DMN: Path is Clear for SMU Women's Basketball Team

[MrMustang1965]

By DAMON L. SAYLES / The Dallas Morning News
[email protected]

SMU women's basketball coach Rhonda Rompola expected her team to receive an 11th or 12th seed during Monday's 2008 Women's NCAA Tournament selection show.

"I would have loved to have been higher, but it is what it is," Rompola said after her Mustangs received the 12th seed in the Oklahoma City Region. SMU, the Conference USA tournament champion, will face fifth-seeded Notre Dame in a first-round game Sunday in West Lafayette, Ind.

"We've got to go in and win games in the tournament," Rompola said. "That's how you get respect."

Cheers echoed throughout downtown Dallas' Ten Sports Grill as members of the SMU program and their fans watched the selection show on several big screens.

"We're just happy to be going somewhere," senior Sharee Shepherd said. "There are a lot of good teams out there who'll be sitting home."

SMU will face a Notre Dame team that's on a two-game skid. Charel Allen (14.5 points) and Ashley Barlow (11.7) are the top scorers for the Fighting Irish, who rely on a balanced attack.

Notre Dame, however, has shot 31 percent (19 of 62 against Pittsburgh) and 25 percent (18 of 71 against St. John's) in its last two games. The Irish, in the St. John's game, connected on only 15 percent (2 of 13) from 3-point range.

SMU enters the NCAA Tournament with a program-record 24 wins. Its 73-57 win over UTEP on March 9 clinched the program's first conference title since 2000. It also snapped UTEP's 23-game winning streak.

"Beating UTEP gave us reassurance that we can beat any team," senior Janielle Dodds said. "But we knew going in that any team we'd play [in the tournament] is going to be good, and anywhere we'd get to play would be a blessing."

Dodds (15 points) and Delisha Wills (12.3 points) are SMU's leading scorers. Shepherd, Jillian Samuels, Brittany Gilliam and Katy Cobb also help shoulder the offensive load. Shepherd, the conference's Defensive Player of the Year, needs two steals to reach 100 for the season.

Defense will be a factor against a Notre Dame team that commits fewer than 15 turnovers a game.

"We're going to watch a lot of film, but we'll mainly focus on us," Shepherd said. "We will have to play our game on offense and defense and not worry about the other team too much."

SMU found out its future around 6:35 p.m. Fifteen minutes later, the program let out another cheer after hearing UTEP was a seventh seed in the Spokane region. UTEP will face 10th-seeded Western Kentucky in a first-round game.

"Right now, that's our buddy," Rompola said of UTEP. "The last couple of years, it's only been a one-team show for our conference. Even though we beat them, we're rooting for them.

"We get two teams from our conference in this year. Now, we've got to do damage in the tournament."

[PonyPride]

... Notre Dame, however, has shot 31 percent (19 of 62 against Pittsburgh) and 25 percent (18 of 71 against St. John's) in its last two games. The Irish, in the St. John's game, connected on only 15 percent (2 of 13) from 3-point range...

Good to know, especially since we can defend guards pretty well.

[The XtC]

Notre Dame has 2 big girls, but one hardly plays, and the other isnt a big scorer. They also had a very nice 6'1" forward who is apparently injured, and hasnt played in awhile.

[smu diamond m]

I think the most interesting thing here is the ND turnovers. Less than 15 a game? Hopefully Shepard can open it up on them.