Manhattan College
The Mustangs posted their first road loss of the season, ending the team’s eight-game winning streak with a 70-60 loss against the Manhattan College Jaspers. Senior guard Katy Cobb, sophomore guard Jillian Samuels and senior forward Sharee Shepherd combined for 46 points, with Cobb leading the team with 17 points. Shepherd posted the only double-double of the game with 13 points and a game-high 16 rebounds.
SMU’s bench was almost non-existent, contributing only four points to the Mustangs’ efforts. SMU gained an eight point lead with just under 10 minutes left in the second half, but the Jaspers managed to come back to gain their ten point advantage with 22 seconds remaining.
Hofstra University
The Mustangs fared better in their second game in New York after securing a 77-70 victory over Hofstra University. Cobb had another successful game by tying her career-high seven rebounds. Senior post Janielle Dodds re-surfaced after a tough game against Manhattan. She contributed a team-high 22 points, and went six for six from the line to help lead the Mustangs to their ninth win in the last 10 games. Sophomore forward Delisha Wills added 16 points. Dodds and Wills combined for 49 percent of the team’s points, putting Dodds in second place for most career points at SMU with 1,592 points.
Securing an early lead in the first quarter, the Mustangs went into the locker room with a 41-21 advantage. After posting 39 points to SMU’s 36 in the second half, the Pride almost knocked off the 8-2 Mustangs, but the Pride’s effort was still met with a loss. The Mustangs’ bench showed up to contribute 21 points, with junior forward Elbie Gates posting eight points and hitting 100 percent of her free throws.
Texas Tech
In another road game, the Mustangs lost a close game to the Texas Tech Red Raiders. Even with four players posting double-digit scores, the Mustangs fell short in a 75-70 loss to Tech. Sophomore post Alice Severin had a season-high 12 points, hitting four of her five shots, going a perfect four for four in free throws and pulling down five rebounds to credit to her team’s efforts. Wills posted a double-double with 11 points and 13 rebounds, while Samuels and sophomore forward Brittani Gilliam tied for the team-high 14 points.
UTSA
After battling back and forth over wins and losses since leaving the Hilltop, SMU rang in 2008 with a 74-72 victory of the University of Texas San Antonio on Jan. 2. Cobb came to the rescue for the second time this season for the Mustangs, sinking a jumper with just 2.4 seconds left to win the game for SMU. Marking SMU’s fourth road win this season, the Mustangs ended UTSA’s perfect home record. The Mustangs also extended head coach Rhonda Rompola’s record of reaching a double-digit season for the 17th time in every season Rompola has been at SMU.
Severin fell just two points short of her career-high with 16 points, securing the team-high point count. Samuels and Gilliam each added 12 points. The Mustangs were down 33-35 at the half, leading to a nine-point lead by UTSA three minutes into the second half. However, SMU managed to come back to secure a win switching the nine-point lead to its advantage with 2:35 left in the game.
Tulsa
Conference play did not start well for the Mustangs when they fell to the Tulsa Golden Hurricane 75-62 in overtime on Jan. 5. Dodds had a team-high 20 points, followed by 15 by Wills, but it still wasn’t enough to secure a win in the opening game of C-USA play. Cobb also posted a double-digit score with 10 points, and senior forward Katie Gross helped with six points after sinking two three-pointers.
The Mustangs ended their five-game road series 2-3, 10-4 overall and 0-1 in the conference.
UCF
Aiming to even up their conference record, the Mustangs went up against the Knights from the University of Central Florida in hopes of getting Rompola a place in SMU record books. Going for her 299th career win at SMU, Rompola successfully tied former men’s basketball coach E.O. “Doc” Hayes for the school record with a 90-62 victory over the Knights Jan. 11 at Moody Coliseum. SMU had four players hit double-digit scores again with Samuels scoring a game-high 14 points. Gilliam recorded 13 points, Dodds had 12 points and Shepherd contributed 11.
SMU out-shot the Knights in all areas, averaging 47.3 percent in field goals, 55.6 percent in three’s and 83.3 percent in free throws. The Mustangs also never let the lead escape their grasp, gaining as much as a 32-point lead with 2:21 left until the final buzzer. Giving all players minutes on the court, SMU’s bench added 46 percent of the team’s points.
With the win, SMU broke even in conference play, posting a 1-1 record before hosting Southern Miss at Moody Coliseum.
Southern Miss
SMU improved its conference record to 2-1, while putting head coach Rhonda Rompola in the record books after defeating the Southern Miss Golden Eagles 85-72 on Sunday afternoon. Three players posted double-digit scores, led by Wills posting a team-high 18 points on national television, and Dodds and Samuels tying for 17 points. Samuels also tied her career high, hitting five of her six three-point attempts.
With a 10-point advantage at the half, SMU never surrendered its lead to its conference rival. Securing the win with a 26-point lead with just over eight minutes left, SMU began rotating in their bench to help add to the 13-point win.
The Mustangs kick off a two-game road series starting with East Carolina. They return home on Jan. 26 for a rematch against Tulsa.
