Mustangs Host Rival TCU Wednesday Night
Nov 17 | Women's Basketball
| SMU (1-0) vs. TCU (2-0) | |
| Date & Tip Time | Wed., Nov. 18 at 7 p.m. |
| Location | Moody Coliseum – Dallas, Texas |
| Tickets | 214-768-4263 or smumustangs.com/tickets |
| Video | PonyUp Tv |
| Radio | KAAM 770 AM – Dallas |
| Live Stats | Gametracker |
| Game Info | Game Notes (.pdf) |
| /SMUMustangs | /SMUBasketballW | |
| @SMUMustangs | @SMUBasketballW | |
SMU hosts rival TCU Wednesday at 7 p.m. in Moody Coliseum in the second game of a five-game homestand to start the season. The Mustangs won 74-36 against Northwestern State in the season opener Saturday. The Horned Frogs are 2-0.
SCOUTING SMU
Four players scored at least 10 points in the season opener, led by Stephanie Collins' game-high 16 points. Alicia Froling and Ashley Gibson scored 13 points each, and Dai'ja Thomas added 12.
LAST TIME OUT
Four Mustangs scored in double figures as the SMU women's basketball team defeated Northwestern State, 74-36, in the 2015-16 season opener Sunday evening at Moody Coliseum. SMU shot 40 percent from three-point range, matching its season high from last season with eight made 3-pointers.
The Mustangs (1-0) had nine different scorers with sophomore Stephanie Collins leading all scorers and setting a career-high with 16 points, 12 of which came in the second half. Sophomore Alicia Froling and junior Ashley Gibson both posted 13 points, Gibson going 5-of-7 from the field, including a perfect 3-for-3 from outside the arc. Freshman Dai'ja Thomas inked 12 in her first collegiate game, going 4-of-6 from the field with nine rebounds.
FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK
Dai'ja Thomas was named American Athletic Conference Freshman of the week after scoring 12 points with nine rebounds in her collegiate debut. The Dallas native and Skyline High School graduate also had two assists, a block and a steal.
SCOUTING TCU
TCU won its first two games of the season, scoring 85 points in both home contests. The Horned Frogs have three players averaging at least 10 points, led by Zahna Medley with 16.5 per game. Jada Butts is averaging 11.0 points and Toree Thompson is scoring 10.5 points per game. TCU is shooting 46 percent as a team, while holding opponents to 25.4 percent from the field.
Series History: SMU is 42-17 all-time against TCU, but the two teams have each won four of the last eight contests. The Mustangs won three of the last four in Dallas, but TCU won last season's matchup 73-63 in Fort Worth. Gabrielle Wilkins led the Mustangs with 14 points last season, and Alicia Froling scored 10. SMU won the first meeting in the series, 58-52, at TCU in 1976.
UP NEXT
SMU hosts No. 18 Arizona State Saturday at 1 p.m. The Sun Devils defeated the Mustangs 77-42 in Tempe last season. Arizona State lost at home to then-No. 17 Kentucky, 68-64, Sunday.
Alicia Froling
Sophomore Alicia Froling became the first freshman since Janielle Dodds to lead the team in scoring, averaging 11.5 points per game, and was named to the American Athletic Conference All-Freshman team. She also grabbed 7.2 rebounds per game, highest among returners. Last season, she scored at least 10 points 20 times, including a season-high 27 points at UCF. She also had five double-doubles, averaging 7.2 rebounds per game, highest among returners. Froling had a double-double in the season opener this year, scoring 13 points with a game-high 15 rebounds.
FRESHMAN LEADER
Janielle Dodds was the last freshman to lead the Mustangs in scoring, averaging 14.1 points per game during the 2004-05 season. Dodds averaged 15.1 points for her career, and is the all-time scoring leader at SMU with 1,861 career points. Alicia Froling was the only Mustang to average double figures last season, leading the team with 11.5 points per game. She also set a single-season record with 54 blocks, breaking the mark of 53 set by Sarah Davis in 2005-06. Davis also held the freshman record, posting 40 blocks in 2002-03.
INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENCE
Alicia Froling represented Australia at the 2015 FIBA U19 Women's World Championships in Russia, winning a Bronze medal with the team, her second career medal at the World Championships. A native of Queensland, Australia, Froling averaged 8.1 points per game, reaching double figures twice, including a tournament-high 19 points during group play. She also averaged 6.9 rebounds per game, and shot just under 70 percent from the free throw line. Stephanie Collins also represented Australia at the 2015 World University Games.
A LONE SENIOR
Gabrielle Wilkins, the lone senior on the roster, averaged 8.4 points per game last season, second among returners, and shot 71 percent from the free throw line. She also averaged 4.8 rebound per game, and had 56 assists. Wilkins scored seven points with four rebounds Sunday.
Morgan Bolton
Morgan Bolton led the team with 73 assists in her first season on the floor with the Mustangs. The junior guard averaged 5.9 points per game and shot 71 percent from the free throw line. Bolton was the top scorer in three games, including a season-high 13 points against Tulane and again at Memphis. The transfer from Arkansas-Little Rock also had a season-high seven assists twice, against UTEP and Florida A&M.
Stephanie Collins
Stephanie Collins joined the Mustangs after the first semester last season and played in 20 games, starting eight. She reached double digits twice, scoring a season-high 13 points at East Carolina and 10 points against Cincinnati. The 6-5 center had 25 blocks, recording four in a game three times. She also grabbed a season-high seven rebounds twice. Collins led the Mustangs with a game-high 16 points against Northwestern State.
BLOCKS RECORD
With Alicia Froling setting a single-season record with 54 blocks and Stephanie Collins recording 25 in 20 games, the Mustangs went on to set a program record with 160 blocks as a team. Raven Short and Destynee Hives-McCray, who are no longer on the team, each had 20 blocks, while Keely Froling and Gabrielle Wilkins both reached double figures. The Mustangs had six blocks in the opener this season.
INSTANT PRODUCTION
McKenzie Adams and Ashley Gibson both started for the Mustangs in their SMU debut, and SMU's five newcomers all saw playing times. Gibson led the group with 13 points, making all three of her shots from 3-point range, and freshman Dai'ja Thomas scored 12 points. Gibson and Thomas each had nine rebounds, and combined for seven assists, a block and three steals.
THREE-POINT THREATS
SMU made eight 3-point field goals in the season opener, matching the season high from a year ago. Ashley Gibson led the outside attack, going 3-for-3. Five Mustangs made a shot from behind the arc, and SMU was 8-of-20 from distance as a team.
A MISSING PIECE
SMU will be without Kiara Perry this season as the junior sits out with a redshirt due to a back injury. As a sophomore, Perry led the team with 39 steals and averaged 7.9 points per game. The guard shot 33 percent from the field and 64 percent from the free throw line. Perry set a career-high with nine assists against UCF.
25TH SEASON
Rhonda Rompola is in her 25th season as head coach of the Mustangs. The former player who spent eight years as an assistant at SMU before being named head coach, has amassed over 400 wins in 24 seasons. She led SMU to 13 postseason appearances, including seven NCAA Tournament berths. SMU has won at least 20 games in nine seasons, with three regular-season conference championships and two conference tournament championships.
SIGNIFICANT RULE CHANGES
• NCAA women's basketball games will be played in four 10-minute quarters.
• There will be a 2:45 break between the first and second quarters and between the third and fourth quarters, with a 15-minute halftime.
• Players will shoot two free throws for each common foul beginning with the fifth foul of each quarter.
• Each team will have four timeouts, one 60-second timeout and three 30-second timeouts. Teams can only carry over three timeouts to the second half.
• The offensive team can call a timeout in the last 59.9 seconds of the fourth quarter and any overtime periods to advance the ball. The ball will then be inbounded at the 28-foot mark on the scorers' table side of the court.
• There will be one media timeout in each quarter, lasting 2:45. Media timeouts will take place at the first stoppage at or below the 5-minute mark. The first called timeout of the second half will also be a media timeout.
