DALLAS (SMU) - A tightly knit contest that bounced back-and-forth all day came down to the western team in the reining discipline, where the SMU Mustangs edged the No. 6 South Carolina Gamecocks and claimed the meet, 11-9, at Sleepy P Ranch, Saturday afternoon.

"It was a tight competition all day, however, our western team was able to take the win," said head coach Carol Gwin. "I am proud of both sides for producing highly contested points in pressure situations. Now it's time to prepare for Auburn."

With a narrow 8-7 lead entering the final discipline, SMU (2-3, 1-1 UEC) managed a 3-2 margin of victory to claim the meet. Olivia Pakula, Casey Bibbs and Keagan Snively all picked up convincing victories to seal the meet for the Mustangs. Pakula picked up the first point, 70.5-67.5 over Kara Guertin, before Bibbs bested Bailey Walters, 70.5-67. Snively clinched the meet for SMU and earned the reining MOP honor, with a 68-67.5 victory. The victory marks the second all-time victory against the Gamecocks and evens the home record at two.

SMU broke a 5-5 tie and claimed a 8-7 lead after capturing the horsemanship discipline by a margin of 3-2. Hannah McCain led the way for the Mustangs and earned the horsemanship MOP for the second-consecutive meet by besting Megan Overberg, 75.5-70.5. McCain's 75.5 ties the highest recorded score by a SMU western rider, which came two years ago by teammate Morgan Redwine. Juniors Redwine and Jaclyn White earned the other two points for the Mustangs, White claiming a 72-71.5 win and Redwine, a 73.5-72.5.

Earlier in the day, the Gamecocks (2-4, 0-2 SEC) managed to outdo SMU in equitation over fences to open the day, by a score of 3-2. Schaefer Raposa and Nora Gray continued their fences success garnishing the only Mustang points in the discipline. Raposa, now 4-1 over fences on the season, rolled over Samantha Kraus, 84-69, before Gray, who is also 4-1, edged Chloe Schmidt, 75-70.

Later, in equitation on the flat, SMU claimed three points to knot the meet at five apiece. Gray, picked up her second triumph of the day, posting a 66-61 victory to remain undefeated (5-0) in the event. Sylvia de Toledo and Alexa Boggio both found victories, 78-61 and 77-70, respectively. De Toledo improves to 4-1 on the flat, while Boggio picked up her first win of the year.

The Mustangs have a quick turnaround and square off against the Auburn Tiger (3-1, 0-1 SEC) tomorrow, Sun., Nov. 8, at Sleepy P Ranch. The meet is slated to begin at 10 a.m. CT. Coverage of the meet can be found on SMUMustangs.com, Facebook or Twitter.

--SMUMustangs.com--