Women just miss Golden opportunity (Photo By John Schreiber, The Daily Campus)
Looking for a first-place tie in Conference USA, the women’s basketball team welcomed conference leader Tulsa to Moody Coliseum on Sunday afternoon. The Golden Hurricane dealt the Mustangs their first C-USA home defeat this season, 78-67, behind 25 points from junior forward Jillian Robbins.
Both teams found themselves in a defensive struggle in the first half, with Tulsa mixing man and zone defenses in an effort to contain reigning C-USA player of the week Janielle Dodds.
Dodds found herself facing multiple defenders in the post and finished the half with just three points. She registered four assists as the Mustangs trailed by five at halftime.
The Golden Hurricane’s focus on Dodds opened the perimeter for Sarah Davis and Sharee Shepherd to handle the scoring load. Davis’s three pointer with just over seven minutes remaining brought the Tulsa lead to one at 27-26, and her layup at the end of the half on a pass from Kendall Shead made the score 38-33. Davis finished the half with 14 points, while Shepherd notched eight.
Tulsa turned to Robbins, who used her athleticism around the basket to score 15 points on six of 10 shooting from the field.
Tulsa remained in its zone to start the second half, as consecutive baskets by Dodds and Katy Cobb brought SMU within three at 40-37. The Mustangs made a defensive stand midway through the half, as Robbins converted only one of her first three shots from the field.
Dodds converted two free throws with 13 minutes and 30 seconds remaining to keep the Tulsa lead at three, and Shead followed with a steal and a layup to bring the Mustangs back within one with just over 12 minutes to play.
A three pointer by Tulsa point guard Kara Pongonis-Paslay ignited a 6-0 Tulsa run, and the Golden Hurricane built its lead down the stretch behind Robbins and Jamie Dreiling. Robbins scored 10 points in the second half and finished the game with 18 rebounds, eight on the offensive end.
Sarah Davis was the Mustangs’ top scorer with 20 points, and Dodds added 16 to go with eight rebounds. For the Golden Hurricane, Pongonis-Paslay added 12 and Tandem Mays scored 13 to compliment Robbins.
“We just couldn’t get stops when we had to and never could gain the lead,” SMU head coach Rhonda Rompola said after the game. “They outplayed us at both ends, and we didn’t respond aggressively to their zone.”
Rompola also commented on the difficulty of the Mustangs’ remaining schedule, which includes a road trip to Houston and Rice next weekend before closing out the regular season at home against UTEP and Tulane.
SMU could face Tulsa again in the Conference USA Tournament, which will be held at Moody Coliseum March 2-5.
