Lady Mustangs fall to Fresno State, but finish 2-1 in last three
Over their past three games, SMU’s women’sbasketball team posted a 2-1 record with wins over Boise State andNevada.
Going into last Saturday’s game against Fresno State, thewomen were on a three-game win streak, but they fell to theBulldogs in Fresno.
It was the Lady Mustangs’ second three game win streakthis year. The team notched wins over Tulsa, Fresno State andNevada Jan. 5-10.
Their latest three-game win streak came against UTEP, BoiseState and Nevada.
On Saturday, January 31, the Mustangs took on the Boise StateBroncos at home.
The Mustangs capped their second win in a row with a 66-41victory. The win handed the Broncos their fourth straight loss.
To start the game, the Mustangs went on a 12-0 run. SophomoreSarah Davis scored all of her 13 points in the first half.
Her offensive output helped the Mustangs take a 43-22 leadheading into halftime.
In the second quarter, the Mustangs stepped up their defense andgot some key turnovers and crucial blocks.
The defense helped make up for the flat offense in the secondhalf, but the Mustangs were never threatened by Boise State andfinished the night with the win, 66-41.
The Mustangs were impressive from three-point range draining 12three-pointers.
Boise State’s Michelle Hessing led all scorers with 17points and also had six rebounds.
Leading the Mustang charge was senior guard Andrea Cossey whofinished the night with 15 points and 4 blocks.
Cossey was deadly from three-point range shootingfour-of-six.
Senior Shanta Rhamdhanny was also impressive from outsidenailing four-of-six three-pointers. For the night, Rhamdhannyfinished with 14 points.
Sophomore Kendall Shead added to the cause by grabbing 11rebounds. With the win, the Mustangs boosted their overall recordto 9-9 and 5-4 in conference play.
In their next game, the Mustangs took on the Nevada Wolf Pack inReno.
The Mustangs came out erratic in the first half turning the ballover and shooting only 35.6 percent from the field.
Nevada was more accurate, shooting 48.1 percent and took a 34-28lead at the half.
The Mustangs got their act together in the second half and wenton a 7-0 run.
With 10:06 left in the game, the Mustangs found themselves downby 13, but they did not relent and started to rally.
After three costly Nevada turnovers, SMU tied the game at 62with 3:45 left to play.
Kaira White put the Mustangs ahead with a three-pointer. TheMustangs went up 65-62 for their first lead of the night.
Later, free throws from White and Rhamdhanny sealed the Mustangswin 71-68.
On the night, the Mustangs out rebounded the Wolf Pack37-35.
White led all scorers with 15 points. Kim Walters added 12 andShonte Roberts contributed 10.
With their win in Nevada, the Mustangs got their record above.500 (10-9) and boasted a 6-4 record in WAC play.
In the Mustangs’ last game on Saturday against the FresnoState Bulldogs, few things went the Mustangs’ way.
The team jumped out to a 15-10 lead with 9:14 left in the firsthalf, but failed to score for the rest of the half. Fresno Statecapitalized and went on a 10-0 run to take the lead into the lockerroom 20-15.
In the second half, the Bulldogs extended their lead to nine bygoing up 28-19.
Davis stepped up and scored 10 straight points for the Mustangsto narrow Fresno State’s lead to one. Her 10-point runincluded two three-pointers and two key jumpers.
The Mustang bench failed to step up and the defense could notprevent a 12-4 Bulldog run that snapped the Mustangs’ winstreak at three. Fresno State won the game 49-35.
The crowd of 4,974 was the largest audience to ever attend aFresno State women’s basketball game.
Davis finished the night with 14 points and eight rebounds.
SMU’s loss dropped them back down to .500 at 10-10. Theteam is 6-5 in WAC play and currently sitting in fifth place.
Next up for the Lady ‘Stangs are the sixth-place San JoseState Spartans. In their last contest, the Mustangs fell to theSpartans 59-64 in overtime.
The Mustangs open up a three-game home stand tonight against theSpartans at 7 p.m.
