Forward Brittany Gilliam dribbles down the court in a game against University of Texas at Arlington earlier this season. (Lindsey Perkins)
Brittany Gilliam established a new career-high 26 points in the Mustangs’ 73-65 win over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi University Tuesday night in Moody Coliseum.
SMU now stands at 2-4, while the Islanders fall to 2-5 on the season. In the overall history between the schools, SMU holds a 3-1 advantage over the Islanders, after defeating them on the road last season.
“It does feel good to get a win,” said head coach Rhonda Rompola about the team’s second win at home.
“We’re just getting better. I can tell everyone is starting to find their own game, but we still have a lot of work to just get where we want to be,” explained Gilliam. “We’re finally starting to work together.”
History repeated itself for the Mustangs, as junior forward Delisha Wills also recorded a career high 23 points against the Islanders in last year’s meeting between the teams.
Already well on her way to a career high early in the game, Gillliam had collected 10 points in the first half. Surpassing her old career record of 25 points in her freshman year, Gilliam passed Wills as the team’s leading scorer with 96 points on the season.
“I wasn’t even thinking about that, I was just thinking about winning and getting the job done. We needed that win,” said Gilliam. “I heard once they said it after we left the court, but I didn’t even know when I was shooting free throws.”
The Islanders took off for the lead just three minutes in, quickly outscoring the Mustangs.
Despite an eight-point deficit early in the first half, the Mustangs managed to rally against the Islanders for a 13-point lead heading into the locker room. Taking their final lead of the game with fewer than five minutes remaining in the first half, SMU went on to score 10 unanswered points over the Islanders.
Up 37-24 after the first 20 minutes of play, junior forward Gilliam and sophomore guard LaShandra Hill both managed to post more than half of the Mustang’s total points.
Widening the gap by as many as 13 points just five minutes into the second half, Gilliam went off on a scoring spree, shooting 63 percent in field goals and sinking five of her seven free throws.
Teammate Wills had another double-figure night, adding 11 points to the Mustangs’ total. Freshman post Christine Elliott also had a standout night, pulling down a team-high seven boards.
The Mustangs refused to look back, as they never allowed the Islanders to come within five points of them. Holding a game-high 17-point lead over Corpus Christi with just five minutes remaining in regulation, some of the freshmen even saw some minutes.
“I would have liked to keep that lead so I could have played some of the younger players longer,” said Rompola. “We need to give them the opportunity to develop, but when a team is pressing like they were, you can’t play the freshmen.”
Trying to rotate in as many freshmen as possible, freshman guard Samantha Mahnesmith also saw some playing time in the final minutes of the second half.
“I saw some good things from Sam on the floor. I liked what she did,” said Rompola.
The Mustangs will travel to College Station to play No.8 Texas A&M on Sunday at 1 p.m. SMU will return to Moody Coliseum on Dec.14 to host the University of North Texas followed by Dartmouth College on Dec.16.
