FINAL SCORESHEET

DALLAS (SMU) – No. 8 SMU held off No. 4 South Carolina to win 11-9 and finish the fall season on a high note on Friday at the Dallas Equestrian Center.

"Our girls fought really hard today to get a win," head coach Carol Gwin said. "It was a very solid win from a team that's been working hard all fall."

The Mustangs (2-3) started strong with a 4-1 win over the Gamecocks (3-3) in Horsemanship competition. Lily Anderson and Megan Waldron both scored a 74 to win the first two points over their opponents. Payton Neiberger secured the next point for the Mustangs with a 73. The last point came from Mallory Vroegh, who scored a 74.5, the highest score of the event, to earn the Most Outstanding Player honor.

A 3-2 win in Flat gave SMU a 7-3 lead heading into the break. Madison Johnson secured the MOP with an event-high score of 91 and defeated her Gamecock competitor by three points. Johnson's score is SMU's highest score in Flat this season. Mary Elizabeth Cordia and Kirsten Ostling rounded out SMU's points with scores of 82 and 87, respectively.

South Carolina worked to mount a comeback in Fences, winning the event, 4-1. Ashley Vogel won SMU's point with a score of 85 to top her opponent by two. The Gamecocks went on to score the next four points to trim SMU's lead.

One point separated the two teams heading into the final event, Reining. Jill Pfisthner was the first to secure a point for the Mustangs, scoring a 71.5 and defeating her opponent by one. Holly Lansidel added another, winning her point, 72-70. Dani Latimer secured SMU's win with a 70.5 to beat her competitor and earn the MOP for the event.

SMU continues its season in the spring, taking on Oklahoma State on Saturday, Feb. 8 to start the second half of the year.