SMU Women’s Hoops Thump Tulsa
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TULSA, Okla. (SMU) – SMU out-scored Tulsa 44-27 in the second half to stretch the win streak to six, improving to 5-0 in Conference USA and 14-4 overall, with a 71-46 win over the Golden Hurricane (7-12, 2-4 C-USA) on the road in the Reynolds Center Sunday.
Keena Mays led four Mustangs in double figures with 12 points, and had five rebounds and three assists in 22 minutes. Lexus Williams scored 10 points, reaching double digits for the first time in her career. Akil Simpson finished with 11 points and seven rebounds, and Destynee Hives-McCray added 10.
Leading 27-19 at halftime, the Mustangs went on a 25-4 run over the first 7:30 of the second half to stretch the lead to 52-23 and the rout was on. SMU pushed the lead to as many as 33, 65-32 with 5:37 left, and the Golden Hurricane weren’t within 20 points for the last 15 minutes of the game. After scoring nine points in the first half for Tulsa, Taleya Mayberry was held scoreless in the second half.
It was a defensive battle in the first half, with SMU leading 20-17 before Simpson hit a layup to spark a 7-0 run, stretching the lead to 10, the largest of the half. Tulsa got its first offensive rebound of the half with eight seconds left and scored a second-chance layup to go into
halftime with SMU leading 27-19.
Midway through the first half, Simpson converted an and-one opportunity to give the Mustangs a 15-8 lead, but Mayberry led the Golden Hurricane back to within two, 18-16 with 4:42 left in the half. SMU kept Tulsa from tying the game and never trailed in the first 20 minutes, holding Tulsa to 23.1 percent shooting from the field, including no 3-pointers in nine attempts.
SMU finished the game shooting 45.2 percent from the field, 28-of-62, and hit 3-of-9 3-point attempts. The SMU defense held Tulsa scoreless from behind the arc, 0-for-17, and the Golden Hurricane connected on just 25 percent from the floor, 15-of-60. The Mustangs out-rebounded Tulsa 47-37, and got 29 points off the bench to Tulsa’s 16.
SMU returns to Moody Coliseum Thursday to face Houston at 7 p.m. Tickets are just $1 and can be purchased by calling 2-4-SMU-GAME or by visiting SMUMustangs.com.
