6
SPORTS
The Daily Campus
FRIDAY n JANUARY 25, 2013
Men’s Basketball
Women’s Basketball
Lady Mustangs are off to best start Mustangs look to refocus against UCF since 1999-2000 season MATTHEW COSTA Staff Writer mcosta@smu.edu
After falling to 1-5 since the start of the New Year, the SMU Mustangs (11-9, 1-4 in C-USA) need a conference victory versus Central Florida in order to make a late push if they have hopes of an appearance in the NCAA tournament. The task will not be an easy one as the Golden Knights possess one of the nation’s strongest offenses and the pre-season Conference USA player of the year, senior forward Keith Clanton. Clanton is coming off one of his best games of the season when he filled up the stat sheet with 19 points, 8 rebounds, 4 blocks and 3 assists in an overtime win versus Houston. The Mustangs will counter with Junior Shawn Williams, who has been on a scoring tear lately, producing 41 points in the last three games. Although SMU is 1-2 in that span, Williams’ production
has been a big lift alongside leading scorers Nick Russell and Jalen Jones. SMU’s 8-1 start is not completely forgotten, but the same level of offense has not been seen. While the Mustangs averaged over 70 points per game in their first nine, they have been held to below 60 in 6 of their past 11 matches. Although the numbers may not appear on SMU’s side, the Knights have been giving up points to conference opponents lately. UCF narrowly defeated Houston, 79-75, and lost it’s previous game to East Carolina, 88-85. Larry Brown’s squad will also have the advantage of rest, as UCF played Rice on Wednesday, while the Mustangs have been able to rest since their game against UTEP last Saturday. Hopefully the defense of SMU will be able to hold the offense of the Knights in check and get on a run as the calendar inches closer to the Conference tournament in March.
DEMETRIO TENIENTE Sports Editor dteniente@smu.edu SMU is 12-4 (4-0 in Conference USA) boasting a four game winning streak, the Mustangs best start since the 1999-2000 season. While the Mustangs were rolling well before winter break, the emergence of a particular player has set the Mustangs up for go on a serious run for the NCAA Tournament. The Mustangs have found a star in Junior Transfer Keena Mays, who was named Conference USA Player of the week for the second time this season, becoming eligible in mid-December. After only three games as a mustang, Mays found herself named Madness C-USA player of the week by College sports Madness and was awarded Conference USA Player of the week. Mays is averaging 21.2 points a game as a Mustang and her solid offensive output has helped SMU to its first 4-0 start to the conference season since 1999 . Last Sunday, Mays hit a career high six 3-pointers against Rice. Mays has played in nine games thus far and has hit 20 or more points
six times. SMU leads conference USA in field goal percentage (43.4), and 3-point field goal percentage (45.3). The Arlington native comes to the Mustangs after spending her freshman year as a guard for Kansas. As a freshman she played in all 34 games with 13 starts. Mays averaged 7.1 points and 3.0 rebounds a game. She was second on the team with 119 assists- averaging 3.5 per game. In high school, Mays led Mansfield Timberview to the 2010 4A State championship. She was a three-time All-State selection DFWCOLLEGESPORTSBEAT.COM by the Texas Girls Coaches Association SMU’s Keena Mays pulls up for a jumper while playing for Kansas. Senior guard Alisha Filmore is averaging 12.5 points per game, she is shooting 36 percent from the Tulsa is 6-11 (1-3 in C-USA) and being-they let teams hang around field with 2.5 assists per game. is averaging 64.5 points per game and then give up leads in the second. The duo of Mays and Filmore are and is allowing 62.6 points a game. Tulsa has been consistently average hitting nearly 40 percent of their Tulsa is lead by Senior guard Taleya for the season and have faded late three point shots. Mayberry who is averaging 19.1 in games. If the Mustangs can come While Filmore and Mays are points per game with 38 percent out shooting the ball well and play SMU basketball, Tulsa should drop obvious scoring machines, SMU is shooting average. to 1-4 in C-USA and The Mustangs On paper the Mustangs should spreading the wealth around with at least four Mustangs scoring 10 have no problem dealing with Tulsa can extend their win streak to points or more in each of their last as long as they execute early. The five games. two games. Golden Hurricanes have only out SMU will return to Moody The Mustangs play their next scored their opponents by an average to host Houston on January 31. game at Tulsa Sunday at 2 p.m. of 3.7 points in the first half. Point A1
Swimming
SMU women dominate TCU; Men face off against Texas A&M Friday ALEX LEVY Contributing Writer alevy@smu.edu SMU’s Women’s Swimming and Diving faced off with rival TCU Wednesday in Perkins Natatorium on the Mustangs’ senior night. The No. 23 Mustangs won 10 of the 12 swimming events. SMU won by a final score of 135-86, making them 4-1 in dual meets this season. Captain Nina Rangelova, a junior
All-American, had an outstanding performance. She won both the 200 and 500-yd freestyles, anchoring the team on the way to a blowout victory. Other notable performances: Sophomore Nathalie Lindborg won both the 50 and 100-yd freestyles, sophomore Isabella Arcila won the 200-yd individual medley and the 200-yd backstroke, sophomore Rachel Nicol won the 200-yd breaststroke and freshman Danielle Villars won the 200-yd butterfly.
The Mustangs finished out the meet by winning the 400-yd medley relay with a time of 3:43.42. Their next meet is when they head down to Austin on Feb. 1 and 2 to face off against No. 6 Arizona and No. 7 Texas. The SMU Men’s Swimming and Diving team is back in action this Friday, Jan. 25th as they travel to College Station to face off again interstate foe Texas A&M. The team looks for a win following a loss to nationally ranked LSU two
weeks ago. In their first meet since that defeat, the Mustangs will defer to their veteran leadership to help them achieve a victory on the road. Mitchell Thompson and Mindaugas Sindauskas will have to come up big in their events to defeat the Aggies on the road. Sophomore Devin Burnett looks to continue his stellar season after winning the three-meter dive at the SMU Classic this past week. With only one meet left down in Austin after this week before the
CHRISTOPHER SAUL/The Daily Campus
Two of SMU’s swimmers prepare for their event against TCU on Wednesday Night.
Conference USA Championships, the Mustangs will be looking to build
momentum down the stretch, making this Friday’s meet a pivotal one.