The SMU women's basketball team faces a second straight top-25 team when it begins the Women of Troy Classic against No. 5 Mississippi State Friday at 10 p.m. CT/8 p.m. PT in Los Angeles, Calif. The game is the first of four in six days for the Mustangs, and the first game since SMU defeated No. 25 Texas A&M in Moody Coliseum on Dec. 5. SMU will play either Southern California, the tournament host, or Grambling in the second round Sunday at either 1 p.m. CT/11 a.m. PT or 3 p.m. CT/1 p.m. PT, before hosting Texas Southern in Moody Coliseum the next day at 4 p.m.
ABOUT SMU
The Mustangs are 6-3 overall, including a win against a ranked opponent for the first time since March 2008, defeating No. 25 Texas A&M at home on Dec. 5.
Alicia Froling leads the team and is one of just two players in the American Athletic Conference averaging a double-double with 16.1 points and a league-high 10.8 rebounds per game.
McKenzie Adams is scoring 11.4 points per game, with SMU averaging 61.9 points as a team on just under 40 percent shooting (39.1%).Â
SCOUTING No. 5 MISSISSIPPI STATE
The Bulldogs are 10-0 and ranked fifth in both top-25 polls. Three players average at least 10 points, with Victoria Vivians leading the team with 14.5 points per game. Mississippi State is outscoring opponents 78.4-55.2, and shooting 47.6 percent from the field. The Bulldogs' rotation features nine players who have played in all 10 games, each averaging at least 12 minutes per game, including four players who have started all 10 games and average at least 19 minutes each.Â
SERIES HISTORY
SMU first played Mississippi State last season, falling 72-70 on Dec. 21 in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The Bulldogs were ranked No. 9 at the time. SMU outscored MSU 16-7 in the fourth quarter, including 4-1 run to end the game, but were unable to take the lead, missing three shots in the last 11 seconds.Â
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
The Trojans are 7-1, winning five straight, including a win at Texas A&M. USC defeated Sacramento State 111-95 in its last game on Dec. 3, and averages 78.0 points per game as a team this season. Kristen Simon leads the team with 16.3 points and 10.0 rebounds, and five players are scoring at least eight points per game. The Trojans are shooting 47.4 percent from the field and 37.8 percent from behind the arc.
SERIES HISTORY
This would be the first meeting between the two teams.
GRAMBLING
The Lady Tigers are 1-7, losing their last six games. Shakyla Hill leads the team with 15.8 points per game, shooting 48.5 percent, but Grambling is scoring just 54.6 points per game with a 33.9 shooting percentage.Â
SERIES HISTORY
SMU is 2-0 all-time against the Lady Tigers, winning 93-69 on Dec. 13, 1998, in Moody Coliseum, and 87-65 on Nov. 10, 2013, at home in the Curtis Culwell Center.Â
LAST TIME OUT
The SMU women's basketball team held on for a one-point win against No. 19 Texas A&M, 54-53, in Moody Coliseum Monday night.
McKenzie Adams knocked down her first 3-pointer of the night with 1:58 remaining, stretching the lead back to five, 54-49. Texas A&M cut the lead to one, 54-53, with 38 seconds to play, but the SMU defense kept Danni Williams from knocking down her fourth 3-pointer of the fourth quarter to upset a ranked team for the first time since March 9, 2008, when SMU defeated No. 18 UTEP 73-57 to win the Conference USA tournament.
LOOKING AHEAD
The Mustangs host a pair of games before a 10-day break, facing Texas Southern Monday at 4 p.m. and Seattle Wednesday at 1 p.m. in the final non-conference game of the regular season. SMU begins play in the American Athletic Conference at home against Cincinnati on Dec. 31 at 1 p.m.
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. Froling is tied for third in school history in blocks with 109 after recording a career-high five blocks against North Texas, while Collins sits at 104, posting four blocks against No. 19 Texas A&M. The duo is 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.
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 has recorded double-doubles in six of the first nine games, tied for fourth in the NCAA. She posted 23 points and 10 rebounds to lead SMU to a 65-41 victory against North Texas, while also recording career-highs in assists (6), blocks (5) and steals (5). She is averaging 16.1 points and a league-high 10.8 rebounds per game. Froling was one of three players in The American to average a double-double last season, scoring 12.3 points with 10.6 rebounds. She scored a career-high 33 points against Cincinnati, becoming the 14th player in SMU history to score 30 points in a game. 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). Froling has 25 double-doubles in her career, which is tied for fourth in program history.Â
DOUBLE-DOUBLES
In four of the first eight games, multiple Mustangs finished with a double-double.
Alicia Froling posted four straight double-doubles to start the season, and has six this year, tied for fourth in the NCAA.
Dai'ja Thomas got the first double-double of her career with 11 points and a career-high 10 rebounds against Texas State.
Kiara Perry posted new career highs in both points (17) and rebounds (14) at Kansas for her third career double-double, and fished with a career-high 19 points and 10 rebounds against Prairie View A&M.
McKenzie Adams recorded her first double-double of the season with 11 points and 10 rebounds at Colorado.
McKENZIE ADAMS
McKenzie Adams has scored in double figures in seven of the last eight games, including a season-high 21 points at TCU. She is second on the team in scoring with 11.3 points per game, and averages 4.7 rebounds  per game. 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 last season, and reached double figures 25 times.
KIARA PERRY
Kiara Perry is SMU's third-leading scorer averaging 9.4 points and is second on the team with 7.7 rebounds per game. The Duncanville, Texas, native leads the team in assists, 26, and steals, 17. She has two double-doubles this season, scoring a career-high 19 points with 10 rebounds against Prairie View A&M, and scored 17 points with a career-high 14 rebounds at Kansas. Perry scored 12 points with nine rebounds against North Texas.Â
STEPHANIE COLLINS
Stephanie Collins was second in The American and 36th in the NCAA with 73 blocks last season, 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. She recorded four blocks against Texas A&M and now has 104 in her career, which is sixth at SMU. The Australian native had her best game of the season against the Mean Green finishing with eight points in just 11 minutes of action. She was third on the team in scoring last season, 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.Â
MORGAN BOLTON
Morgan Bolton was second on the team with 62 assists and averaged 5.7 points per game as the starting point guard in 2015-16. 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. Bolton has 23 assists this season, and is averaging 5.7points per game.Â
DAI'JA THOMAS
Dai'ja Thomas averaged 5.0 points with 4.1 rebounds per game as a freshman, averaging 16.4 minutes per game. She scored 12 points three times, against Northwestern State, at Temple and against UCF in the conference tournament. Thomas scored 11 points with 10 rebounds against Texas State for the first double-double of her career, and is averaging 9.0 points and 6.3 rebounds. She leads the team with 16 block, and scored a team-high 13 points against Texas A&M. Â
RANKED OPPONENTS
SMU defeated No. 19 Texas A&M 54-53 at home on Dec. 3, beating a top-25 opponent for the first time since March 9, 2008, when the Mustangs upset No. 18 UTEP in the Conference USA championship game. After Mississippi State, the Mustangs have four more games against teams currently ranked in the top 25, including two games against No. 1 Connecticut.Â
