SMU (10-7; 1-3 American) at Cincinnati (12-5; 3-1 American)
Date & Tip Time	Tues., Jan. 17 at 7 p.m. ET/6 p.m. CT
Location	Fifth Third Arena - Cincinnati, Ohio
Live Video	American Digital Network
Radio	KAAM 770 AM – Dallas
Live Stats	Gametracker
Game Info	Game Notes (.pdf)
SMU Basketball on Social Media
Facebook	/SMUMustangs | /SMUBasketballW
Twitter	@SMUMustangs | @SMUBasketballW
Instagram	SMU.Mustangs | SMUBasketballW

The SMU women's basketball team plays three of its next four games on the road, beginning with a game at Cincinnati Tuesday at 7 p.m. ET/6 p.m. CT on the American Digital Network. The Mustangs started the American Athletic Conference schedule with a 64-47 victory against the Bearcats in Moody Coliseum on Dec. 31. The game can be heard in the Dallas area on KAAM 770 AM.

ABOUT SMU
The Mustangs are 10-7 overall, 1-3 in The American, coming off an 88-48 loss at home to No. 1 Connecticut Saturday. Alicia Froling posted her 11th double-double of the season and the 30th of her career, third all-time at SMU, with 16 points and 12 rebounds. She leads the league with 10.7 rebounds per game and is tied for ninth in the conference, averaging 15.1 points. McKenzie Adams is also scoring 10.5 points per game. The Mustangs lead the conference in blocks with 101, averaging 5.9 per game.

SCOUTING CINCINNATI
The Bearcats are 12-5 overall, 3-1 in The American, with three players averaging at least 10 points. Shanice Johnson leads the team with 15.1 points, while Ana Owens is scoring 13.4 points and Bianca Quisenberry is averaging 10.1 points per game. Cincinnati is averaging 65.4 points per game, shooting 38.7 percent from the field, while holding opponents to 58.4 points on a 37.0 shooting percentage.  

SERIES HISTORY
SMU is 4-2 all-time against Cincinnati and 2-1 at Cincinnati. The two teams first met on Nov. 23, 1979, when the Bearcats won 61-53 in Cincinnati. The next game in the series was the first matchup as American Athletic Conference opponents on Jan. 1, 2014, when the Mustangs won 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. SMU won the first meeting this season, 64-47, on New Year's Eve.

LAST TIME OUT
Alicia Froling finished with 16 points and 12 rebounds to earn her 11th double-double of the season and the 30th of her career despite the SMU women's basketball team going down, 88-48, to No. 1 Connecticut at Moody Coliseum Saturday afternoon. SMU fell to 10-7 overall, 1-3 in the American Athletic Conference, while the Huskies improved to 16-0, 4-0 in the American, winning an NCAA-record 91st consecutive game.
While Connecticut seemed to be cruising after outscoring SMU 26-2 in the first quarter, the Mustangs fought back, getting outscored by just 16 points over the last three quarters combined.

LOOKING AHEAD
After playing three of four home games to start the conference schedule, the Mustangs play three of four on the road. After playing at Cincinnati, SMU plays at Houston Saturday on the American Digital Network. SMU then hosts No. 20/21 USF on Jan. 25 before a Jan. 28 matchup at Tulsa. 

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 7-2 at home. 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. 

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 122, 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. 

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 36.3 shooting percentage, and SMU is third in scoring defense, allowing 59.9 points per game. The Mustangs lead the league with 734 rebounds, averaging 43.2 per game, 28th in the NCAA. SMU has a league-best 511 defensive rebounds, ranking second in the conference with 30.1 per game, trailing USF (30.9). SMU leads The American with 101 blocks, ahead of No. 1 Connecticut's 74 blocks and Cincinnati's 69 blocks. Alicia Froling is tied for second in the conference with 26 blocks, while Dai'ja Thomas has 24, tied for fourth, and Klara Bradshaw has 23 blocks, tied for fifth in the conference.

ALICIA FROLING
Alicia Froling is the only player in the conference averaging a double-double with 15.1 points per game (T-9 - AAC) and a league-best 10.7 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 983 career points, needing 17 to become the 23rd player in program history to score 1,000 points. She is third all-time with 122 blocks, and 10th at SMU with  727 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. 

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 10.5 points per game, and averages 4.5 rebounds per game. She had a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds at Colorado. 

KIARA PERRY
After missing last season due to a back injury, Kiara Perry is averaging 8.2 points per game and shooting 40.1 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, 48, steals, 29, 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. 

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 10 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 5.8 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. 

DAI'JA THOMAS
Dai'ja Thomas has scored at least 10 points in three of the last nine games and has reached double figures five times this season, averaging 7.4 points per game. The sophomore has 24 blocks, and is averaging 6.2 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. 

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 losses to No. 5 Mississippi State and No. 1 Connecticut, the Mustangs have two more games against teams currently ranked in the top 25, including No. 1 Connecticut.