In wake of dropping the opportunity to take sole possession of the No.1 spot in Conference USA polls, the Mustangs continued their downfall in a 78-68 loss to the University of Central Florida, Saturday in Orlando.

Fighting for second place in rankings, SMU fell into a two-way tie for third place with a 14-9 and 7-3 record with the University of Houston. Central Florida, now at 10-13 and 8-2 remain in second place, while Southern Miss continues to lead C-USA with a 16-7 and 9-1 record.

The Mustangs established a 36-35 lead at the end of the first half, followed by sophomore LaShandra Hill draining a pair of buckets in the opening minutes of the second half to put SMU up 40-35. The Knights pulled ahead and took their final lead of the game with just over 15 minutes remaining when UCF went up 49-44 with a layup by Emma Cannon.

SMU’s junior guard Jillian Samuels tied a career best five three-pointers in game for the second time this season, giving her at least three shots from the long-range in seven games this season.

UCF’s Chelsia Wiley led the night with 26 points, followed by teammate Cannon with 14 points and 20 rebounds. SMU’s leading scorer junior Brittany Gilliam tied Samuels with a team-high 12 points. Sophomore Haley Day had 11 points and Hill added ten points.

While the Mustangs out shot their opponent 7-16 compared to 4-12 in three’s and 72 percent compared to 59 percent from the line, the Knights generated 24 points of turnovers, pulling down 41 boards to the Mustang’s 30.

The Knights’ win over the Mustangs marked their first win in the last five meetings between the teams. Saturday’s loss was the first time the Mustangs have dropped back-to-back conference games this season.

SMU will wrap up their three game road series this Thursday when they take on the Memphis Tigers (9-14,2-8) in Tenn. at 7 p.m.