The women’s basketball team finished exhibition play this weekend with a 59-57 victory over the All-Stars.
The All-Stars posed a challenge to the Mustangs, listing players from Duke, Clemson and New Mexico, but it was not enough to stop SMU.
The Mustangs came out strong in the first half outscoring the All-Stars 41-23, with sophomore guard Jillian Samuels and sophomore forward Brittany Gilliam leading the team with seven points each. All-Star guard Tasha Phillips from Clemson posted nine points in the first half, including two three-point shots.
SMU’s Sharee Shepherd led the team with three assists, and was 2-3 in three-pointers. The Mustangs out-shot the All-Stars throughout the first half making 39 percent of their field goals, 43 percent of three-point attempts and 85 percent of attempted free throws. The All-Stars struggled in the first half averaging only 8-26 in field goals, 3-12 in three-point shots and 4-5 in free throws.
The All-Stars stepped up in the second half, quickly diminishing the Mustangs’ 18-point lead. As the SMU defense struggled against Phillips and forward Chelsea Greer from New Mexico, the offense just couldn’t seem to connect and come together as a team.
Missing key players senior guard Katy Cobb and sophomore forward Delisha Wills because of injuries, the team struggled to perform on both sides of the ball.
“We really missed Cobb and Delisha, they really make us go, and we’re so much faster with them in the game,” explained head coach Ronda Rompola. “We didn’t have our transition game tonight because we were missing them.”
Shepherd stepped up in the second half, recording a game-high six steals. Janielle Dodds also stepped up offensively, scoring nine points for the Mustangs.
SMU gave up its lead with just 2:03 left in the game. Rompola credited the quick evaporation of the point spread to a surge of relaxation that swept over her team once the girls realized how wide the spread was. Shepherd and Dodds both hit shots from the line, tying the game at 57-57 with seconds left in the game.
The Mustangs clinched a victory when Shepherd and first-year guard LaShandra Hill blocked Phillips from scoring at the buzzer, forcing a turnover. Phillips recorded a game-high 27 points, while SMU’s leading scorer, Dodds, posted 10.
“Phillips has so much that she can do everything. You couldn’t just play her for one thing. We played too risky with her,” explained Shepherd about Phillip’s total point count.
Overall, the Mustangs were 33 percent in field goals, 35 percent in three-pointers and 77 percent at the free-throw line.
Rompola said at the end of the game, “I don’t feel like we had one good offensive performance today. Our passing is very suspect, and we had a lot of deflected passes. We’re playing nervous.”
When asked what the team needs to improve upon, both Rompola and Shepherd agreed playing as a team, and not individually will make a huge difference in the team’s performance.
