PHILADELPHIA (SMU) -  Dai'ja Thomas tied her career-high and led the Mustangs with 12 points, but the SMU women's basketball team fell 55-35 at Temple in the Liacouras Center in Philadelphia Wednesday afternoon.

Thomas, who finished 3-for-6 from the field and 6-of-8 from the free-thow line, also recorded two blocks and three rebounds. Gabrielle Wilkins added six points for SMU (9-12, 4-6 American Athletic Conference), finishing with three rebounds and two steals. Forward Stephanie Collins also finished with six points, grabbing four rebounds and tallying a team-high three blocks.

The Mustangs finished with six blocks and now have 121 blocks on the season, good enough for fourth on the SMU single-season blocked shots list.

The Temple (14-7, 8-2 The American) defense overwhelmed the Mustangs in the first quarter, allowing only four SMU points in the opening 10 minutes. SMU shooters adjusted and scored 13 points in the second quarter, but the Owls took a 30-17 lead into the locker room at halftime.

Trailing 30-17 at halftime, the Temple defense didn't let up holding SMU to single-digit points again in the third quarter, expanding its lead, 49-23, en route to the win.

SMU plays three of its next four games at home starting Saturday against UCF in Moody Coliseum at 2 p.m. CT. SMU is 10-5 all-time against the Knights, including a 4-1 record in Dallas. The Mustangs have won six of the last eight regular season matchups, and two of the last three.

--SMUMustangs.com--