Women charge past Boise State (Photo by Nate Regan, The Daily Campus)
Looking to bounce back from a tough loss in Ruston, La. last weekend, the women’s basketball team (18-7, 9-6 WAC) played host to the reeling Boise State Broncos (9-16, 4-12 WAC), who had lost three of their last four entering Thursday’s game.
In the end, SMU did bounce back, benefiting from a second-half offensive spurt en route to a 59-53 victory.
The first half of the contest was a close one, as neither team led by more than three points until the three-and-a-half minute mark.
The Broncos and Mustangs each used solid inside games to keep pace in the first half. SMU charged to an early advantage when freshman post Janielle Dodds hit a jump shot just 21 seconds into the game.
Boise State charged right back, however, as freshman point guard Tasha Harris, who entered the contest with a team-high 11.6 points per game, hit a three-pointer to put her team on top, 3-2. Harris led the Broncos with 12 points Thursday night.
The rest of the period would mirror the first minute of play, as the teams battled for seven lead changes in the half.
After guard Kendall Shead hit a free throw to put the Ponies ahead, 20-17, junior post Sarah Davis doubled SMU’s lead with a three-pointer .
Boise State chipped back, though, and Harris sank her second three-pointer of the game with two minutes remaining to help the Broncos to a 25-23 lead.
A jumper by Shead at the 0:30 mark would knot the score at 25 heading into halftime.
Freshman Katy Cobb opened the scoring in the second half with a jump shot to put the Mustangs up, 27-25. Cobb led all scorers with 21 points in the game.
The team as a whole stepped up offensively in the second half, combining for a 43.3 shooting percentage. By comparison, the Mustangs shot just 34.5 in the first half.
“Our press defense way the key,” Cobb said of the improved second-half offense. “It’s been very important to a lot of our wins.”
The Broncos would lead briefly in the half, going up by as much as three when forward Jackie Lee hit a free throw to push her team’s advantage to 44-41.
A pair of field goals by Davis helped the ‘Stangs leapfrog to a 46-44 lead, and they never looked back.
“We really started hitting our shots with about eight minutes left,” said Davis, who finished with 14 points and a game-high nine rebounds and four blocks.
“Shonte [Roberts] gave us a charge and we got some momentum.” Indeed, the senior forward provided a spark with four defensive rebounds while going three for four at the free throw line. Roberts finished with seven points in 18 minutes.
Cobb gave SMU its biggest lead when she nailed a jumper with three minutes to play, pushing the Mustang advantage to eight points.
As the clock ran down, Boise State made several attempts to come back; instead, Harris, center Michelle Hessing and shooting guard Jodi Nakashima combined for five missed field goals in the final two minutes.
Nakashima tried a last-second layup, only to have Davis block her shot and hold on for a 59-53 SMU victory.
Tomorrow, the Mustangs face a challenge when they host the Rice Owls (17-8, 10-4 WAC), who currently hold second place in the conference. The team knows that each of its last three contests is crucial to SMU’s position in the WAC tournament in Reno, Nev.
“We know that anything can happen on any given night,” Davis said.
Cobb echoed the day-to-day mentality of the team.
“We’re taking it one game at a time,” she said.
Tomorrow’s tip-off against the Owls is set for 2 p.m. in Moody Coliseum.
