Dec. 22, 2005

Box Score

DALLAS (SMU) - The SMU women's basketball team earned a badly-needed victory with a 77-51 win over visiting UC-Irvine Thursday night at Moody Coliseum in Dallas, Texas. With the win, SMU snaps a four-game losing streak as the Mustangs improve to 4-7 on the season. UC-Irvine falls to 1-9 on the year.

In the first half, SMU found a hot shooting hand, hitting 53.1% of its shots. UC-Irvine attempted to keep up with SMU but the Mustang touch was too much to contain. SMU also dominated on the boards (23-13). The Mustangs posted 16 points in the paint compared to four for the Anteaters. After holding UCI to only free throws in the final 9:30 of the first half, SMU went into the intermission with a season-high 25 point lead, 42-17.

The second half continued much of the same for SMU as the Mustangs built up a lead to as many as 41 points (72-31) at the 7:10 mark. The Mustang starters spent most of the half on the bench from that point on. SMU cooled off to shooting 44.4% from the field and turned the ball over 13 times. UCI chipped away at the Mustang lead, going on a 20-5 run to close out the game.

The game's top scorer was UCI's Stephanie Duda with 17 points and nine rebounds. Leading the Mustangs was sophomore Janielle Dodds with 16 points and eight boards. She also collected a career-high four blocked shots.

After some time off for the Christmas holiday, the Mustangs close out non-conference play at Moody Coliseum on Friday, Dec. 30 vs. Sam Houston State. Tip-off is slated for 6:00 p.m.