The SMU women’s basketball team wanted a victory at home to ease the romping handed to them by the University of Connecticut, and it looked like they were going to get it with 5.7 seconds left.
Up 64-63, their inability to block out on the final shot, though, proved to be their demise.
Keena Mays hit two free throws at the 5.7-second mark to give the Lady Mustangs the one-point lead.
However, with 0.1 seconds left in the game, Rachel Hollivay was able to tip-in the miss by teammate Tyler Scaife for the buzzer-beating victory.
SMU has hit a little bit of a rough patch, losing five of the last eight and falling to 14-9 overall and 5-7 in the American Athletic Conference. A win over Rutgers, now 18-5 (9-3), would have gone a long way in righting the ship, but one shot changed that.
SMU actually put together a pretty good game. They had five players score in double-digits, had 17 assists on 23 shots, out-rebounded Rutgers 33-26 and forced 24 turnovers.
It was the few problem areas that led to the loss, though.
The Mustangs shot 39.7 percent from the field, 57.1 percent from the charity stripe, and committed 18 turnovers themselves.
The bench production was also suspect in the loss to the Rutgers Scarlet Knights. While the starters all produced admirably, the bench only scored four points and collected five rebounds for the game.
Rutgers’ bench was able to produce commendably in comparison.
The combination of Briyona Canty and Precious Person put together 13 points on five of seven shooting and nabbed three steals.
SMU’s duo of Akil Simpson and Mallory Singleton led the way for the Mustangs, as they utilized Rutgers’ inability to stop the forwards.
Simpson had 11 points and eight boards, while Singleton put together an all-around good effort with 10 points, seven rebounds, and four assists.
It was Kahleah Copper and Hollivay who paced Rutgers. Copper finished with a game-high 20 points, and Hollivay had a double-double of 14 points and 10 rebounds.
Looking to avoid a three-game losing streak, SMU will take on the 9-14 (2-10) University of Central Florida Knights. That match will take place tomorrow at 6 p.m. in Moody Coliseum.
