Lady ‘Stangs tough it out against Tulsa

The Lady Mustangs did something Saturday that head coach Rhonda Rompola has wanted them to do for a long time. SMU played a solid first half against Tulsa and fended off the Golden Hurricane for twenty more minutes resulting in a 64-61 Mustang win in Moody Coliseum.

Freshman Sarah Davis carried SMU through the first half. Davis scored 13 points in the first half. SMU ended the half with a 31 – 26 lead, despite shooting 36 percent in the half. The lead was a result of defensive effort. They held Tulsa’s first half field goal shooting to 31 percent.

In SMU second-half fashion, the Mustangs bolted out of the half and had extended their lead to 10 after less than two minutes had passed. Tulsa battled back and tied the game at 36 – 36 with 15 minutes left to play.

The two teams battled back and forth for the remainder of the game. Senior Kaci Alexander scored four straight points, boosting SMU ahead for good. SMU led by as many as six points down the stretch, but missed free throw opportunities gave Tulsa a chance.

SMU stood strong in the game’s closing moments and escaped with the win. The Mustangs moved to 11 – 6 on the season and 5 – 2 in the conference. They have won their last three conference games. Tulsa fell to 10 – 8, 5 – 2 in the conference.

The women will saddle up and head to El Paso to battle UTEP on Thursday. Tip-off is set for 8 p.m.