating and want to work in research fields, conducting research studies is important in helping build their resumes, said Pierce. And, the research and grant opportunities the U provides to these students can help them accomplish this.

“If you think about the academic future, and if you want to go on and do a postdoc and work in an academic setting, it is absolutely critical to see that you’ve been publishing and that you know the process,” Pierce said.

If a student is planning on conducting research at the U in the future or wants to create their own study, participating in the studies currently offered is vital to gaining experience on how these research opportunities work.

“[Participating in studies] might spark ideas for them about their own areas of interest for future studies,” Pierce said. “They can see it actually operationalized so you’re getting practical experience because you’re the participant, but you’re kind of seeing how the researchers are doing that work.”

Fischer said the community can benefit immensely and see active change from these research studies, which is why student participation in these studies is so vital.

“At least like speaking for the research that we do through our lab, it’s really community driven and community informed,” Fischer said. “Because we’re doing applied research, we look at real problems that exist within our communities, not just here locally in Salt Lake but also across the state.”

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According to Pierce, students themselves may even be able to benefit from the research studies being done, and by participating in these studies, it allows for them to be represented and heard by the researchers and larger medical companies.

“Because you’ve had your voice heard, you may actually benefit from the fruits of the research,” Pierce said. “When you provide your feedback and your voice, we can better understand what’s important to somebody like that, and then tailor the solutions to actually meet those needs.”

Fischer said students who participate help engage with their community, but their involvement could also allow them to be compensated for their time.

“There are many times that people are implementing paid or funded projects,” Fischer said. “Through our research, when we recruit research assistants, we’re paying them for their time because our funding sources allow us to compensate folks accordingly.”

Fischer encouraged students to get engaged with the studies on campus and realize the importance of this research for the community.

“I would really encourage them to really look at projects that have that community-leading focus because I think one of the most amazing things you can do through community-engaged research is build partnerships and really create connections with people,” Fischer said.

s.shaughnessey@dailyutahchronicle.com

@steviechrony

This past Sunday, the 65th running of the Daytona 500 was held at Daytona International Speedway. The Great American Race, as it is known by some, marks the beginning of the NASCAR Cup Series’ regular season schedule every year. Generally, the largest field of entrants of any race all year compete in the “Super Bowl of stock car racing,” with big names such as Nitro Circus pioneer Travis Pastrana, open-wheel legend Conor Daly and freshly unretired seven-time champion Jimmie Johnson all vying for a chance at winning the biggest race of the year. 

Pre-race, 75 years of NASCAR history were honored through an augmented reality presentation on the track surface that allowed for cars from every era to complete a lap around the famous circuit. An opening address from some of NASCAR’s greatest followed, and a flyover from the F-16 Thunderbirds concluded the pre-race festivities as the drivers took to the track.

Hendrick Motorsports teammates Alex Bowman and Kyle Larson qualified first and second respectively, setting an early tone for the evening ahead. The winners of the two Duel races from earlier in the week at the speedway, Aric Almirola and Joey Logano, qualified third and fourth for their efforts. Last year’s winner, Austin Cindric, found himself starting in seventh.

The first stage of the 200-lap spectacle went surprisingly smooth as there were no unscheduled cautions until deep into the second stage. As a result of the clean racing, Brad Keselowski was able to show fans he’s still got it even at his age and secured an initial stage victory. 

Stage two brought with it the first caution of the race when Tyler Reddick was sent into the wall courtesy of Kevin Harvick’s front bumper, effectively knocking the driver of the Monster Energy No. 45 car out of the race before the midway point. 

Penske driver Ryan Blaney also seemed to get caught up in the chaos, as he spun into the wall after getting loose and dealt with front-end damage for the final portion of the day. Blaney’s car ran into even more issues in stage three when his front right tire fell off of the rim and onto the track, pushing the No. 12 car further and further back in the pack. 

Ross Chastain, who famously rode the wall around Martinsville last season to secure a spot in the next playoff round, crossed the line in first at the end of stage two just ahead of polesitter Alex Bowman. 

With just 19 laps to go in the race and final stage, the first big wreck of the afternoon unfolded. Exiting turn one and moving into two Ryan Preece got nicked by Michael McDowell before spinning down the track, bouncing off of Johnson’s No. 84 car and slamming into the train of cars running the high line. Favorites Martin Truex Jr. and Harvick were effectively taken out by the wreck, opening the door for a shock victor.

Newly-acquired Richard Childress driver Kyle Busch and the No. 8 car managed to push into the lead with just three laps to go, but his effort proved to be for naught. Farther back in the pack, Daniel Suarez got loose. The No. 99 car spun into the infield, which called for a caution and forced Busch to cede any run or positioning advantage he had held going into a pivotal point in the race.

Thanks to the timing of the crash, the race would now be completed by way of a “green-white-checkered” finish. One lap of green flag racing, one lap of the white flag, and then the checkered to follow, simple enough.

On the restart, Busch quickly fell from his top spot, while the field rocked side to side as they jockeyed for positions going into turn three. At the entrance of the turn, Austin Dillon got loose and caused what NASCAR fans refer to as “The Big One.”

Dillon’s car spun with Hendrick driver William Byron before their cars slid up the track and back into traffic, blocking a way out for the second half of the pack. Since the group was not able to complete a full lap before the caution, the green-white-checkered finish was restarted, this time with Ricky Stenhouse Jr. leading the pack with the Cottonelle No. 47 car inching ahead at the time of caution. 

Off the second restart, Stenhouse Jr. paired up with Logano and Larson paired up with Christopher Bell to head the pack of cars vying for first. Stenhouse Jr. crossed the line for the white flag far ahead of the pack, but Logano and Busch had been able to generate a massive run up high. 

On the low side, AJ Allmendinger and his No. 16 car were able to get into the back of Bell’s car, and finally managed to reconnect with Stenhouse Jr. going into turn one. Just as the field entered the banked corner, Almirola clipped Pastrana, setting off a chain reaction that sent Larson headfirst into the wall at speeds close to 180 mph. Stage one winner Keselowski was wrapped up in the carnage, as were Bubba Wallace and Blaney.

Though the caution lights did not activate until seconds after the wreck, the field froze at the moment the flag was waived and the signal was given from NASCAR. Just as the lights were activating, Stenhouse Jr. managed to pull the nose of his car ahead of Logano’s above him in the turn. After a short replay review, crew chief Mike Kelley began jumping for joy in the pit box as he celebrated the first Daytona 500 victory in Stenhouse Jr’s career. 

When the No. 47 car finally made it back to the finish line, Stenhouse Jr. radioed to his team that he couldn’t do a burnout because “the thing ran out of gas.” Second-place finisher Logano was dejected that they weren’t able to race it clean all the way back to the line, but didn’t seem overly upset, probably because he already has a Daytona 500 victory to his name from 2015. 

Either way, this upcoming Sunday’s Pala Casino 400 at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Ca is sure to be a golden opportunity for multiple drivers to have statement performances in the wake of the longest-recorded Daytona 500 in track history. The race will be the last time the track is run as-is, with a reconfiguration set to alter the layout of the circuit following the contest.

It has been a pivotal week for Old Dominion men’s basketball 19-11 (11-7 Sun Belt) as they returned home for their final two regular-season matchups. On Wednesday, the Monarchs upset the No. 1 seeded Southern Miss Golden Eagles 69-64. ODU then set their sights on the newly appointed No. 1 seed, Marshall, and tallied 43 second-half points to strike another upset against the Herd 71-67. 

In front of an exuberant crowd of 6,400, both teams took the court. The Herd scored the first three points in the game. After a minute, junior forward Derricko Williams put ODU on the board with his layup. The Herd retaliated with a three-pointer to make it 6-2 early on. Sophomore guard Chaunce Jenkins struck back with a layup of his own to cut the deficit to two. After another Marshall basket, the Monarchs went on a 6-0 scoring run to take their first lead of 10-8. 

It was a back-and-forth affair between both teams as the game got into the later stages of the first half, with Marshall in front 25-21. Jenkins found an opening and drove the paint once again for another layup, but the Herd created some separation in the game with a quick 5-0 scoring run to maintain a 30-23 lead. Thanks to a Jenkins steal, junior guard Mekhi Long went up for the slam dunk off the fastbreak with the foul called. Long made the free throw and the game was 30-26. On the next ODU possession, sophomore forward Faizon Fields got up for the layup, but Marshall tallied five more points to take a 35-28 advantage into halftime. 

Coming out of the break, Marshall tallied the first points of the half with a successful jump shot. Jenkins brought the game within six points with his three-pointer, but the Herd got the inbound upcourt quickly and sank their jump shot, extending it to 39-31. Jenkins was feeling himself and drained another three-pointer, cutting the lead to five. Marshall returned the favor with a three of their own after a few possessions of play. Senior guard Tyreek Scott-Grayson found a lane and got the layup to cut the lead to 42-36. 

As the Herd led 45-38, the Monarchs found new life in themselves after a pep talk from Jones in the ODU timeout. In the next few minutes of the contest, Old Dominion went on a 10-2 scoring run thanks to a jump shot and a three-pointer from sophomore guard Charles Smith IV, a three-pointer from sophomore guard Imo Essien, and a layup from Fields to regain the 48-47 lead. Fields then got a steal off the ensuing Herd possession and assisted Long for the easy basket to extend the lead to three. The Monarchs would never surrender that lead for the rest of the evening. 

As the Herd began to go cold over several minutes of the second half, Old Dominion took advantage, leading 65-59 after a layup made from Scott-Grayson. Long brought a big roar out of the crowd with his fastbreak dunk that made the score 68-61 with 1:52 left to play. 

Marshall made things interesting late in the game as they scored the next six points at the free-throw line with 33 seconds left. Jenkins received the inbound and was immediately fouled. He made both free throws, extending the lead to 70-67. On the ensuing Herd possession, Essien picked off the Marshall pass and was then fouled with seven seconds in the contest. He made 1-2 of his free throws, but the last-ditch three for Marshall did not go down and ODU was victorious. Chartway Arena was rocking throughout with the chant of “ODU, ODU, ODU.”

Jenkins led the way for the Monarchs with 23 points, six rebounds, and four assists. He was followed by Scott-Grayson, who tallied 13 points and five rebounds. Long finished the night with nine points and 13 rebounds, while Essien and Fields added 15 points as well. 

With last night’s victory, head coach Jeff Jones earned his 200th win at Old Dominion and reached 557 wins overall. Along with that, Southern Miss earned the regular-season Sun Belt Conference championship thanks to the Monarchs’ victory.

In the postgame presser, Jones shared a message to the team during the game that propelled them to victory. When asked about accomplishing his 200th victory as a Monarch, Jones kept it simple. 

“The sun’s going to come up tomorrow and I’m still going to love you and be proud of you. Let’s just go out and play. Let’s not worry about things. Let’s just play. Fortunately for us, we had a bunch of guys who did exactly that,” Jones stated. “It means if we win next Thursday that would be 201.”

Next up for Old Dominion is the Sun Belt Conference tournament in Pensacola, Florida. The Monarchs earned the No. 6 seed in the tournament and will be playing on Thursday at 6 p.m. against the winner of the Georgia State and Texas State matchup. That game will take place on Tuesday evening in the first round. The road for March Madness lies upon winning the conference championship and Old Dominion has found its groove at the right time with their two victories over the top two teams in the Sun Belt, riding the momentum into postseason play.

MEHLHOFF: Hello all and welcome back to In the Know. As always, this podcast is dedicated to all things University of Minnesota. Today, I’m taking us into a pocket of campus you may not have heard of: The Osher Lifelong Learning Institute. 

Before we learn more, here’s some context. It probably comes as no surprise that college campuses are very young places. According to the Education Data Initiative, 66.6% of college students are 24 or younger, and only 0.2% are over 55. 

That’s where the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, or OLLI, comes in. While there isn’t an age requirement for OLLI, it’s targeted towards older adults. Most of their students are 50 or older. According to their website, the OLLI mission is to “provide its membership of dedicated lifelong learners with a year-round curriculum of high-quality noncredit courses, as well as intellectually stimulating social, cultural and volunteer opportunities.”

The Osher Lifelong Learning Institute is housed within the College of Continuing and Professional Studies. Unlike the similar Senior Citizen Education Program, OLLI’s members don’t take courses at the University of Minnesota with other college students. Instead, they take classes through the institute that don’t have tests or grades. According to their website, this Osher institute is one of 125 others nation-wide, funded by the Bernard Osher Foundation. While each institute operates differently, they all aim to provide older adults with lifelong learning opportunities.

John Renwick and Elaine Heisterkamp are two long-time OLLI members.

RENWICK: Elaine and I have been in OLLI for more than 10 years. 

HEISTERKAMP: I pulled John into OLLI. My neighbor at my apartment, uh, was uh, retired and taking OLLI classes and doing wonderful things, and if I had a day off, she would take me along with her and I started getting involved with the classes. Then when I retired, I continued, brought John in, and it just goes by word of mouth. 

MEHLHOFF: I meet with Heisterkamp and Renwick over Zoom. Hesiterkamp is 73 and Renwick is 77. Heisterkamp leans against Renwick’s chair while we talk. They both are wearing blue zip-up sweaters.

They explain to me that OLLI offers all kinds of classes: from science to art to math to music. According to their website, OLLI operates in four terms a year. Each term lasts between five and seven weeks.

RENWICK: Well, we, we get this course guide once every term. You’ve probably seen it right? Um, you know, we just go through it and say, oh, that looks interesting, that looks interesting. And then —

HEISTERKAMP: Oh, I’ve had class from him before. I know he is really good. 

RENWICK: Um, I’ve had classes from him before. I won’t go back.  

HEISTERKAMP: That too. Yeah. Um, I’ve picked out 11 for spring already.

MEHLHOFF: Wow.

RENWICK: Eleven. You, you gonna do all 11? 

HEISTERKAMP: I don’t know. 

MEHLHOFF: They tell me about one of their favorite classes.

HEISTERKAMP: Um, oh, one of the classes I took was on butterflies and we could come to the University butterfly lab and look through those huge microscopes.

RENWICK: Well it was insects, actually. It was all insects that was.

HEISTERKAMP: So it was hands on. 

RENWICK: And, um, yeah, they have an insect library over there on the, on the St. Paul campus, which we got access to and we could, you know, and beautiful microscopes and learned all about insects and how to, how to identify different what families of insects. 

HEISTERKAMP: Oh, I go out in the backyard now and I, it’s a whole new world out in the backyard.

MEHLHOFF: To get more insight on the purpose of the institute, I also speak to the OLLI director, Kate Schaefers.

SCHAEFERS: I think this is, it’s an important thing that we as a University is offering within our community to welcome people of all ages to our campus and help them see that they belong here because, you know, we’re a public university and so we serve the people of Minnesota. And so serving people across those different pivot points in their lives and across the lifespan, I think is a really important responsibility for us.

MEHLHOFF: Schaefers says that a lot of older people are deeply curious, but are barred due to their full-time careers and other obligations.

SCHAEFERS: And so I think that people, as they see their lives open up a little bit more, are wanting to kind of fill up some of that time to explore some interests. And so I think there is this innate curiosity that people bring and we make it easy for them to indulge in that.

MEHLHOFF: But that isn’t the only benefit of OLLI.

HEISTERCAMP: My, my mother had dementia, she had Alzheimer’s, and I was up here and she was in Iowa and we talk, she’s fine, she’s fine. Little did I know she was alone and nobody came to visit her.

And that’s the thing about OLLI is that we can either Zoom or we can get together, but we’re still staying in contact. We’re still available if somebody needs to get to the doctor that can call us, we can take em. 

RENWICK: We, we, we, we look out after we, we look after each other a little bit.

MEHLHOFF: At OLLI, instructors are mostly volunteers. But the OLLI Scholar Program gives University of Minnesota graduate students a stipend to teach courses in their fields. Emily Schoenbeck, one of these scholars, teaches Shakespeare classes at the University and the institute.

SCHOENBECK: There are some people in this class where I’d be like, oh, you know, they’re probably at the age where you, you’re gonna go visit grandma and grandpa, you know, and don’t like worry if maybe grandma and grandpa aren’t as sharp as they used to be. And some of these people are like, oh my gosh, they’re gonna put me to shame if I had to be like in an academic debate with them. So, I guess it makes me more excited about the idea of getting old. So often when we think age, we start to think of all the things I’m gonna lose ‘cause I won’t be young anymore. And being with them is just such a comfort for like, no, like life just kind of keeps getting better. 

SCHAEFERS: You know, oftentimes older adults are discounted, and I think that we all miss out when we, you know, don’t pay attention to the talent that’s in that population.

RENWICK: We had a few classes on contemporary classical music or modern music, which is stuff that I’ve never been into, and, but I said, okay, I’m going to, I’m gonna, I’m gonna work on this. Maybe I can start to appreciate some of the, you know, the more recent composers. And it’s been very good. It’s really changed the way I listen to music.

I like to play classical music. I’m a cello player. Um, I never, never liked the modern stuff. But now I can. Now I can, I can do it. 

Um, but it’s, it’s a great thing. It’s just, it has, it has enriched our lives. I think, I can’t prove it, but I think it, it helps people live longer. I think I, I think it’s a life-extending thing. Sometimes people go into retirement and they don’t know what to do and they just die. And OLLI helps people not do that. 

MEHLHOFF: This episode was written by me, Stella Mehlhoff, and produced by Alberto Gomez and Abbey Machtig. As always, we appreciate you listening in. Feel free to email us at podcasting@mndaily.com with comments or questions. I’m Stella Mehlhoff and this is In the Know. 

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An ODU alum has been recognized at the 2023 Black Engineer of the Year Award (BEYA) STEM Global Competitiveness Conference. Anthony Alston, a Newport News native and Class of 2022 graduate, won an award for Modern Day Technology Leader. 

Alston is known for being a critical component to his team and to Northrop Grumman–a world leading company in the defense industry that designs and develops weapons and military tech manufacturing. As a Senior Staff Systems Engineer, he is known to support “several major programs” at the company, which include Cross Domain Solutions, cybersecurity, AI architecture review, and Australian Information and Communication Technology (ICT) infrastructure.

BEYA has been an annual tradition for 37 consecutive years.  It takes its roots in inspiring communities by recognizing the impact black engineers have had on the STEM world during National Engineers week and Black History Month.  Northrop Grumman recognizes hard-working and dedicated engineers like Alston and how employees are “encouraged to bring their unique perspectives to work every day.”

Alston said the following in response to receiving the Modern Day Technology Leader award:

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Margaret Debay Rogers was born on April 25, 1994, in Easton, Maryland. Her love for music began when she was four years old — hearing her voice reverberate in a bathroom with beautiful acoustics was the start of it all, she told Narduwuar in an interview. 

The Cougars fell just short 88-83 after three overtime periods on the road against East Carolina. | Sean Thomas/The Cougar

The Houston women’s basketball team narrowly fell to East Carolina 88-83 in a triple-overtime thriller on the road on Wednesday.

East Carolina took the early lead, scoring the first three field goals of the game.

The Cougars eventually found their rhythm in the final minutes of the first period, orchestrating a run that gave them the lead as the quarter neared its end. 

UH was able to grow its lead to five points before East Carolina finished the period with a layup to lead 16-13 at the end of the first.

In the second quarter, UH held onto its lead but was not able to extend it.

Both squads exchanged scores before East Carolina found its rhythm and evened the score 25-25.

Neither side was able to pull away in the second period as UH held a slim 34-30 lead at halftime.

Senior forward Bria Patterson led the Cougars in first half scoring with eleven points. Graduate student forward Tatyana Hill controlled the boards with a team-high five rebounds in the first half.

Still led by Patterson, UH took control in the third quarter. 

En route to expanding its lead to as high as 14 points, UH saw Patterson and redshirt senior Britney Onyeje as their lone scorers in the third period with nine and eight points respectively.

In the final two minutes of the third period, East Carolina put together a 7-0 run to see it trail UH by seven points.

Entering the final period of regulation, the Cougars looked poised to hold onto their lead. Propelled by Patterson and Hill, UH went on an 8-0 run to take a 59-47 lead.

The Cougars, though, went cold down the stretch.

Over the course of the final six minutes of regulation, East Carolina ate away at the UH lead, culminating a game-tying pair of free throws with 17 seconds remaining that set the game at 62-62 as time expired.

In overtime, Patterson and Onyeje led the way for UH, though the Cougars were trailing by two with just seven seconds remaining before a layup ensured their survival for another period.

The second overtime was also tight through five minutes.

Hill went to the free throw line with 24 seconds remaining and the Cougars trailing 80-79. Missing the first attempt, the Cougars missed an opportunity to potentially seal the game in their favor and settled for a third overtime.

The third overtime had little contest between the squads as East Carolina pulled away to lead by seven points.

A last-second layup from UH tightened the deficit to five points, but the Cougars did not have enough time left to further capitalize, and UH fell 88-83 in a triple-overtime thriller.

sports@thedailycougar.com

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“UH women’s basketball falls in triple overtime at East Carolina” was originally posted on The Cougar