DALLAS (SMU) -- The SMU women's basketball team played a complete 40 minutes of basketball and came out with a 66-56 win over WAC foe Hawaii Thursday night at Moody Coliseum on the campus of SMU. With the win, SMU improves to 7-5 overall (1-1 WAC) while Hawaii falls to 8-4 (2-1 WAC). Prior to tonight's win, the Mustangs had lost the last six meetings to the Rainbow Wahine.
The first half was evenly played by both teams, with the statistics nearly identical. Both teams shot 33.3% from the field and Hawaii holding a slim 24-23 edge in the rebound department. SMU, though, turned the ball over only two times compared to Hawaii's six. SMU went into intermission with a 27-24 lead.
In the second half, the Mustangs came out hot as junior guard Shanta Ramdhanny, celebrating her 21st birthday today, connected on SMU's first three shots, extending the Mustang lead to 33-26. From that point on, the game see-sawed back and forth, but where SMU excelled in the last four minutes of the game was at the free throw line, hitting six clutch free throws. Junior guard Andrea Cossey connected on a trey during that span as well. SMU finished the second half shooting a blistering 56.5% from the field compared to Hawaii's 36.4% second-half shooting.
Cossey and Ramdhanny share game-high scoring figures with 17 points. Senior post Kaci Alexander just missed a double-double with 12 points and nine rebounds. Top scorer for Hawaii was Jade Abele with 15 points and six assists.
The Mustangs close out their three-game homestand with a matinee game vs. San Jose State Saturday afternoon at Moody Coliseum. Tip-off is slated for 2:00 p.m. The Spartans come into Saturday's game with a record of 6-6 (2-1 WAC) after falling to Louisiana Tech Thursday by the score of 83-38.
Official Basketball Box Score -- GAME TOTALS -- FINAL STATISTICS
Hawaii Rainbow Wahine vs SMU Mustangs
01/09/03 7:00 p.m. at Dallas, Texas (Moody Coliseum)
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VISITORS: Hawaii Rainbow Wahine (8-4, 2-1 WAC)
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
05 Abele, Jade......... * 6-17 3-10 0-0 0 4 4 4 15 6 3 0 0 36
14 Roper, Christen..... * 6-12 0-0 1-3 3 6 9 3 13 1 2 1 1 29
21 Gabriel, Michelle... * 2-5 1-3 1-1 1 2 3 1 6 3 1 0 1 38
31 Atuaia, April....... * 2-8 1-3 0-0 0 3 3 1 5 2 1 0 1 31
32 Allen, Natasja...... * 3-10 0-0 0-0 1 2 3 3 6 0 2 2 0 19
34 Spooner, Callie..... * 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 4
03 Willoughby, Kim..... 4-10 0-0 3-3 3 5 8 3 11 2 2 1 0 28
11 Macfarlane, Milia... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 2
23 Sanders, Amy........ 0-3 0-1 0-0 2 1 3 0 0 1 0 0 0 13
TEAM................ 3 3 6
Totals.............. 23-66 5-17 5-7 13 27 40 15 56 16 12 4 3 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 11-33 33.3% 2nd Half: 12-33 36.4% Game: 34.8% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 1-6 16.7% 2nd Half: 4-11 36.4% Game: 29.4% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 1-2 50.0% 2nd Half: 4-5 80.0% Game: 71.4% 1
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HOME TEAM: SMU Mustangs (7-5, 1-1 WAC)
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
04 Krouch, Vanita...... * 2-2 0-0 0-0 0 9 9 1 4 4 0 1 2 32
20 Wright, Alisa....... * 1-3 0-0 0-0 1 1 2 4 2 1 0 0 0 12
22 Ramdhanny, Shanta... * 6-10 2-3 3-4 0 4 4 0 17 2 1 0 1 34
34 Alexander, Kaci..... * 5-13 0-0 2-3 5 4 9 3 12 3 3 1 1 34
40 Cossey, Andrea...... * 6-13 3-7 2-2 0 3 3 0 17 3 3 1 1 34
03 Shead, Kendall...... 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 8
05 Cruse, Tiara........ 0-0 0-0 4-4 0 1 1 0 4 0 0 0 0 1
13 Roberts, Shonte..... 2-8 0-0 0-0 2 1 3 3 4 1 1 0 0 17
14 Davis, Sarah........ 1-7 0-2 0-0 1 5 6 0 2 1 1 3 0 16
44 Patton, Kenni....... 2-2 0-0 0-0 0 2 2 0 4 0 0 0 1 12
TEAM................
Totals.............. 25-59 5-12 11-13 9 30 39 12 66 15 9 6 6 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 12-36 33.3% 2nd Half: 13-23 56.5% Game: 42.4% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 1-5 20.0% 2nd Half: 4-7 57.1% Game: 41.7% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 2-3 66.7% 2nd Half: 9-10 90.0% Game: 84.6% 0,1
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Officials: John Weeks, Eric Larson, Roy Gulbeyan
Technical fouls: Hawaii Rainbow Wahine-None. SMU Mustangs-None.
Attendance: 758
Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total
Hawaii Rainbow Wahine......... 24 32 - 56
SMU Mustangs.................. 27 39 - 66
