Nov. 24, 2009

Box Score

Season Stats

DALLAS, Texas (SMU) - The SMU women's basketball rolled to a 79-52 victory over Eastern Illinois Tuesday night to improve to 4-0 for the first time since the 2006-07 season.

SMU had four players in double-figures for the fourth-straight game, led by junior Raquel Christian's 13 points. Christine Elliott and Brittany Gilliam each scored 12, and Haley Day added 10.

Leading by a point, 8-7, nearly four minutes into the game, the Mustangs went on a 14-2 run to take a 22-9 lead. After the Panthers (1-3) scored six in a row, Day drained a 3-point shot that sparked a 15-2 run by the Mustangs, stretching the lead to 37-17 with 6:08 left in the first half. SMU never let the lead slip below 19 points the rest of the game.

SMU shot 45.8-percent from the field, going 33-of-72, and 45.5-percent from behind the arc, knocking down 10-of-22 from 3-point range. Defensively, the Mustangs held the Panthers to 33.3-percent, and Eastern Illinois hit just 1-of-13 3-point attempts.

Day grabbed seven rebounds in the game, with the Mustangs coming down with 40, including 17 on the offensive end of the floor. SMU out-scored the Panthers 16-6 in the paint. Gilliam had six assists and six boards to go with her 12 points, and Elliott grabbed four rebounds.

The Mustangs will return to Moody Coliseum Friday, when they host Hampton University in the first round of the SMU Hoops for the Cure Tournament at 7:30 p.m.