No. 2 SMU equestrian beats No. 6 OSU, faces No.1 TCU in NCEA

[PonyPride]

From SMUMustangs.com:

Mustangs Advance Back To National Championship After Defeating No. 6 Seed Oklahoma State 11-9

OCALA, Fla. (SMU) – The No. 2 seed SMU equestrian team advanced to the NCEA National Championship by defeating No. 6 seed Oklahoma State 11-9 on Friday at the World Equestrian Center.

SMU advances to their second consecutive national championship, where it will face No. 1 seed TCU. The Mustangs and Horned Frogs split their regular season matchups (1-1).

SMU improves to 11-4 on the season, with Oklahoma State finishing 9-7 on the year.

The meet began with Fences and Reining occurring simultaneously.

Augusta Iwasaki got SMU on the board with an impressive 89-85.83 win over Oklahoma State's Bella Holway. In the next ride, Taylor Madden picked up her second Fences win of the tournament by defeating Paige Jones 87.22-85.

The Mustangs took home Reining once again, earning three points. Taylor Zimmerman kicked off SMU with a 71-70 victory over Ava Bush, with Dani Latimer following up in a 68.5-66.83 defeat of Quincee Clark. In the final ride, Lily Anderson posted a 68.67 to defeat Abby Budd's 68.33.

SMU and Oklahoma State went into the half tied at 5-5.

The second half of the meet saw the Flat and Horsemanship coincide.

The Mustangs swung the even momentum by scoring four points on the Flat. Iwasaki earned her second point of the day, posting a 78.67 to put SMU out front 6-5. Taylor Madden went on to score again for SMU right after, defeating Sydney North 82.33-79. Katy Merchant then extended SMU's lead to three by scoring an 81.33 to beat Grace McReynolds' 76.67. Hensley Humphries scored SMU's final point on the flat with an 83-78.67 victory over Hannah Dodd.

In Horsemanship, Caroline Nielson gave the Mustangs' their 10th point by beating Peyton Baxter 74.83-74.33. Then, with the score at 10-8, Anderson scored her second point of the day by earning a 76.

The Mustangs look to repeat as national champions against No. 1 TCU for the NCEA Dual Discipline National Championship on Saturday at the World Equestrian Center. Saturday's championship meet is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. (CT).

[Terry Webster]

Seems fitting to have SMU and tcu in the finals.

[EastStang]

Back to back!!!