SMU Women Ride 19-0 Second Half Run To 69-60 Win At Ark.-Little Rock
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LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (SMU) – Alisha Filmore scored 15 points to lead the Mustangs, who rode a 19-0 second-half run to take a 69-60 win at Arkansas-Little Rock Monday night, improving 2-0 on the season while the Trojans fell 1-1.
Akil Simpson scored 13 points with six rebounds, and Kristin Hernandez scored 11 points in just her second game since transferring to SMU two years ago. Christine Elliott finished with eight points and grabbed a team-high nine rebounds.
UALR extended its first half lead to nine points, 41-32, over the first four minutes of the second half, but SMU again went on a run, scoring 13 unanswered points to take a 45-41 lead with 12:25 left in the game. The Trojans called a pair of timeouts over the next two minutes as SMU extended the run to 19-0, leading 51-41 before Janette Merriex hit a 3-pointer with 8:46 left for the Trojans’ first points in nearly eight minutes.
SMU held on to the lead down the stretch, going 8-for-8 from the free throw line in the final four minutes to keep UALR from getting within seven points. The Mustangs shot 53.8-percent from the field in the second half, while holding the Trojans to a 37.5-percent clip.
When the whistle blew for the first media timeout just over four minutes into the game, the Trojans held a 7-2 lead. The Mustangs went on a 12-0 run out of the break to take a 14-7 lead, connecting on 5-of-8 field goals after starting the game 1-of-7.
The Mustangs held the lead until the 2:00 mark of the first half when the Trojans reclaimed the lead on part of a 13-4 run to close the first half. SMU connected on 10-of-19 shots over the last 16 minutes to finish the half 11-of-26 with three players scoring seven points each to lead the team in the first half. The Trojans were 15-of-30 from the field in the first 20 minutes, sinking five field goals, including one 3-pointer, in the last 3:25 of the half to take the lead into the locker room.
SMU will return home to face TCU Thursday night at 7 p.m. The Student-Athlete Advisory Committee will sponsor a Pack the House initiative with hamburgers available provided by the Hamburger Man.
