(22) Houston Beats Madison, 176-127

By Geoffrey Saucer, Last updated Sat Apr 28 2012 9:54pm

MADISON, WI -- Houston (#22 DNN, #5SC WFTDA) kicked off a three-bout tour of the Midwest with a closed-bout Friday evening victory against Madison (#10NC WFTDA), pulling ahead in the second half to win 176-127.

Taking 10 of the first 12 leads, Madison dominated early pack play, but not the score. The home team gained their first lead at 33-32 a full 15 minutes into the game. Houston briefly regained the lead late in the half, but a power-jam opportunity for Madison’s Mouse in the half’s last jam earned her 15 points, leaving Madison with a 77-66 advantage at intermission.

Houston set the tone for the second half on the first jam, with 19 points for Beverly Kills while a cohesive Houston defense held Madison’s Darling Nikki to a no-pass turn.

The half remained competitive, but a blown jam for Houston’s Freight Train ten minutes in ironically set the visitors on the road to victory. Scoring points without the lead, Freight Train called the jam, and earned herself a major for the miscue. Fighting a Houston defense deserving of their old nickname, the HaRD Knocks, Mouse grabbed four points on the ensuing jam, called it, and the hosts reset for more. Charlie Hustle took the lead on the reset, but committed a major penalty on her first scoring pass. In a display of both grace and toughness, Freight Train rolled out of the box for 20 Houston points as she again and again shed hard hits from Madison.

Now up 123-94, Houston outscored Madison 30-13 over a twelve minute stretch thanks to tough, tight pack play and three more Madison jammer penalties. Big power jam trades from Madison's Magic Missile and Houston’s Betty Watchett in the waning minutes built the score up to the 176-127 final.

Houston hops down to Illinois to continue their weekend and will play both of Chicago's WFTDA teams, taking on the Chicago Outfit (#24 DNN, #5NC WFTDA) on Saturday night (live video) and Windy City (#10 DNN, #1NC WFTDA) on Sunday morning.