SMU escapes with 66-65 win
Posted: Mon Dec 28, 2009 11:44 pmSMU head coach Rhonda Rompola had two reactions after watching the Mustangs (9-2) squeak past Hofstra (7-4), 66-65, Monday night at Moody Coliseum:
She admitted that her team's win was not the prettiest performance of the year.
But she also pointed out that it should be seen as a sign of encouragement when a team can turn in a sloppy, "ugly" performance and still come away with a win, especially over a team with a winning record that easily could have come in to Moody with a record of 9-1.
The Mustangs trailed for much of the second half, thanks in large part to having 14 shots blocked by the Hofstra defense. But Haley Day hit a pair of clutch free throws with 39 seconds left to tie the game, 64-64, and after a Hofstra free throw, senior Brittany Gilliam — last year's Conference USA Defensive Player of the Year — head-faked a defender into the air before draining the game-winning shot, and then raced back downcourt to block a shot with 0.3 seconds left to preserve the SMU win.
Sophomore guard Samantha Mahnesmith also had the best game of her career, scoring a career-high 16 points on 6-of-11 shooting, including a pair of three-point field goals.
"Sam can shoot it," Rompola said of Mahnesmith. "She's not really going to create her shot a lot on her own, so we have to try to find her, because she's one of our best shooters."
Mahnesmith's 16 points trailed only Gilliam's 17; Day also got into double figures in the scoring column, with 13 points. Gilliam led the Mustangs with seven assists, three steals and three blocked shots.
"I thought we forced a lot of drives," Rompola said when asked about the blocked shots by the Hofstra defense. "But they do that — they're a very big team inside.
"That was part of our emphasis at halftime — they're big and strong down low. But then we started sending them to the free-throw lane."
Rompola said she thought the game would go to "whoever was sharper, and whoever was more ready to play. They came out sharper than we did, and they were more ready to play — sure made it exciting down the stretch, though, didn't it?
"We were pretty sloppy tonight, and made some mental mistakes — those obviously are things we have to fix. But sometimes, when you can play a game like we did and still come out with a win, it should something about the character in your team."
She admitted that her team's win was not the prettiest performance of the year.
But she also pointed out that it should be seen as a sign of encouragement when a team can turn in a sloppy, "ugly" performance and still come away with a win, especially over a team with a winning record that easily could have come in to Moody with a record of 9-1.
The Mustangs trailed for much of the second half, thanks in large part to having 14 shots blocked by the Hofstra defense. But Haley Day hit a pair of clutch free throws with 39 seconds left to tie the game, 64-64, and after a Hofstra free throw, senior Brittany Gilliam — last year's Conference USA Defensive Player of the Year — head-faked a defender into the air before draining the game-winning shot, and then raced back downcourt to block a shot with 0.3 seconds left to preserve the SMU win.
Sophomore guard Samantha Mahnesmith also had the best game of her career, scoring a career-high 16 points on 6-of-11 shooting, including a pair of three-point field goals.
"Sam can shoot it," Rompola said of Mahnesmith. "She's not really going to create her shot a lot on her own, so we have to try to find her, because she's one of our best shooters."
Mahnesmith's 16 points trailed only Gilliam's 17; Day also got into double figures in the scoring column, with 13 points. Gilliam led the Mustangs with seven assists, three steals and three blocked shots.
"I thought we forced a lot of drives," Rompola said when asked about the blocked shots by the Hofstra defense. "But they do that — they're a very big team inside.
"That was part of our emphasis at halftime — they're big and strong down low. But then we started sending them to the free-throw lane."
Rompola said she thought the game would go to "whoever was sharper, and whoever was more ready to play. They came out sharper than we did, and they were more ready to play — sure made it exciting down the stretch, though, didn't it?
"We were pretty sloppy tonight, and made some mental mistakes — those obviously are things we have to fix. But sometimes, when you can play a game like we did and still come out with a win, it should something about the character in your team."