Freshman guard Farrin Bell in the Dec. 17, 2012 victory over the University of Louisiana-Monroe. She scored nine points in the 76-56 win. (Courtesy of SMU Athletics)
The Lady Mustangs’ historic winning-streak came to an end, losing to the East Carolina Pirates 63-47.
The Mustangs saw their C-USA nine-game win streak go down in flames as they played one of their worst games of the season.
Keena Mays, who had been the backbone since her return from injury, had only eight points on 3-15 shooting. Only one player, Destynee Hives-McCray scored in double-figures (17).
The Pirates’ Celeste Stewart played out of this world, scoring 26 points on 11-19 shooting from the field. ECU also had two more players score in double-figures.
In the first half, neither team shot the ball particularly well. SMU was 10-26 from the field (38.5 percent), while the Pirates shot only 9-29 from the field (31 percent).
Both teams were also plagued by their turnovers. ECU had eight turnovers while SMU had a first-half season-high with 15 turnovers.
Neither team had a player in double-figure points in the first half, although Hives-McCray led SMU with eight points in 11 minutes and Stewart led the Pirates with seven points in 15 minutes.
The Mustangs’ second half wasn’t much better than the first. SMU continued to struggle taking care of the ball and shooting, turning the ball over eight more times and only shooting 31 percent (9-29) from the field.
The Lady Mustangs also gave up 26 points in the paint in the second half, which helped the Pirates shoot 53 percent in the second half.
SMU hung tough, despite their poor play, for most of the second half. However, around the 11-minute mark the Pirates took control of the game, leading to their 15-4 run that sealed the deal for the mustangs first lost.
The Mustangs will look to avenge their first loss in conference play when they take on Memphis Sunday.
The Tigers, contrary to the Mustangs, have been an up and down team all year. Memphis had a four-game losing streak earlier this year, only to follow that up by winning the next six games.
However, that win streak was halted promptly by a loss to Houston, 77-74, in their first league game of the season. The Tigers are only 4-5 in conference, just good enough for eighth place in C-USA.
Although the Tigers have not had as good of luck as the Mustangs, they do have some players that can score the basketball at a high rate.
At Memphis, the Mustangs will look to rebound from one of their worst performances of the season.
Mays, who is the reigning C-USA player of the week, was only 3-15 from the field, easily her worst shooting performance of the year.
SMU has had trouble scoring and shooting efficiently in the first half the past two games, which has led to their poor offensive play.
The Mustangs shot roughly 35 percent from the field last game, which is their lowest during conference play.
SMU will also focus more on taking care of the ball because of the easy points that they give up when turning the ball over.
Look for the Mustangs to attack early in the paint on Sunday to help with their poor shooting of late.
The Mustangs’ game against conference rival Memphis will tip-off at 2 p.m.
