Elliott’s Double-Double Not Enough For SMU Against UTEP
EL PASO, Texas – SMU’s Christine Elliott led all scorers with 18 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for her third double-double of the season, but ninth-seeded UTEP knocked down nine 3-pointers to take a 75-57 win in the first round of the 2011 Buick Conference USA Women’s Basketball Championship over eighth-seeded SMU Wednesday night at Memorial Gym.
Trailing by as many as 14 in the opening stanza, the Mustangs rallied back to cut the deficit to five at the break. SMU whittled the UTEP advantage down to a pair at 33-31 with 17:57 left to play, but the Miners used a 21-5 rally over the next 6:18 to thwart any talks of a Pony’s comeback.
With the win, UTEP improves to 16-13 on the year and advances to take on regular-season C-USA champion Houston in Thursday’s quarterfinals. SMU, meanwhile, concludes its 2010-11 season at 14-16.
Five UTEP players tallied double-figure scoring totals against the Mustangs and the tandem of Kayla Thornton and Gloria Brown led the way with 17 points each. Dietra Caldwell was next for the Miners with 16 points while Kelli Willingham finished with 15. Brown posted a double-double with a game-high 11 rebounds while adding four blocks, three assists and a steal. Willingham led all players with seven assists.
As a team, the Miners hit 46.0 percent of their field goal attempts (29-of-63), including a .621 showing in the second half after connecting on 18-of-29 shots. The UTEP defense, meanwhile, held SMU to a 30.8 field goal percentage (20-of-65), including a 1-for-21 performance from beyond the 3-point arc (.048).
The Miners got things going early on as Caldwell connected on consecutive 3-pointers to open the scoring while Ashley Milian capped the game-opening run with a layup. While SMU rallied to make things close at the end of the first half, the final 20 minutes was all UTEP.
A jumper by SMU center Elliott made it a two-point contest 2:03 into the second half. That was as close as the Mustangs would get, however, as UTEP responded with three straight baskets to stretch the advantage to eight at 39-31. Following a three-point play by SMU’s Delisha Wills, the Miners got consecutive 3-pointers by Thornton and Kim Smith to make it an 11-point affair and the Miners’ lead never dipped below double digits the rest of the way.
UTEP led by as many as 22 twice in the second half – at 63-41 with 8:31 on the clock and again at 75-53 with 2:14 left to go. SMU held the Miners scoreless over the final two-plus minutes but managed just four free throws down the stretch to account for the final score.
Elliott led SMU with 18 points and 10 rebounds while Alisha Filmore joined her in the double-figure scoring club with 15. Samantha Mahnesmith had a team-best six assists and Filmore led all players with a pair of steals.
