First-year head coach
Travis Mays begins his tenure at home as the SMU women's basketball team hosts Texas State Friday at 11:30 a.m. The game will feature a Physics of Basketball presentation and physics fair at halftime, led by SMU physics professor Dr. Fred Olness, as the Mustangs welcome around 2,000 elementary and middle school students from the Dallas area to the game.
ABOUT SMU
The Mustangs added four transfers, including three graduate transfers who are eligible to play immediately, to a roster of nine returning letterwinners and four returning starters.
McKenzie Adams led the Mustangs in scoring last season, averaging 13.4 points per game, and was named American Athletic Conference Newcomer of the Year.
Alicia Froling was named to the all-conference team after finishing the season as one of three players in the league to average a double-double, scoring 12.3 points per game with 10.6 rebounds. SMU went 13-18, finishing seventh in The American with a 7-11 record.
SCOUTING TEXAS STATE
The Bobcats have nine returning letterwinners, including three returning starters, from a team that went 12-19 last season. Kaitlin Walla led the team in scoring with 10.3 points per game, making 109 field goals and 53 3-pointers. The Bobcats lost two of their top four scorers from a team that averaging 61.4 points per game while allowing opponents to score 71.3 points. Texas State ended the season on a seven-game losing streak during which it scored above 60 points just twice.
SERIES HISTORY - TEXAS STATE
SMU is 5-2 all-time against Texas State, with all games happening before the school's name was changed to Texas State. The Mustangs faced the Bobcats for the first time as a varsity women's basketball program in Moody Coliseum Feb. 3, 1977, falling 55-50 in Moody Coliseum. SMU won the next four games in the series. The Mustangs won the last meeting in the series, a 71-57 victory in Moody Coliseum Feb. 1, 1994. SMU is 3-1 all-time against the Bobcats in Moody Coliseum.
UP NEXT - AT KANSAS
The Mustangs play at Kansas in Allen Fieldhouse on Wednesday, Nov. 16, at 7 p.m. The Jayhawks went 6-25 last season, including a 73-64 loss to SMU in the championship game of the SMU Thanksgiving Classic in Moody Coliseum. Lauren Aldridge, who was the only player scoring more than 10 points with an 11.1 average, transferred to Missouri, but she is the only starter lost. Eight of 12 returning letterwinners played in all 31 games last season.
SERIES HISTORY - KANSAS
SMU is 2-3 all-time against Kansas, losing both games played in Lawrence. The Mustangs first played the Jayhawks Nov. 15, 1996, losing 77-67 at Kansas. It was more than 10 years before the two teams played again, with SMU winning the first game in Moody Coliseum 68-56 Nov. 24, 2007, in the championship game of the SMU Thanksgiving Classic. Kansas won the next two games, played in December 2010 and 2011, before SMU won last season.
LOOKING AHEAD
The game at Kansas starts a stretch of four of five games on the road. SMU plays at TCU, a team that went 18-15 last season, including an 89-79 win at SMU. The Mustangs host Prairie View A&M on Nov. 22, before playing games on Nov. 25 and 26 in the Omni Hotel Classic in Boulder, Colo.
UNDER NEW LEADERSHIP
For the first time since 1991, SMU has a new head coach on the sidelines.
Travis Mays was announced as the fourth head coach in program history on April 7, 2016, after the retirement of Rhonda Rompola, who spent 25 seasons as the head coach of the Mustangs. Mays worked for three Hall of Fame coaches during 12 seasons as a collegiate assistant, helping guide teams to eight NCAA Tournament appearances with a trip to the Final Four with LSU in 2008. A 1990 second-round NBA draft pick out of Texas, Mays' staff includes fellow Longhorns
Edwina Brown and
Amie Smith Bradley, and associate head coach
Mike Brandt, who spent 14 seasons as the head coach at USC Aiken.
ALL-CONFERENCE HONORS
McKenzie Adams was named American Athletic Conference Newcomer of the Year after leading the Mustangs in scoring with 13.4 points per game during the 2015-16 season. She scored a season-high 24 points against Kansas, and reached double figures in 25 of 31 games, including 17 conference games.
Alicia Froling was named to the All-American Athletic Conference Third Team, finishing the year as one of three conference players to average a double-double with 12.3 points and 10.6 rebounds per game. She set a school record with 22 rebounds at Cincinnati, and also scored a career-high 33 points against the Bearcats. Froling was also named to the All-American Athletic Conference Preseason Team.
THE AMERICAN PRESEASON RANKINGS
SMU was picked to finish fifth in the conference by the league's coaches, behind four-time defending national champion Connecticut, Temple, USF and Tulane, respectively. SMU returns two all-conference honorees among nine returning letterwinners.
ANNUAL BLOCK PARTY
As a freshman,
Alicia Froling recorded 54 blocks, surpassing Sarah Davis' mark of 53 blocks during the 2005-06 season. After breaking a record that stood for nine seasons, the Australian's name stayed at the top of the list for only one year. Fellow Australian and sophomore
Stephanie Collins posted 73 blocks in her first full season. Collins enters the 2016-17 campaign with 98 career blocks, while Froling has 96. The duo would become the first pair of teammates of the same class to each record 100 blocks in program history. The last player to eclipse the century mark was Janielle Dodds who finished with 109 blocks from 2004-08. Sarah Davis holds the school record with 180 blocks from 2003-06.
SMU CAREER BLOCKS
1. Sarah Davis (2003-06) 180
2. Karlin Kennedy (1996-00) 139
T-3. Katie Remke (1997-01) 109
T-3. Janielle Dodds (2004-08) 109
5. Stephanie Collins (2015-Present) 98
6. Alicia Froling (2015-Present) 96
7. Christine Elliott (2008-12) 95
SMU SINGLE-SEASON BLOCKS
1. 184 2015-16
2. 160 2014-15
3. 142 2005-06
4. 129 2002-03
5. 120 2004-05
NATIONALLY RANKED
Stephanie Collins ranked 36th in the nation with 73 blocks last season, setting an SMU single-season record. The sophomore averaged 2.43 blocks per game, 34th in the country. The Australian needs 83 blocks to become the career leader at SMU.
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 with Australia. 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, and shot just under 70 percent from the free throw line.
Stephanie Collins also represented Australia at the 2012 World University Games.
ALICIA FROLING
Alicia Froling scored 381 points, averaging 12.3 per contest. She was one of three players in the American Athletic Conference to average a double-double, grabbing 10.6 rebounds per game, and set an SMU single-season record with 328 rebounds. As a sophomore, Froling finished with 14 double-doubles, the most since Rhonda Rompola had 13 in the 1981-82 season, and the second most recorded in a season. Froling reached double figures in points 21 times, scoring a career-high 33 points against Cincinnati, becoming the 14th player in SMU history to score 30 points in a game. A Mustang has scored at least 30 points 25 times. She also set an SMU single-game record with 22 rebounds against the Bearcats, the third highest in conference history (24 by UCF's Brittni Montgomery twice).
SMU SINGLE-SEASON REBOUNDS
1. Alicia Froling (2015-16) 311
2. Shasta Smothers-Johnson (1984-85) 310
T-3. Rhonda Rompola (1981-82) 278
T-3. Kim Nowak (1979-80) 278
5. Karlin Kennedy (1999-00) 267
SMU SINGLE SEASON DOUBLE-DOUBLES
1. Shasta Smothers-Johnson (1984-85) 15
2.
Alicia Froling (2015-16) 14
3. Rhonda Rompola (1981-82) 13
4. Janielle Dodds (2005-06) 12
McKENZIE ADAMS
McKenzie Adams led the team and ranked 12th in The American, scoring 13.4 points per game last season, earning conference Newcomer of the Year accolades. She scored a season-high 24 points against Kansas, and reached double figures 25 times, including a streak of 11 straight games. The transfer from Arkansas was 11th in the conference, shooting 78.3 percent from the free throw line, making 94 of 120 attempts. She also had a team-high 76 assists with 28 steals.
STEPHANIE COLLINS
Stephanie Collins was second in The American and 36th in the NCAA with 73 blocks, breaking the SMU single-season record
Alicia Froling set with 54 blocks as a freshman in 2014-15. Collins posted 25 blocks in 20 games as a freshman, and with 98 total, is fifth in a career at SMU. She was third on the team in scoring, averaging 8.5 points per game with 5.9 rebounds, second on the team. Collins shot 47.9 percent from the floor, ninth in the league, and scored at least 10 points 17 times with a season-high of 16 points against Northwestern State.
INDIVIDUAL SEASON BLOCK LIST
1. Stephanie Collins (2015-16) 73
2.
Alicia Froling (2014-15) 54
3. Sarah Davis (2005-06) 53
4. Karlin Kennedy (1997-98) 47
5. Sarah Davis (2003-04) 45
MORGAN BOLTON
Morgan Bolton was second on the team with 62 assists and averaged 5.7 points per game as the starting point guard. She banked in a three as time expired in regulation against East Carolina, helping the Mustangs to an overtime victory. The junior scored at least 10 points seven times, including a career-high 15 points against then-No. 20 USF in the conference tournament.
DAI'JA THOMAS
Dai'ja Thomas averaged 5.0 points with 4.1 rebounds per game as a freshman, averaging 16.4 minutes with action in 30 of 31 contests. She scored 12 points three times, against Northwestern State, at Temple and against UCF in the conference tournament. Thomas had at least five rebounds 10 times, with a season-high nine twice, against Northwestern State and against Memphis.
TRANSFERS AND ROSTER ADDITIONS
SMU adds four transfers to a roster that includes eight 2015-16 letterwinners.
Klara Bradshaw, who sat out last season after transferring from TCU, and
Kiara Perry, who missed the season due to injury, give Mays two additional weapons to include in the rotation.
Tiara Davenport, a former Duncanville High School standout, played in 60 games over two seasons at Louisiana Tech. The 6-foot guard was named to the Conference USA All-Freshman Team after shooting 42 percent from the field and averaging 5.9 points and 3.0 rebounds per game. She scored at least 10 points eight times, and led the team in scoring twice.
Former Plano West High School teammates
Devri Owens, a Utah graduate, and
Kiran Lakhian, a Stanford alumna, also join the team. Owens, a 5-8 guard, played in 61 games over three seasons at Utah, but was limited to just the first six games of her second season before suffering a season-ending injury. Owens returned from injury and played in 26 games during the 2015-16 season. Lakhian spent two seasons with the Cardinal, playing in 17 games during her fourth year in Palo Alto. She scored a career-high nine points against Cornell, going 3-for-4 from 3-point range on Dec. 19, 2015.
Amaura Brandt, daughter of associate head coach
Mike Brandt, led the NCAA Division II with a 50.9 3-point shooting percentage (89-of-175), leading Limestone College to a third-straight conference championship. She also played two seasons for her father at USC Aiken.
