Jillian Samuels and the Mustangs have two games at Moody this weekend. (Christina Parrish)
The SMU women’s basketball team hopes to continue winning as it hosts conference opponents East Carolina and Marshall this weekend. The Mustangs are 13-9 for the season and 5-5 in C-USA play.
Friday night the Mustangs face the Pirates from East Carolina, only the second meeting between the two teams. In January 2006, the Mustangs fell to East Carolina 75-63 in a conference match-up. This season, the Lady Pirates are also 5-5 in conference play (10-13 season). The Mustangs won their last two games and are 9-2 at home this season while the Lady Pirates are 1-2 on the road after splitting their last two home games. East Carolina lost to UAB 69-73 in overtime before going on to beat Memphis 79-57.
The Lady Pirates’ standouts include sophomore Jasmine Young and Cherie Mills. Young, a 5’5″ guard, was the first in East Carolina history earn All-Freshman honors last season. This year, the sophomore averages 13.3 points and three rebounds per game. Senior center Mills is the lead scorer for the Lady Pirates this season, averaging 14.7 points per game.
On Sunday night, SMU hosts Marshall at Moody Coliseum. The Thundering Herd is 14-9 this season and 7-3 in C-USA play. The women of Marshall are currently third in C-USA rankings. The Mustangs met the Thundering Herd last January in West Virginia, taking the win 72-57. Sophomore Meg Withrow has scored in each of Marshall’s last four games. This season, the point guard from Nitro, W. Va., averages 10.3 points and five assists per game in C-USA play.
The SMU Mustangs begin a four-game homestand with the contest against East Carolina. According to NCAA rankings, the Mustangs are 12th in free-throw percentage and 57th in scoring offense. Junior Janielle Dodds is ranked 58th in free-throw percentage and SMU’s lead scorer with an average of 15 points per game. Also named in the NCAA rankings is junior Sharee Shepard, who is ranked 61st in steals per game. The guard also averages 4.9 rebounds and 7.1 points per game. Other top Mustangs are freshman Delisha Wills and red-shirted freshman Brittany Gilliam. Wills ranks fifth in the SMU record books with 65 free throws. The Mesquite native averages 9.9 points and 6.6 rebounds per game. Teammate Gilliam is just behind Wills with an average of nine points per game this season.
Tipoff for Friday is scheduled for 7p.m. at Moody Coliseum and will be broadcast on KKGM Radio. Sunday’s match-up is scheduled for 2 p.m.
The Mustangs continue their homestand with conference contests against Rice Feb. 15 and Houston Feb. 17.
