Entering the Conference USA Tournament as the No.1 seed, the SMU Mustangs (19-10,12-4) will take on the No. 8 seeded Pirates of East Carolina University (18-12, 8-8) today at noon in New Orleans.
Hosted by Tulane University in Fogelman Arena, the tournament features all 12 teams from Conference USA, with the champion earning a bid to the NCAA Tournament. If SMU hopes to repeat last season and make a run for the national championship, they will need to sweep the tournament through the final game on Sunday.
Having had nearly an entire week off since defeating the University of Texas at El Paso for the conference championship, SMU enters today’s game well-rested, but nevertheless, anxious for what lays ahead.
“Honestly, I thought we were maybe a year away,” said junior post and one of the team’s five captains, Delisha Wills. “Losing the seniors we lost, getting five new players – we didn’t know how we would bond. We’ve gotten closer through the season, and that has showed on and off the court. We’re a really young team, so we’ve got a long way to go, but it’s been cool watching this team come together.”
With the starting line up dramatically different from the last year, this year’s roster features a plethora of talent from not only the starters, but the team’s bench as well. With Brittani Allen and Elbie Gates being the only seniors on the team, and Gates still benched with an injury, head coach Rhonda Rompola has relied heavily on her junior class to lead the team through a tough schedule to get them to the conference tournament.
“Through the course of this season, the team really has learned what team play is,” said Rompola. “One of the biggest differences is that last year, we relied heavily on one person. This year, we have relied on a number of individuals, and we’ve been very fortunate to have a number of players step up at key times.”
Missing the final games of the regular season with an undisclosed foot injury, Wills, a key players for the Mustang’s offense, seems to be recovering as she sat in the stands today during the ECU vs. UAB game without a walking boot. Rompola said last week she expects Wills to play in the tournament.
With the balanced leadership split between the five juniors, there also comes a more balanced presence from each player on the court. With last year’s seniors carrying the team, this year, talent is more evenly distributed, making it difficult for teams to double or triple team one player.
“The beginning of this season was a little frustrating as we tried to figure out different people’s roles on this team,” said Wills. “When we weren’t winning, you could see we were getting better. Whether we lost a blowout or lost on a buzzer-beater . . . you could see we were getting better as we got to know each other better as players.”
In today’s game between the Mustangs and Pirates, ECU holds the advantage, averaging 70.8 points per game to the Mustang’s 69.3. However, the Mustangs have already defeated ECU once this season in an 80-73 victory in Moody Coliseum in January.
Today’s game will feature senior guard Jasmine Young, a conference All-Defensive Team member for the past two seasons. Young currently averages just 3.6 boards and 11.1 points per game, but leads the team with 106 assists.
“The one question for me is if this team is tough enough mentally and mature enough to take one game at a time and do the things that are necessary to win,” said ECU head coach Sharon Baldwin-Tener.
ECU’s leading scorer, senior guard Terry LaCoya, currently averages 17.6 ppg and a team high 4.7 rebounds. In yesterday’s win over the University of Alabama at Birmingham, LaCoya has 22 points.
To overcome the Mustangs, ECU will have to overcome the combined talent of juniors Brittany Gilliam, Jillian Samuels, and Alice Severin, sophomores Haley Day and LaShandra Hill and freshman Christine Elliott. ECU will also be playing with the disadvantage of going two days in a row against SMU coming off a one-week rest period.
Should SMU win over ECU today, they will face the winner between No. 4 Houston and No.5 Central Florida in the quarterfinal round tomorrow at 2 p.m. Tomorrow’s game can be seen on CBS College Sports.
