SMU Women Fall At Louisville
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LOUISVILLE, Ky. (SMU) – Akil Simpson scored 14 points to lead the Mustangs, but the top-scoring offense in the American Athletic Conference led No. 7 Louisville to a 71-51 win over SMU in the conference opener for both teams Sunday in the KFC Yum! Center.
Simpson, now just 20 points from reaching 1,000 in her career, scored the first eight of the game for SMU, and finished 6-of-8 from the field with seven rebounds, but was limited with foul trouble and picked up her fifth with 3:59 left in the game. Freshman Kiara Perry reached double digits for the first time since the fourth game of the season, scoring 13 for SMU (9-3, 0-1 The American).
SMU out-scored Louisville (13-1, 1-0 The American) 18-8 over the last 10:35 of the game, holding the Cardinals to less than 80 points for just the fifth time this season. SMU held the top-ten team nationally to a 29.6 percent shooting percentage in the second half, 8-of-27, but SMU managed just eight field goals offensively, and finished 1-of-12 from behind the arc for the game.
Louisville held Keena Mays, the league’s leading scorer, to just
seven points, and Gabrielle Wilkins scored eight for the Mustangs. SMU shot 35.0 percent for the game, but the Cardinals finished with a 43.5 shooting percentage after a 19-for-35 first half.
The Mustangs were with the Cardinals through most of the first half, but Louisville out-scored the Mustangs 24-9 over the last 7:33 of the first half to take a 47-32 lead into the lockerroom. The Mustangs took a 21-19 lead midway through the first half, and after starting just 3-of-8 from the field, SMU hit seven of its next 10 field goals and were tied 23-23 with the Cardinals with 7:33 to play in the first half.
Louisville hit nine of its last 14 shots of the half, including three 3-pointers, while SMU was scoreless from behind the arc in the first 20 minutes. SMU shot 41.9 percent, led by Simpson, who was 4-for-5 for 10 first-half points. On the other side, the Cardinals were 19-of-35 from the field, 54.3 percent, with Shoni Schimmel, 11, and Sara Hammond, 10, each reaching double figures in the first half.
SMU plays at Cincinnati Jan. 1 at 12 p.m. CT before playing the first home conference game and the first game in newly-renovated Moody Coliseum Jan. 4 against USF in the second half of a double-header with the SMU men’s team.
