Head coach Rhonda Rompola and Mustangs slip to 7-2 in conference play after losing to Southern Miss. (Kevin Todora)
The SMU Mustangs dropped their first Conference USA game away from Moody Coliseum Thursday night in a 75-65 loss to the Southern Miss Golden Eagles.
Fighting for sole possession of the top spot in conference rankings, the Mustangs and Golden Eagles went into Thursday’s game tied with a 7-1 conference record and a 14-7 regular season record. Now, with the eight consecutive wins, the Golden Eagles are 8-1 and 15-7 on the season. SMU slipped to 7-2 and 14-8, and resides in second place in conference standings.
With only their second conference loss of the season, the Mustangs’ six-game win streak was snapped.
Despite winning four of the last five games over the Golden Eagles, SMU could not knock off the Golden Eagles on their home court. Southern Miss is now on an eight-game win streak, losing only to Central Florida in their first conference game of the season.
SMU pulled ahead about eight minutes into the game going up 13-8 before the Golden Eagles regained the lead with a three-pointer one minute later. SMU’s junior forward Delisha Wills and junior Jillian Samuels led the Mustangs at the half with six points each. Wills had four boards, and Samuels shot 2-4 in threes, including her first three that put the Mustangs in the lead halfway through the first half.
SMU held the lead from the twelve-minute mark till the closing two minutes of the half, leading by as many as seven points with 8:40 remaining.
Southern Miss pulled away with the lead with two minutes remaining to secure a six-point advantage at the end of the half. Up 35-29, Southern Miss’ Andrea Barber posted 11 points in the first half, shooting 5-7 from the field. Pauline Love, the Golden Eagle’s leading scorer had eight points and five boards in the first half.
The Golden Eagles continued to pull ahead, gaining a ten-point lead at the 15-minute mark until Wills put them back in the game with free throw and field goal combination. Up 50-41 with 11:30 remaining, Southern Miss went on another run, never letting the Mustangs come within more than five points of taking the lead. Southern Miss gained the largest lead at 61-43 with 6:30 remaining, as the Mustangs seemed to run out of steam in their effort to knock of their top opponent.
Junior forward Brittany Gilliam prevailed for SMU with17 points, while junior Delisha Wills added 13 points and nine rebounds. Freshman Christine Ellliott added 11 points and eight rebounds.
Leading Southern Miss was Eugene Amber’s 18 points, followed by Pauline Love with 17 points and 10 rebounds. The Golden Eagles out shot the Mustangs from the field and the long range. While Southern Miss hit 14-25 from the field, SMU managed to get just 13 of their 34 attempts in the net. Despite having only seven turnovers to Southern Miss’ 11, the Mustangs scored just four points off turnovers while the Golden Eagles drained 11 points.
The Mustangs look to get back on the winning track in Conference USA play when they play the University of Central Florida (8-13, 6-2) in Orlando on Saturday.
