Feb. 1, 2007
Box Score
DALLAS (SMU) - The SMU women's basketball team snapped its four-game winless streak Thursday night with a convincing 73-47 victory over visiting UCF at Moody Coliseum on the campus of SMU. With the win, SMU improves to 12-9 (4-5 C-USA) while the Golden Knights collect their eighth straight loss (6-16, 1-8 C-USA).
SMU had control of the game right from the opening whistle, opening up with an 18-3 run in the first 11 minutes of the game. The Ponies never looked back, successfully running their offense and getting valuable points in their transition game. Despite shooting only 34.3% from the field in the first half, SMU took a 36-18 lead into intermission. UCF collected 17 miscues in the first half - SMU scored 12 points off UCF turnovers in the first half.
In the second half, SMU continued its dominance over the Golden Knights, upping its lead to as many as 30 points (73-43) with less than two minutes remaining in the game. The sizable lead gave SMU head coach Rhonda Rompola a chance to rest her starters and get some valuable playing time for her bench players. SMU shot 46.2% from the field in the second half.
SMU set a single game record for best free throw percentage (minimum 15 attempts), going perfect from the free throw line (19-of-19). The previous record of 21-of-22 (95.5%) took place on Jan. 17, 1996 vs. Rice.
Freshman Brittany Gilliam made the most of her first collegiate start, recording 17 points, six rebounds and five steals in 35 minutes of play. Junior Janielle Dodds added 17 points and six boards in 23 minutes of play. Freshman Delisha Wills added 12 points and six rebounds for the Mustangs. Francine Houston topped the Golden Knight scorers with 11 points.
SMU heads out to Hattiesburg, Miss., to face Southern Miss Sunday afternoon. Game time is slated for 2:00 p.m.
