On track to tie their career high win streak of seven games from last season, the Mustangs are just one win away from a seven game Conference USA sweep.
After defeating Rice on Saturday in a 68-52 victory, SMU is now tied for the No.1 spot in C-USA polls with an identical 14-7 and 7-1 record with Southern Miss.
“[Rice] gave us exactly what we expected,” said head coach Rhonda Rompola. “They are a much better team than their record. Rice was hungry for a win and we knew they would give us their best shot and give us everything they had.”
Led by junior Brittany Gilliam with 14 points and freshman Christine Elliott with 11, the Mustangs went on to defeat the Rice Owls (5-16, 0-8) for the fourth time in the past two seasons.
“You give [Rice] the thought that they can play with you, then they start doing things that they don’t even know they can do,” said sophomore LaShandra Hill.
Freshman Alicia Mitcham also had a career best game, adding nine points and seven rebounds in just 12 minutes of playing time.
In addition to Gilliam and Elliott, junior Delisha Wills and LaShandra Hill had 10 points each. Elliott also led the game with nine rebounds.
Threatening the team with 6 a.m. practices, Rompola credits her team’s drive to “little things that get them going.”
Rice came back to tie the game on three occasions, taking the lead three times, but SMU never looked back in the second half, rising ahead by as many as 19 points with eight minutes left in the game.
“Both teams looked tired to me,” said Rompola. “I thought Rice took it to us in the first half and I thought we came back the second half.”
Despite being up only 30-28 heading into the half, the Mustangs quickly took off on a 23-6 run in the opening minutes of play, putting the game out of reach for the Owls.
“We got back to doing what we do and playing defense,” said Hill.
“This team just doesn’t panic,” said Rompola. “The difference in this team is the team balance.”
Rompola relied heavily on her bench in the second half, as they generated 21 points in the final 20 minutes.
“We started playing team ball in the second half,” said Rompola. “I tried to rotate players more the second half because I thought we were tired.”
Totaling 29 points in the game, Rompola used the experience of the bench to give her junior leaders, especially Gilliam, a break in the action.
“We accommodate each other. You know that if you go into the game having a bad game then somebody else will pick up your slack,” said Hill. “You never know who it’s going to be, but that’s the good thing about our team.”
Hitting the road for another three-game series, the Mustangs will begin with Southern Miss (14-7, 7-1) on Thursday followed by the University of Central Florida and Memphis this weekend.
