SMU women’s basketball team capitalized on 24 Tulsa turnovers to overcome a double-digit first-half deficit to defeat the Golden Hurricane 61-54 on the road.
The Mustangs found themselves in an early hole as Tulsa scored the first 13 points of the game. After an early timeout by head coach Toyelle Wilson, a few lineup changes provided a spark as the team locked in and began to play more aggressively.
“I went small,” Wilson said. “I was worrying about defense, so I had to get four guards out there who could lock down, switch a little bit better and had better matchups.”
The third quarter proved pivotal as the Mustangs took the lead and didn’t look back moving them to 13-0 on the year when having a lead heading into the fourth quarter. Their strong defensive effort included a season-high 14 steals on the afternoon with Jasmine Smith tying her career-high with five.
“She was relentless today,” Wilson said. “She might not have shot the ball well, but she’s a difference-maker for us.”
Despite being outshot for much of the night with Tulsa draining 10 three-pointers compared to SMU’s one, the Mustangs outscored the Golden Hurricane 30-16 in the paint and outrebounded them as well.
“We’ve been in enough situations this season being down at the half, so we knew what we needed to do,” Smith said. “We knew we needed to take care of every possession especially in the third quarter.”
Savannah Wilkinson led SMU in scoring with 14 points and seven rebounds while Smith added 10 points and nine rebounds.
Temira Poindexter and Delanie Crawford combined for 33 points for Tulsa but also had 14 turnovers that cost the Golden Hurricane down the stretch.
This victory moved SMU into second place in the American Athletic Conference this season. An undefeated home record has helped the team’s success, and they hope to use this key road win to finish out the season strong.
“I’m just happy we got off here with a win against a very good team who was in second place,” Wilson said. “It was a total team effort, and I’m proud of our girls.”
The Mustangs hope to find continue these winning ways on the road as they travel to face UCF on Wednesday at 5 p.m.
