The SMU women’s basketball team begins its final weekend of play as the Mustangs head to Tulane and UTEP.
The Mustangs, who areurrently ranked sixth in conference standings, have a 7 p.m. tip-off at Tulane. The Miners host SMU on Saturday at 7:05 p.m.
The Mustangs are 16-10 overall and 8-6 in C-USA. SMU is 2-4 against conference opponents on the road this season. The Green Wave is No. 1 in conference standings with an 11-3 C-USA record, and the team is 22-5 overall. Tulane suffered its first loss on Saturday to conference opponent East Carolina 76-68.
SMU lost to Tulane earlier in the season 63-58 in the 25th meeting between the two teams. The Mustangs lead the series 18-7.
The Green Wave is No. 1 in scoring offense, scoring defense, scoring margin, field goal percentage and three-point field goal percentage, just to name a few. Tulane is also 5-1 against conference opponents at home this season.
Senior guard Jami Montagnino leads the Green Wave, averaging 15 points per conference game and is third in free-throw percentage with 85 percent. Teammate Ashley Langford holds the top spot in C-USA for turnover/assist ratio and is second overall in assists. Another Tulane senior guard, D’Aundra Henry, contributes an average of 12 points per conference contest.
SMU freshman Delisha Wills contributed a career-high 21 points in the last match-up against Tulane in January. She is currently ranked second in both scoring and rebounds among the league’s rookies and is third in field-goal percentage.
Junior Janielle Dodds is contributing to SMU’s free-throw percentage, as she is ranked 67th nationally and SMU is ranked 16th out of 324 teams. Dodds is currently ninth on the Mustangs’ all-time scoring list with 1,284 points.
Mustang Sharee Shepard is ranked 55th nationally in steals per game and averages 7.8 points per game.
After Tulane, the Mustangs head to El Paso to take on the UTEP Miners. This is the second meeting between the two squads this season, with SMU beating UTEP 70-59 in the first match-up. The Miners are 20-6 overall (9-5 C-USA) and are one game away from tying their program record of 10 conference wins.
The Mustangs conclude their regular season play with the game at UTEP.
