Women stumble into C-USA tournament (Photo by John Schreiber, The Daily Campus)

Tulane forward Jennifer Sands came home to Dallas and scored 24 points and pulled in 12 rebounds to lead Tulane to a 71-58 victory over SMU Sunday.

SMU’s Friday win over visiting UTEP keeps the Mustang women in third place in C-USA, and allows them to limp into a first round bye in the conference tournament.

“I’m concerned with how we played the last couple of games,” said Coach Rhonda Rompola. “The goal was to finish strong, look sharp.”

The Mustangs did neither. The team shot only 34 percent from the field and was out-rebounded 41 to 28.

SMU came out flat to start the game, quickly falling behind 16 to five as Tulane went on an early 13-0 run. SMU struggled to get back into the game, trailing by as much as 16 early in the first half.

Tulane’s front court was the Mustang’s undoing. 6’3″ sophomore post Alendra Brown contributed 16 points and eight boards. Sands, who attended Dallas’ Lincoln High, shot 66 percent from the field and established herself as a presence in the paint.

“She dealt on us,” said Rompola.

Tulane’s guards also posed problems for the Mustangs defense. Sophomore Nicki Luckhurst, who leads Tulane in three-pointers with 58 on the year, added to her total with three treys against the Mustangs. Freshman Ashley Langford more than doubled the total of any other player with 14 assists.

SMU’s leading three-point threat Katie Gross struggled early to find her rhythm. She was held scoreless in the first half before hitting two from behind the arc in the second half and finishing as the Mustang’s leading scorer with 12.

“Katie didn’t get any good looks until the second half,” said Rompola of the forward’s play. “But she started out shaky.”

Fittingly on senior day, SMU got solid play from two of its seniors. Forward Sarah Davis had nine rebounds and two blocks to go with eight points. Guard Kendall Shead led all players with four steals, and also tallied ten points and five assists.

SMU’s leading scorer for the seasons, sophomore post Janielle Dodds was a non-factor for much of the game.

“Dodds has been off balance the last couple of games,” Rompola said. “When you have a go-to player in the paint, she’s got to score.”

Dodds hit only four of 11 shooting and finished the game with ten points and six boards. She suffered a slight knee injury early, which Rompola said was not serious and not to blame for her off night.

“Janielle has to learn to play well when she’s tired,” Rompola said. With backup post Brittany Barker out for the remainder of the season with a medical condition, both Dodds and Davis have been playing more minutes.

The women must now prepare for the C-USA tournament, which begins this Thursday at Moody. SMU will play its first game Friday night at 8:30 against the winner of the Tulane vs. UCF game.