LAS VEGAS, Nev. (Dec. 19, 2010) – The University of South Florida women's basketball team started to hit its stride in the second half of Saturday's opener against UNLV in the Basketball Travelers Classic and looked to carry that groove over tonight against SMU.

And the Bulls did just that as they won their fourth straight game with a thrilling 61-55 victory over SMU in their second game of the Classic. USF improves its overall record to 9-4 while the Mustangs drop to 5-5 on the year.

Andrell and Andrea Smith led the way for the Bulls with 13 points apiece while Kaneisha Saunders and Porche Grant added 12 and 10 points, respectively in the win. In addition to Andrell Smith's 13 points, she also grabbed a team and career-high 12 rebounds, which also marked her first career double-double. 

Grant also pulled down 10 rebounds for her fourth double figure rebounding performance of the season and her four fourth double-double of the season. 

The Bulls jumped out quickly in the first half taking as much as a seven-point lead three times in the first 10-plus minutes, the latter coming on driving lay-up by Grant with 9:50 left in the half.

SMU, however, would use a 12-3 three run capped by a Raquel Christian three-pointer with 3:04 left. That would be the last field goal that the Mustangs would hit – until Christian connected on another jumper with four seconds left before the break – as the Bulls closed the half out on an 8-3 run. That run would end with the second of two Leondra Doomes-Stephens three-pointers giving USF its biggest lead of the half, eight points, 35-27 with 27 seconds left.

The Bulls would take a 35-29 lead into the locker room at the intermission. 

That lead would not hold up for long as the Mustangs used a 12-1 run through the first 4:05 to take a 41-36 lead on a rebound put-back by Delisha Wills with 15:55 left in the second stanza.

Grant would finally hit the Bulls' first second half field goal on a rebound put-back of her own with 15:22 left.

Despite continued poor shooting by both teams, SMU would never extend its lead to more than five points, allowing USF and the Mustangs to go back-and-forth for the next several minutes. The Bulls would then put together a 6-0 run, after trailing 44-39 with 12:03 left in the game, to take a 45-44 lead when Andrea Smith hit the second of two consecutive treys with 9:58 left in the contest.

Alisha Filmore and Haley Day would hit back-to-back threes putting SMU up by three points, 48-45, with 8:20 left in the game.

Andrell Smith then drained her first three-pointer, since the first half, to tie the game at 48-all with 6:20 left, just before Grant hit four straight free throws to give USF a four-point edge, 52-48.

The Bulls would only relinquish the lead one more time, with 1:56 left, when Wills converted a three-point play making the score 55-54, SMU.

USF was too tough down the stretch and iced the game with a 7-0 run down the stretch in the final 53 seconds.