March 17, 2010

Box Score

Season Stats

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (SMU) - The Mustangs fell victim to a stifling New Mexico defense, falling 66-51 to the Lobos in the first round of the Women's National Invitation Tournament in Albuquerque, N.M., Wednesday night.

Brittany Gilliam led the Mustangs (20-11) with 14 points, and grabbed seven rebounds with six assists. Christine Elliott recorded her sixth double-double of the season, scoring 11 points with 11 rebounds. Haley Day scored 12 points, and Jillian Samuels added 11.

The Lobos (19-12) stretched their halftime lead to 10, 39-29, over the first three minutes of the second half, and the Mustangs never got within seven points the rest of the way.

New Mexico shot 48.1-percent from the field in the second half (13-of-27), while SMU was only able to knock down 34.6-percent of its second half attempts (9-of-26).

The Mustangs trailed by as many as 11 points in the first half, but their free-throw shooting kept them in the game, knocking down 11-of-11 attempts from the charity stripe in the first half. The Lobos led 21-10 with 10:58 left in the first half, but the Mustangs started gaining momentum on the offensive end.

SMU was just 2-of-11 from the field at the second media timeout with 11:15 on the clock, but hit six from the field to go into the locker room down five, 32-27. Elliott led the Mustangs with eight points and nine rebounds in the first 20 minutes, and Samuels had seven points, all on free-throws.

The Lobos were shooting 41.9-percent (13-of-31) at the break, connecting on 4-of-8 3-point attempts (50.0-percent).

The Mustangs finished the game shooting 28.8-percent from the field (17-of-59), and went 0-for-17 from behind the arc. SMU scored 17 points from the free-throw line, sinking 89.5-percent of foul shots (17-of-19).

New Mexico shot 44.8-percent from the field (26-of-58), including 8-of-17 from 3-point range (47.1-percent).