SMU Women Lose to Louisville

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DALLAS (SMU) – The SMU Mustangs led at halftime against the fifth-ranked Louisville Cardinals, 35-33, but Louisville pulled away in the second half, defeating SMU 81-66 at Moody Coliseum on Sunday afternoon.

Keena Mays finished with 20 points, recording her second consecutive 20-plus scoring effort and ninth of the season. She also totaled six points, five assists and four steals, leading SMU in each category. Korina Baker finished with a season-high 14 points with four three-pointers, while Kiara Perry added 12 points with five rebounds to score in double-digits for the fourth straight game. Akil Simpson scored eight points, and Mallory Singleton added nine points with seven rebounds.

The Mustangs (11-7, 2-5 The American) led by two at halftime behind 14 points from Mays. Perry drove the lane and missed a floater but gathered her own rebound and laid it in to give SMU a 35-33 with 39 seconds left in the frame. Louisville (18-1, 6-0) could not convert on its last possession of the half, giving SMU the two-point edge at halftime. Perry and Baker has eight points and Singleton had five as SMU shot 46.7 percent from the field in the first half. SMU’s defense did well pressuring Louisville, holding the Cardinals to just 37.5 percent shooting. SMU also tallied 12 second-chance points on eight offensive rebounds in the half.

Mays connected on a layup early in the second half to give SMU a 37-33 lead, but Louisville responded with a 21-7 run to the 13:57 mark to take a 54-44 lead on a three-pointer by Antonita Slaughter. Louisville kept the lead to double-digits for much of the rest of the half.

A layup from Simpson cut the Cardinals lead to 12 with 6:15 remaining, but five quick points from Louisville restored its lead to 71-54 with 5:39 left.

Louisville had five players score in double figures, led by Tia Gibbs, who had 20 points and four three-pointers off the bench for the Cardinals. Louisville totaled 10 made threes for the contest.

Next up for the Mustangs is a road trip to Houston for a 2 p.m. tilt on Saturday. The game will be shown live for free on the American Digital Network.

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