(John Schreiber)
The SMU women’s basketball team defeated the Rice Owls Thursday night in Houston in a 70-68 overtime victory.
With the win, SMU improved to 6-3 in the conference, winning two games in a row. The Mustangs are currently 16-6 overall prior to heading into Saturday’s game against the University of Houston.
Sophomore forward Brittany Gilliam led the Mustangs with 18 points, followed by sophomore forward Delisha Wills with 15 and senior post Janielle Dodds with 10.
Rice came out scoring first, holding as high as a four-point lead until five minutes in when SMU tied the game at 7-7 with a jumper by sophomore Alice Severin. SMU gained the lead for the remainder of the half when Gilliam hit a layup to put the Mustangs up nine to seven.
SMU kept the Owls to seven points in the first eight minutes of play with the help of two Mustang rebounds and a steal from senior Katy Cobb. Up by as many as 10 points with a fastbreak jumper from Wills with 10:35 left., the Owls caught up with a free throw by Kadie Reiverin to make the score 21-20 with just under six minutes left. However, the Mustangs’ defense came out to stop Rice, holding the team to only 25 points in the first half.
Going into the locker room up 31-25, SMU averaged 35.3 percent in field goals, and only shot 1-4 in threes, but went 6-6 in free throws. Rice came in behind, averaging 34.6 percent in field goals, 16.7 percent in threes and 60 percent in free throws.
Ending the second half tied at 59-59, Rice outscored SMU 34-28, sending the game into overtime. The Owls tied the game at 32 three minutes in, but never managed to gain a lead to win the game.
The Mustangs scored first in overtime with a layup by Dodds to give SMU the lead they would need to win on the road. Rice managed to stay within two points of the Mustangs, tying the game at the 2:14 mark, pulling into the lead with just under two minutes left.
Two free throws by Gilliam gave the Mustangs a 67-66 advantage, but two good shots from the line put the Owls up with just 1:33 left to go.
SMU ended the game and secured the win with three free throws, one by Wills and two by Gilliam, to lock the final score in.
The last overtime victory for the Mustangs was in East Carolina. Prior to last night’s game, the Mustangs were 1-2 in winning in overtime wins. The Mustangs’ last overtime situation resulted in a loss to UTEP at Moody Coliseum.
The Mustangs will play against 8-1 Houston in Houston on Saturday afternoon. Coming off a 63-49 win against Tulsa at home, the Cougars continue on what has now turned into an eight-game conference winning streak. Houston is currently ranked No. 2 in the conference, falling only one loss behind the No. 1 University of Texas-El Paso. Houston has not lost a game at home since falling to UTEP in the first conference game at the beginning of January.
Tip-off for Saturday’s game is scheduled for 2 pm.
