ORLANDO, Fla. – Sweet, sweet revenge.

Mustang fans couldn’t have asked for anything more in Friday’s slaughter 68-49 of the Golden Hurricane.

Avenging two heartbreaking regular season losses to Tulsa? Check.

Taking out frustrations from the final two losses of the regular season? Check.

Winning while key players sit for most of the second half? Check.

It was a beautiful sight and a perfect way for the Conference USA tournament to begin for SMU.

The Mustangs got even better news when No. 6 Marshall upset No. 3 UAB in overtime.

It was exactly the kind of game a SMU could want – close, bruising and draining on the star players for both teams.

It’s exactly the kind of luck you want to have in these tournaments, where you are playing back-to-back-to-back.

Make no mistake, the beating the Mustangs gave Tulsa was fantastic.

But looking ahead to Saturday’s semi-final match-up against Marshall, the freshness factor will loom large.

The Thundering Hurd will be playing their third game in three days.

Compare that to the Mustangs – Janielle Dodds only played 17 minutes and scored 16 points against Tulsa. That’s not even a full half.

The other starters, Jillian Samuels, Delisha Wills and Sharee Shepherd played 22, 23 and 24 minutes respectively.

Most coaches would kill for those numbers.

Head coach Rhonda Rompola didn’t have to. She just turned her hungry team loose on Tulsa and now they are one win away from the conference final.

A sweet start, indeed.