The Mustangs’ Alice Severin battles down low in the post. (Stuart Palley)
The SMU women’s basketball team will host the 7-11 Golden Hurricane from Tulsa on Saturday afternoon for the teams’ second match-up of the season. SMU opened conference play on Jan. 5 in a 75-62 overtime loss against Tulsa, but since then the Mustangs have been riding a four-game conference winning streak.
“That game was hopefully a wake-up call in conference,” said head coach Rhonda Rompola. “I’m hoping that that game is the reason why we’re playing the way we are now. We’ve got to redeem ourselves and we really want to show that that’s not the Mustang team that showed up in Tulsa.”
After defeating Marshall in a 72-50 victory over the weekend, SMU is currently ranked No. 2 by Conference USA with an overall record of 14-2, and 4-1 in C-USA play. The University of Texas at El Paso is currently No. 1 with a perfect 5-0 conference record.
Going into Saturday’s game, SMU currently has the No. 1 scoring offense in Conference USA, averaging 73.1 points per game. Tulsa currently falls into the No. 12 spot, posting only 57.8 points per game.
To secure a fifth conference win, SMU will have to focus on Larissa Williams in rebounding and Kara Vaughan in threes to keep the Golden Hurricane’s scoring under control. “We’ve got to do a better job at blocking out their post. We have to keep their posts off the board,” said Rompola.
With the help of SMU’s Janielle Dodds and Delisha Wills, the Mustangs will also rely on their bench to help gain, and keep, a lead. Brittany Gilliam has started appearing as one of the bench’s leading scorers, while Katy Cobb has become known as the team’s last-second shooter to clinch wins.
“Brittany Gilliam has done a great job coming off the bench. She’s a very smart player, and we need her to continue to play the way she is,” explained Rompola.
The Mustangs are currently on an eight-game at-home winning streak, with their only loss at Moody Coliseum coming in the first game of the season against Texas A&M. Tulsa lost to Marshall and East Carolina last week, falling to 0-6 on the road. SMU defeated Marshall and East Carolina last week in its last road trip.
Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m. at Moody Coliseum on Jan. 26.
