Filmore Leads SMU Women Past Memphis

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MEMPHIS, Tenn. (SMU) – Alisha Filmore scored 21 points and Akil Simpson grabbed a career-high 17 rebounds with 13 points to lead the Mustangs to a 74-67 win at Memphis Sunday. With the win, SMU maintained a two-game advantage in Conference USA, improving to 10-1 in the league and 19-5 overall, while Memphis fell to 14-11, 5-6 in C-USA.

With the game tied at 60 with a little more than five minutes left, the Mustangs went on a 14-6 run to close out the game, scoring 44 points in the second half for the road victory. It was neck-and-neck in the second half, with neither team leading by more than four points until SMU stretched the lead to five, 72-67 with 29 seconds left on a Simpson free throw. Leading by two with a minute left, SMU hit five of six free throws down the stretch and held Memphis scoreless to seal the win.

Simpson posted her sixth double-double of the season, going 6-for-13 from the field, and Keena Mays finished with 17 points. Gabrielle Wilkins scored eight, and Destynee Hives-McCray had seven rebounds with five points. Nicole Dickson led the Tigers with 14 points, and Asianna Fuqua-Bey and Bilqis Abdul-Qaadir each added 13.

SMU held the Tigers scoreless from behind the arc, while making six 3’s in 15 attempts, and

shot 48.1 percent in the second half to finish with a 42.1 shooting percentage. Memphis shot 44.8 percent from the floor. The Mustangs out-rebounded the Tigers 41-31, and went 20-for-25 from the free throw line. Memphis was 15-of-21 from the charity stripe.

The Mustangs went on a 15-6 run over the last four minutes of the first half to take a 30-29 lead at halftime, despite trailing by as many as 10 points in the first 20 minutes. SMU was shooting less than 30 percent, but went 4-for-6 during the stretch to finish the half hitting 36.7 percent, 11-of-30, while Memphis was 40.7 percent from the floor, 11-of-27.

SMU will host Tulsa Thursday at 7 p.m. in Moody Coliseum. For tickets, call 214-SMU-GAME or visit SMUMustangs.com.