vs. CINCINNATI 12/31/16
The SMU women's basketball team begins play in the American Athletic Conference at home against Cincinnati Saturday at 1 p.m. on the American Digital Network. SMU finished the non-conference season with a 9-4 record, going 6-0 in Moody Coliseum. The Mustangs won four of their last five games, including 20+-point victories in each of the last three games. The game can be heard on KAAM 770 AM in the Dallas area.
ABOUT SMU
Alicia Froling leads the team and is the only player in the conference averaging a double-double with 14.3 points per game, 12th in the league, and a league-high 10.5 rebounds per game.
McKenzie Adams is also scoring in double figures, averaging 10.5 points per game. SMU is averaging 61.0 points per game, while holding opponents to 58.0 points, limiting seven opponents to 56 points or less. The Mustangs lead the conference with 80 blocked shots, led by
Dai'ja Thomas' 21 blocks.
Klara Bradshaw has 20 blocks.
SCOUTING CINCINNATI
The Bearcats are 9-4 overall, 3-1 on the road, winning three straight after a three-game losing streak which started with a loss at then-No. 12 Ohio State. Shanice Johnson leads the team with 15.2 points per game, and is second in the conference with 9.4 rebounds per game. Ana Owens adds 13.6 points per game, and the Bearcats average 65.5 points per game as a team. Opponents are scoring 57.6 points per game.Â
SERIES HISTORY
SMU is 3-2 all-time against Cincinnati and 1-1 at home. The two teams first met on Nov. 23, 1979, with the Bearcats winning 61-53 in Cincinnati. The next game in the series was the first matchup as American Athletic Conference opponents on Jan. 1, 2014, with the Mustangs winning 54-43. The win was the first of three in four games for SMU, including a 73-55 win at Cincinnati last season (Jan. 27).
Alicia Froling scored a career-high 33 points with a school-record 22 rebounds in the win.Â
NEW YEAR'S EVE
SMU is 2-0 when playing on the last day of the year. The Mustangs defeated Fordham 83-59 in 1993 and Stephen F. Austin 76-73 in 1996.
LAST TIME OUT
SMU scored a season-high 77 points in a 77-43 win against Seattle in Moody Coliseum Wednesday. With the win, SMU improved to 9-4 overall, 6-0 at home to go undefeated in non-conference games at Moody Coliseum for the first time since the 2004-05 season.
Dai'ja Thomas scored a team-high 13 points, and was one of five Mustangs to reach double-figures.
Alicia Froling recorded her eighth double-double of the season with 11 points and 11 rebounds. She now ranks third in SMU career double-doubles with 27, surpassing Karlin Kennedy (1997-2000).Â
LOOKING AHEAD
The Mustangs next game is Jan. 7 at East Carolina at 5 p.m. ET/4 p.m. CT. After just one game in 16 days, the ECU games is the first of four games in 11 days. SMU hosts Tulane (Jan. 11) and No. 1 Connecticut (Jan. 14) before playing at Cincinnati on Jan. 17.Â
MOODY MAGIC
SMU wrapped up non-conference play with a 77-43 victory against Seattle to improve to 9-4 overall and 6-0 at home. The Mustangs went undefeated in non-conference games at Moody Coliseum for the first time since the 2004-05 season. The SMU men's basketball team also went undefeated at home in non-conference play, 9-0. The SMU volleyball team went 11-2 in Moody Coliseum on its way to a second straight conference championship. Overall, the tenants of Moody Coliseum are 26-2 this year, a 92.9 win percentage.Â
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 third in school history in blocks with 111, while Collins sits at 108, sixth at SMU. 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.
TEXAS TIES
SMU's roster includes 10 of 14 student-athletes from the state of Texas, with nine who have hometowns in the DFW metroplex. Three of the Mustangs four coaches also have roots in Texas with head coach
Travis Mays, assistant coaches
Edwina Brown and
Amie Smith Bradley all attending the University of Texas. The trio all spent time on staff at Texas, and Brown also coached at TCU before coming to the Hilltop.Â
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.
DEFENSE LEADS THE WAY
SMU ranks second in the conference in field goal percentage defense, holding opponents to a 35.1 shooting percentage. The Mustangs also lead the league with 557 rebounds, third in the league with 42.8 per game, including a league-best 396 defensive rebounds, ranking second in the conference with 30.5 per game. No. 23 USF leads the league in both categories. SMU leads The American with 80 blocks, ahead of Cincinnati's 52 blocks and No. 1 Connecticut's 41 blocks. Â
ALICIA FROLING
Alicia Froling is the only player in the conference averaging a double-double with 14.3 points per game (12th - AAC) and a league-best 10.5 rebounds per game. She has scored at least 20 points three times this season and 10 times in her career, including a career-high 33 points at Cincinnati last season (Jan. 27). The junior has 913 career points, needing 87 to become the 23rd player in program history to score 1,000 points. She is third all-time with 111 blocks, and with 681 career rebounds, needs 25 to climb into the top 10 at SMU. Froling 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 27 double-doubles in her career, third in program history.Â
McKENZIE ADAMS
McKenzie Adams has scored in double figures nine times this season, including a season-high 21 points at TCU. She is second on the team in scoring with 10.5 points per game, and averages 4.3 rebounds  per game. She posted a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds at Colorado.Â
KIARA PERRY
After missing last season due to a back injury,
Kiara Perry is averaging 9.3 points per game and shooting 43.2 percent from the field. She has reached double figures five times, including a career-high 19 points against Prairie View A&M (Nov. 22). The junior leads the team in assists, 39, steals, 24, and also has 10 blocks. She has two double-doubles this season, scoring 17 points with a career-high 14 rebounds at Kansas (Nov. 16) and grabbing 10 rebounds against Prairie View.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 has 108 blocks in her career, ranking sixth at SMU. The junior has blocked at least one shot in each of the last six games.
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. 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 28 assists this season, and is averaging 5.6 points per game, scoring 10 against Seattle to reach double figures for the third time this season.Â
DAI'JA THOMAS
Dai'ja Thomas has scored at least 10 points in three of the last five games and has reached double figures five times this season, averaging 8.9 points per game. The sophomore leads the team with 21 blocks, and is averaging 6.8 rebounds. She recorded her first career double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds against Texas State in the season opener, and had 15 points with 11 rebounds against Grambling State.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 a loss to No. 5 Mississippi State, the Mustangs have four more games against teams currently ranked in the top 25, including two games against No. 1 Connecticut.Â
