The Mustangs remain perfect in Conference USA, defeating Rice 73-51 in Moody Coliseum on Sunday afternoon.

Keena Mays lead all scorers with 25 and helped the Mustangs improve to 4-0 in Conference USA for the first time since the 1999-2000 season. Mays made a career-high 6 three-pointers, helping her eclipse the 20-point mark for the sixth time in 9 games. Akil Simpson also added 16 points and 11 rebounds, recording her fourth double-double of the season.

The second half started with a pair of free throws from Simpson, a jumper from Christal Porter, and just a minute later another three from Mays. The Owls never got within 10 points after that three-pointer. The Mustangs were also able to hold the Owls’ leading scorer, Jessica Kuster, to just 5 points in the second half after giving up 11 to her in the first 20 minutes of play.

SMU forced Rice into 23 turnovers, which led to 25 points for the Mustangs. The Owls were only able to force 12 turnovers and scored just 9 points off of the Mustangs’ errors.

The two teams traded baskets for the first few minutes of the game before Mays hit back-to-back three-pointers to give the Mustangs the lead for the remainder of the first half. The mustangs went on a 12-4 run over the last four minutes of the first half and took a 40-31 lead into the locker room at the half.

The Mustangs shot a respectable 41.5 percent from the field, but hit 10 of their 20 field goals from behind the arc. The Owls were only able to convert on 2 of 11 tries from three-point land, while shooting 38 percent for the entire game.

The Mustangs’ will hit the road to face Tulsa on Sunday. SMU will return to Moody Coliseum on January 31st.