The Mustangs moved into a three-way tie for first place in Conference USA polls after defeating Rice 63-41 this weekend.
Despite a 75-73 loss to the University of Houston on Friday, the Mustangs stand at 17-10 and 10-4. Southern Miss and the University of Texas at El Paso share a 10-4 conference record with the Mustangs. Houston and the University of Central Florida are tied in second place at 9-5.
In Sunday’s win over Rice, the Mustangs capitalized on their final conference road game of the season with the help of sophomore guard LaShandra Hill and freshman forward Christine Elliott.
Hill had a game-high 14 points, shooting 6-9 from the field and 2-2 in three-pointers. Elliott was just one rebound away from a double-double with 12 points and nine rebounds.
The top four scorers on the team were all freshmen and sophomores, as sophomore guard/forward, Haley Day and freshman guard, Samantha Mahnesmith, both had nine points.
The Mustangs gained an early lead, giving Rice their only lead of one point within the first five minutes of play. Heading into the half up 41-18, the Mustangs generated just 13 points from their bench, but racked up 21 points off turnovers.
Junior guard Jillian Samuels struggled in Sunday’s game, posting zero points in her 20 minutes in the game. Samuels, who gave SMU their final lead over Houston with her 51st career three, now has the eighth highest single season total, went 0-5 in field goals, 0-3 in shots from the long range and 0-0 in free throws.
The 41 points allowed by the Mustang defense was the lowest point total allowed by SMU since the Mustang’s 80-36 victory over San Diego State in 2004. SMU improved to 33-28 over the Owls, winning five consecutive games over the C-USA rival.
In Friday’s loss to the Cougars, juniors Delisha Wills and Brittany Gilliam had a combined total of 44 points and 17 rebounds. Wills, with 22 points on the night, tied her career high 13 boards, but was one point away from tying her career high.
Houston won with the last shot in the final 23 seconds.
The Mustangs will wrap up conference play this week when they host Tulane (16-12, 8-6) on Thursday night followed by 17-10 and 10-4 UTEP on Saturday.
