Late Rally Comes Up Short For SMU Against Rice (with VIDEO)

[PonyPride]

From SMUMustangs.com:

Late Rally Comes Up Short For SMU Against Rice
Simpson scores 12; Johnson adds 10 in loss

Feb. 19, 2012

DALLAS (SMU) - Akil Simpson scored 12 points with five rebounds, and Krystal Johnson added 10 points to lead the Mustangs, but Jessica Kuster scored 22 points and grabbed 12 rebounds to lead Rice to a 69-60 win over SMU in Moody Coliseum on Sunday.

The Mustangs (12-14, 5-8 Conference USA) trailed by just four at halftime, shooting 37.9-percent from the field, but Rice (13-13, 7-6 C-USA) connected on 53.8-percent in the second half to surge ahead for the victory.

Raven Short hit a pair of free throws for two of her eight points with 12:23 left in the game to pull the Mustangs to within five points, 45-40, but Rice scored the next 11 points to extend the lead to 16. SMU battled back, scoring 20 points in the last eight minutes of the game, but Rice kept knocking down shots to hold on to the advantage.

Brittany Hardy finished with nine points and six rebounds in 18 minutes for the Mustangs, and Samantha Mahnesmith scored seven points. Christine Elliott grabbed a team-high 10 rebounds and scored five points, going 2-of-4 from the field and 1-of-2 from the free throw line.

The Mustangs finished the game shooting 39.3-percent from the field, and were 5-of-7 from beyond the arc (71.4-percent). Rice was 27-of-61 from the field, 27-of-61, including 8-of-18 on 3-point attempts.

SMU faces a UTEP team that is undefeated in conference play on Thursday night in El Paso, Texas at 8:00 p.m. CT. The Mustangs return to Moody Coliseum on Sunday to take on Tulane at 2:00 p.m. in the final home game of the season.

[well travelled pony]

Tough loss. Watched the game on TV out in LA. I think Coach Rompola had it right. The lack of scoring affected the team. Let's upset utep!!

Go Ponies!

[Hoss]

Upsetting UTEP would be huge. I saw them when they came up to Tulsa, and they're really good this year. Pulling that off would be an enormous boost of confidence.

I watched the game on TV too, and I really like the new kid (Hardy). I heard a little about her when she was at OSU, and when she gets more accustomed to what Coach R wants, she'll be a really nice player.

That #30 for Rice is awesome. Is she a senior?

[ALEX LIFESON]

How is it that Baylor can get great players to come to Waco, year after year?

[DanFreibergerForHeisman]

How is it that Baylor can get great players to come to Waco, year after year?

Beyond the obvious answer?

[MustangStealth]

That #30 for Rice is awesome. Is she a senior?

She's only a Sophomore. You're right though, she's the kind of player who could win player of the year multiple times in a conference like CUSA.

[Charleston Pony]

tough year for SMU hoops