The Mustangs went 3-0 in their games over the break. Katy Cobb and the Mustangs will look to improve on their 4-1 record Wednesday night. (Stuart Palley)
The Mustangs women’s basketball team had a little bit better luck than the men this weekend.
Coming off an impressive 74-70 victory over Texas A&M Corpus Christi, the women’s team felt confident taking on SMU’s biggest rival, TCU.
TCU
The team kicked off what would lead to a four-game winning streak with a 66-61 victory over the TCU Horned Frogs at Moody Coliseum on Nov. 21. The win marked the first victory SMU has had over its rivals in the last six meetings between the schools.
SMU faced an intense offensive and defensive effort from the Frogs in the first half, making only 26.7 percent of its shots from the field. TCU, on the other hand, shot 41.9 percent from the field, but made only 40 percent of its free throws compared to the Mustangs 60 percent accuracy. The Mustangs trailed TCU 31-24 at the half, but refused to go down without a fight.
The Mustangs came out to rally for the win in the second half, becoming the first opponent against TCU in the last 26 games to defeat the Frogs after trailing at the half. Trying out a more physical approach, SMU relied on senior post Janielle Dodds and sophomore guard Delisha Wills to get the Mustangs ahead on the board. SMU’s chances increased when TCU key-players Lorie Butler-Rayford and Micaela Younger fouled out.
SMU improved to hitting 78.4 percent of its free throws, with Dodds going 10-13 from the line. Dodds led the team in total points, racking in 20 more points to help bring her closer to breaking the record of leading scorer at SMU. Wills contributed with an additional 14 points. Freshman guard LaShandra Hill hit five of her six free throws in the last minute to secure the win for her team.
Western Michigan
The team’s second win came in the first round of the Hoops for the Cure Tournament with an 86-61 victory over the Western Michigan Bulldogs over the weekend. Dodds recorded a game-high 21 points, passing Shasta Smothers-Johnson, putting her into fifth place for the most career points at SMU. The Mustangs came out strong, dominating the Bulldogs the entire first half and sending their opponents into the locker room with a 49-25 disadvantage.
SMU was 87.5 percent from the line, hitting 50 percent of their field goals and 53.3 percent of their three-pointers. Western Michigan struggled on the offense hitting only 31 percent of their field goals and 37.5 percent of its three-point shots.
Senior forward Katie Gross also worked on carving her name into the SMU history books after sinking two three-point shots to pull ahead of former SMU guard Mary Gleason. Posting an impressive 133 three-pointers, Gross now holds the second-place spot for points scored behind the line.
Kansas
The women closed out the weekend with a 68-56 victory over the Kansas Jayhawks in the championship game of the Hoops for the Cure Tournament.
Sharee Shepherd contributed nine points to the Mustangs’ victory, seven rebounds and held a game-high five steals. Shepherd, along with Dodds were both named to the all-tournament team, along with Drake’s Jill Martin, Western Michigan’s Tiera DeLaHoussaye and Kansas’ Danielle McCray.
The half-time buzzer sounded with the score tied at 25, with the Mustangs banking 32.1 percent of their field goals, 40 percent of their three-pointers and completing 71.4 percent of their shots from the line. The Jayhawks measured up with a 42.0 percent field goal rate and a 14.3 three-point percentage rate. Kansas did not make any trips to the line during the first half.
In the second half, the Mustangs came out strong, outscoring their opponents 43-31, and securing the win to take the tournament’s championship title. SMU improved to making 50 percent of its field goals, but lagged behind in three-point shots, making only 33.3 percent of their attempts. The Mustangs put up an impressive 95 percent success rate from the line in the second half, with senior guard Katy Cobb hitting six-of-six, Wills sinking five-of-five, and Shepherd draining four-of-four of her shots from the line.
Kansas hit 42.3 percent of its field goals in the second half and matched the Mustangs, shooting 33.3 percent in three-pointers. The Jayhawks saw more time at the line in the second half, hitting six-of-11 of their free throws.
Dodds had another impressive game, with a game-high 29 points, and was named as the tournament’s most valuable player. The senior was also recognized as the Conference USA Player of the Week after averaging 19.8 points per game this season, 8.2 rebounds. Dodds is currently in fourth place in school history for most career points, sixth place with 760 rebounds in her career, fourth place with 90 blocked shots and seventh in rebounds.
SMU improved its season record to 6-1 and will host the Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks in Moody Coliseum on Wednesday night at 7.
