Saturday, January 14
Dallas
2 p.m.
SMU
vs
No. 1 Connecticut
SMU Hosts No. 1 Connecticut Saturday At 2 P.M.
Jan 12 | Women's Basketball
| SMU (10-6, 1-2 The American) vs. No. 1 Connecticut (15-0, 3-0 The American) | |
| Date & Tip Time | Sat., Jan. 14 at 2 p.m. |
| Location | Moody Coliseum - Dallas, Texas |
| Tickets | 214-768-4263 or smumustangs.com/tickets |
| Live Video | SNY / ESPN3 |
| Radio | KAAM 770 AM – Dallas |
| Live Stats | Sidearm Stats |
| Game Info | Game Notes (.pdf) |
| SMU Basketball on Social Media | |
| /SMUMustangs | /SMUBasketballW | |
| @SMUMustangs | @SMUBasketballW | |
| SMU.Mustangs | SMUBasketballW | |
The SMU women's basketball team hosts No. 1 Connecticut Saturday at 2 p.m. The Mustangs are 7-1 at home this season, losing at home for the first time Wednesday against Tulane. Alicia Froling has 10 double-doubles, including five at home, and leads the American Athletic Conference in rebounding. Saturday's game will be televised on SNY and ESPN3, and can be heard in the Dallas area on KAAM 770 AM.
ABOUT SMU
The Mustangs are 10-6 overall, 1-2 in The American, after losing at home for the first time Wednesday. Alicia Froling averages 15.0 points and a league-best 10.6 rebounds per game, and McKenzie Adams scores 10.8 points per game. Morgan Bolton has a team-high 22 3-pointers made, including four in the loss to Tulane. As a team, SMU is scoring 60.8 points per game, and the Mustangs rank third in the conference in scoring defense, holding opponents to 58.1 points per game.
SCOUTING No. 1 CONNECTICUT
The Huskies boast two to the league top three scorers, with Katie Lou Samuelson averaging 20.1 points per game, 1/2 a point behind USF/s Kitija Laksa, and Napheesa Collier is scoring 19.3 per game. Four of five starters average double figures, and Connecticut averages 82.9 points per game. The Huskies are 15-0, 3-0 in the America, and have won 90 straight games, tied for the longest streak in NCAA basketball history.Â
SERIES HISTORY
The Mustangs are 0-6 against Connecticut, playing at home and on the road in conference games each of the last three seasons.Â
LAST TIME OUT
Three Mustangs scored in double figures, but SMU fell for the first time this year at Moody Coliseum, dropping a 71-59 decision to Tulane. Alicia Froling led the SMU offense with 15 points, shooting 5-for-10 from the field and 5-for-6 from the free-throw line. McKenzie Adams added 13 points, going 4-for-10 from the field, and Morgan Bolton was 4-for-10 from behind the arc for 12 points. It was the fourth time the senior reached double figures this season on a career-high for 3's made.
LOOKING AHEAD
After hosting the top ranked team in the country, the Mustangs play three of the next four games on the road, starting Tuesday at Cincinnati. SMU plays at Houston before hosting No. 20 USF, and concludes the stretch at Tulsa on Jan. 28. Â
MOODY MAGIC
SMU went 6-0 at home in non-conference games, and opened conference play with a 64-47 win agianst Cincinnati to improve to 7-0 in Moody Coliseum. The Mustangs are 7-1 at home for the first time since the 2004-05 season. The SMU men's basketball team also went undefeated at home in non-conference play and won its first two conference home games, improving to 11-0 in Moody Coliseum. 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 28-2 this year, a 93.3 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 last season. She scored a season-high 24 points against Kansas, and reached double figures in 25 of 31 games. Alicia Froling was named to the All-American Athletic Conference Third Team, finishing the year averaging 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.
ACADEMIC SUCCESS
SMU's football, men's basketball and women's basketball programs had a record-setting fall semester in the classroom. The football and women's basketball teams set program-best cumulative grade-point-averages while men's basketball reached its highest cumulative GPA since 2004.
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 117, while Collins has 111, fourth 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 leads the conference in field goal percentage defense, holding opponents to a 35.6 shooting percentage, and SMU is third in scoring defense, allowing 58.1 points per game. The Mustangs are secind in the league with 690 rebounds, averaging 43.1 per game, 33rd in the NCAA. SMU has grabbed a league-best 486 defensive rebounds, ranking second in the conference with 30.4 per game, trailing USF (30.9). SMU leads The American with 95 blocks, ahead of Cincinnati's 65 blocks and No. 1 Connecticut's 60 blocks. Klara Bradshaw and Dai'ja Thomas are second in the league with 23, while Alicia Froling has 21 blocks, tied for fifth in the conference.
ALICIA FROLING
Alicia Froling is the only player in the conference averaging a double-double with 15.0 points per game (10th - AAC) and a league-best 10.6 rebounds per game (15th - NCAA). She has scored at least 20 points four times this season and 11 times in her career, including a career-high 33 points at Cincinnati last season (Jan. 27). The junior has 967 career points, needing 33 to become the 23rd player in program history to score 1,000 points. She is third all-time with 117 blocks, and 10th at SMU with  715 career rebounds. Froling also set an SMU single-game record with 22 rebounds against the Bearcats last season, the third highest in conference history (24 by UCF's Brittni Montgomery twice). Froling has 29 double-doubles in her career, third in program history.Â
McKENZIE ADAMS
McKenzie Adams has scored in double figures 11 times this season, including a season-high 21 points at TCU. She is second on the team with 10.8 points per game, and averages 4.4 rebounds per game. She had 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 8.4 points per game and shooting 42.1 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, 47, steals, 27, and also has 11 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 111 blocks in her career, ranking fourth at SMU. The junior has blocked at least one shot in eight of the last nine 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 32 assists this season, and is averaging 5.9 points per game, scoring 12 against Tulane on a career-high four made 3-pointers to reach double figures for the fourth time this season.Â
DAI'JA THOMAS
Dai'ja Thomas has scored at least 10 points in three of the last eight games and has reached double figures five times this season, averaging 7.9 points per game. The sophomore is tied for second in the league with 23 blocks, and is averaging 6.4 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 three more games against teams currently ranked in the top 25, including two games against No. 1 Connecticut.Â
NATIONAL RANKINGS
SMU ranks in the top 25 of four statistical categories, and ranks 29th field goal percentage defense, holding opponents to a 35.6 shooting percentage. The Mustangs are 13th with 95 blocks, averaging 5.9 per game, 18th in the nation. SMU ranks 15th in the NCAA with 30.0 defensive rebounds per game, and 33rd with 43.1 total rebounds per game. The Mustnags also get to the charity stripe, ranking 14th with 360 free throws attempted. Alicia Froling is 14th in the nation with 170 rebounds this season.
Players Mentioned
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