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No. 6 SMU faces No. 11 UCF Thursday night at C-USA Tournament

Dodds named All-C-USA second team; Wills on All-Freshman team

Feb. 27, 2007

DALLAS (SMU) - After capturing a much-needed 68-58 road win at UTEP on Sunday, the SMU women's basketball team (17-11, 9-7 C-USA) earned the No. 6 seed and will face the No. 11 seed UCF Golden Knights (8-21, 3-13 C-USA) Thursday night in the first round of the 2007 Conference USA Women's Basketball Championships held in Tulsa, Okla. Thursday's tip-off is slated for 8:30 p.m. and can be heard live on KKGM-Radio (1630 AM).

Last season, SMU was the No. 3 seed and received a first-round bye while UCF held the No. 11 seed. The Mustangs have been the No. 6 seed four times as a member of the Southwest Conference (1987, 1988, 1989, 1991), posting an 0-4 record. Since 1983, SMU totals a conference tournament record of 19-19.

As announced by the league on Tuesday, SMU junior Janielle Dodds was named to the All-Conference USA second team, as voted on by the league's head coaches, selected media members and the women's basketball sports information directors. It marks her third All-Conference team honor (first team honors awarded in 2005 with the WAC, 2006 with Conference USA). In addition, forward Delisha Wills was selected to the Conference USA All-Freshman team.

Scouting UCF...
Eighth-year head coach Gail Striegler's Golden Knight squad is struggling, having lost its last five straight games and nine of its last 11 games. UCF averages nearly 58 points per game and allows nearly 66 opponent points per game. The Golden Knights shoot 36.9% from the field (27.8% from three-point range) and hit only 58% of their free throws. UCF turns the ball over nearly 21 times per game. Individually, senior guard Francine Houston tops the team in scoring (13.7 ppg) and connects on 38.5% of her three-point field goal attempts. Senior forward Keunta Miles grabs a team-high 6.7 rebounds per game.

Series History with the Golden Knights...
Thursday marks the third meeting between SMU and UCF, as the Mustangs hold a 2-0 series advantage over the Golden Knights. On Feb. 1 in Dallas, SMU manhandled UCF by the score of 73-47. Freshman Brittany Gilliam made the most of her first collegiate start, recording 17 points, six rebounds and five steals in 35 minutes of play. Junior Janielle Dodds added 17 points and six boards in 23 minutes of play.

Looking Ahead...
Winner of the SMU-UCF contest will face No. 3 seed East Carolina (16-13) in C-USA quarterfinal action Friday night at 8:30 p.m.

Pony Tales...
** For Rhonda Rompola, Thursday's game marks her 475th game as SMU's head coach.
** With 17 victories, SMU has already surpassed its win total from the 2005-06 season (16).
** Freshman guard Jillian Samuels has already made her mark in the Mustang freshman season records. The Mesquite, Texas, native currently ranks second in three-point field goals made (49) and three-point field goal attempts (140). Former Pony Andrea Cossey holds the SMU freshman season records in both of those categories (53 three-pointers/150 three-point field goal attempts).

We killed UCF when they were in town before -- DO IT AGAIN!

Good luck in the tournament, Ponies!

all the best for lady mustangs

Hope Katie Cobb busts out with another big game like she had at UTEP. With Dodds inside, a strong game from Cobb will make life rough on that UCF bunch.
Go Ponies!

Is the entire team back next year or does Rompola have a scholarship to offer. If so has she someone committed?

The only senior is Katie Gross, and she's coming back next year after sitting out this year with some kind of injury - knee, I think.

As for incoming players, I saw this on smumustangs.com:

Haley Day and LaShandra Hill, two SMU women's basketball signees who committed to SMU last November, will be playing in the Texas girls' basketball state tournament this week with their respective teams.

Haley Day, a 5-10 forward from Rockwall, Texas, and her Lady Jacket squad won the 5A-Region II championship this past weekend and heads to Austin for the state semifinals on Friday evening. Rockwall (37-0) takes on Mansfield Summit at 8:30 p.m. The Lady Jackets are ranked No. 3 in the USA Today national poll. Day comes into the semifinals averaging 20.7 points, 7.4 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 2.4 steals per game. She is shooting 51% from the field and 78.4% from the free throw line.

Hill, a 5-6 point guard, attends Fort Worth Dunbar High School, which won the 4A Regional title Friday. The Lady Wildcats post a 30-4 record and has won 14 straight games heading into Thursday's state semifinals in Austin, taking on Marble Falls (32-6), at 8:30 p.m.

Day averaged 16.2 points per game as a junior (19.7 ppg in district play). She hauled in 8.6 rebounds per game (9.0 per game in district play). She was a member of the state tournament 5A All-Tournament team in 2006 and was named District MVP (12-5A) as well. Day is a 2006 TABC All-State selection and a two-time TGCA All-State selection. Her high school team has competed in the state tournament all three years and reached the state finals in 2006, losing to Plano West in the championship game. Day is the daughter of Jimmy and Lisa Day.

Hill earned a number of honors during her career. As a junior, Hill was a first-team All-State, All-Region, and All-District selection. Named the Offensive Player of the Year, Hill averaged 16 points, 4.5 assists, and 3.5 steals per game while shooting over 51% from three-point range. She also earned USA Today Player of the Week honors as well as first team All-Area team honors by the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. As a sophomore, Hill earned first team All-District, All-Region, and All-State honors as a member of the state championship team. She is the daughter of Perrian and Brenda Hill.

another signee
Katie Meador out of Marble Falls is also headed to state

Right, and they've got someone named Meachum or Mitchum or something also committed for 2008. But I read the question as players coming to campus in fall 2007.

Not to be nitpicky, but Katie is just a junior, and cant sign until this November. Right now we have a verbal commitment from her. She'll be going head to head with Lashandra when Marble Falls plays Dunbar, both are point guards, I have some friends down there who are going to give me a report on how the game goes.