NT women come close to SMU, lose 66 to 70

OldTimer · December 22, 2003

SMU women hold off North Texas, 70-66

10:02 PM CST on Sunday, December 21, 2003

By MIKE McCLENDON / Denton Record-Chronicle

Senior Shanta Ramdhanny scored 17 points and tied her career high with three steals to help SMU overcome an uninspired performance on the offensive glass, as the Mustangs defeated North Texas, 70-66, in front of 312 at the Super Pit on Sunday afternoon.

Two other players joined Ramdhanny in double figures, as SMU (3-4) shot 46 percent for the game. That helped the Mustangs overcome the Lady Eagles (3-7), who got 30 offensive rebounds and a 16-board performance out of senior forward Kim Blanton.

Not even a career-high 22 points from Jill Medlock could save North Texas from its longest losing streak since 1997, as UNT lost its sixth straight game.

North Texas trailed, 38-35, at the intermission and opened the second half strong offensively. Medlock hit a 3-pointer to tie the score at 40, then made a driving layup on the Lady Eagles' next possession to give North Texas the lead.

The lead would not last long as Shonte Roberts, who finished with 14 points, hit back-to-back buckets to return the advantage to SMU. The Mustangs never relented and led by nine or more points until the final two minutes of the game.

North Texas trailed by six points in the final minute, but missed a pair of 3-point attempts before Medlock sank a putback as time expired.

"Obviously we're frustrated," said Medlock. "But this game was actually one of our better games. We didn't play bad and our effort is there."

Sarah Davis, who finished with 12 points, grabbed a team-high seven rebounds for SMU.

Blanton notched her sixth career double-double, as she also scored 10 points on just 5-of-18 shooting.

"How do you have 30 offensive rebounds and not win?," a frustrated North Texas coach Tina Slinker asked after the game.

SMU responded to a 14-2 deficit in the first half with a 21-6 surge, negating the Lady Eagles' early advantage.

E-mail mmcclendon@dentonrc.com

SMU 70, North Texas 66

SMU (3-4) – Davis 5-11 0-0 12, Walter 1-6 2-2 4, Shead 4-7 0-2 8, Ramdhanny 7-15 2-3 17, Cossey 2-5 0-0 4, White 1-3 0-0 3, Gross 3-7 0-0 8, Roberts 6-8 2-2 14, Leet 0-1 0-1 0, Swinney 0-0 0-0 0, Totals 29-63 6-9 70.

North Texas (3-7) – Blanton 5-18 0-0 10, Wilson 4-9 0-0 10, Ajekwu 4-12 0-0 9, Bobo 1-9 0-0 2, Medlock 7-13 4-4 22, Armstrong 3-13 1-2 8, Williams 0-3 0-1 0, Edwards 2-9 1-2 5, Totals 26-86 6-9 66.

Halftime – SMU 38, North Texas 35. 3-point goals – SMU 6-17 (Davis 2-4, Shead 0-1, Ramdhanny 1-4, Roberts 2-2, Cossey 0-2, White 1-2, Gross 2-3, Leet 0-1), North Texas 8-22 (Wilson 2-4, Ajekwu 1-2, Bobo 0-2, Medlock 4-9, Armstrong 1-1, Williams 0-1, Edwards 0-3). Rebounds – North Texas 59 (Blanton 16), SMU 40 (Davis 7). Assists – North Texas 14 (Bobo, Blanton 4), SMU 18 (Shead 8). Technical fouls – none. Total fouls – North Texas 13, SMU 14. A – 312.