Saturday, January 7
Greenville, NC
12 p.m.
SMU
at
East Carolina
SMU Plays At East Carolina Saturday In First Conference Road Game
Jan 5 | Women's Basketball
Mustangs Hold Four Game Winning Streak; Look To Open Conference Play 2-0 For The First Time Since 2012-13
| SMU (10-4; 1-0 American) at East Carolina (9-6; 0-2 American) | |
| Date & Tip Time | Sat., Jan. 7 at 1Â p.m. ET/12 p.m. CT |
| Location | Minges Coliseum - Greenville, N.C. |
| Live Video | American Digital Network |
| 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 plays at East Carolina Saturday at 1Â p.m. ET/12Â p.m. CT in Greenville, N.C., for the first road test of the American Athletic Conference season. The game is the first since the Mustangs defeated Cincinnati at home, 64-47, in the conference opener on New Year's Eve. The American Digital Network will stream the game live, and can be heard on KAAM 770 AM in the Dallas area.Â
ABOUT SMU
The Mustangs are 10-4 overall, and won the last four straight, but are just 3-4 away from Moody Coliseum. Alicia Froling leads the team and is the only player in the conference averaging a double-double, scoring 14.5 points with a league-high 10.6 rebounds per game. McKenzie Adams is also averaging double figures with 10.3 points per game. SMU leads the conference with 88 blocks, averaging 6.3 per game. Froling, Dai'ja Thomas and Klara Bradshaw each have 21 blocks this season, tied for third in The American.
SCOUTING EAST CAROLINA
The Pirates are 9-6 overall, 0-2 in The American, losing their last three after a three-game win streak. East Carolina is 6-2 at home, but lost its last home game, 61-45, to Tulane in the conference opener. Kristen Gaffney leads the team in both points (16.1/game) and rebounds (6.4/game). The Pirates and their opponents are averaging 66.3 points per game, and ECU is averaging 39.2 rebounds, while opponents grab 37.2 per game.
SERIES HISTORY
The Mustangs are 6-8 all-time against the Pirates, losing three of four American Athletic Conference matchups. SMU is 1-5 at Minges Coliseum, losing each of the last four. The Mustangs haven't won in Greenville since a 73-68 overtime victory on Jan. 18, 2008. The two teams split the season series last year, with SMU winning 74-67 in overtime at home before losing 78-61 on the road. 2014 is the only year since the 2005-06 season in which the programs didn't square off, as ECU was not yet in the American Athletic Conference.
LAST TIME OUT
The SMU women's basketball team won its fourth straight game with a 64-47 victory at home against Cincinnati in the American Athletic Conference opener Saturday afternoon, improving to 10-4 overall and 7-0 in Moody Coliseum.
Froling scored a team-high 17 points and grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds for her ninth double-double of the season and the 28th of her career. The junior also posted a career-high six blocks. Owens scored a career high 12 pts, shooting 4-for-5 from behind the 3-point line. Dai'ja Thomas added eight points and eight rebounds, while McKenzie Adams and Morgan Bolton scored seven points apiece.
LOOKING AHEAD
After playing at East Carolina, the Mustangs return to Moody Coliseum, where SMU is 7-0, to host Tulane (10-5, 1-1 AAC) Wednesday at 7 p.m. SMU then takes on No. 1 and four-time defending national champion Connecticut (14-0, 2-0 AAC) at home on Jan. 14 at 2 p.m. Without a loss before the game at SMU, the Huskies would be going for their record-setting 91st consecutive victory.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 7-0 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 defeated Temple in its first conference home game, improving to 10-0 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 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 117, 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 34.3 shooting percentage. The Mustangs also rank second in the league with 611 rebounds, averaging 43.6 per game, including a league-best 439 defensive rebounds, ranking second in the conference with 31.4 per game. No. 23 USF leads the league in both categories. SMU leads The American with 88 blocks, ahead of Cincinnati's 62 blocks and No. 1 Connecticut's 53 blocks. Alicia Froling, Klara Bradshaw and Dai'ja Thomas each have 21 blocks for SMU this season.Â
ALICIA FROLING
Alicia Froling is the only player in the conference averaging a double-double with 14.5 points per game (11th - AAC) and a league-best 10.6 rebounds per game (14th - NCAA). 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 930 career points, needing 70 to become the 23rd player in program history to score 1,000 points. She is third all-time with 117 blocks, and with 694 career rebounds, needs eight to climb into the top 10 at SMU. 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 28 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 10.3 points per game, and averages 4.4 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 8.9 points per game and shooting 42.7 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, 43, steals, 26, 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 108 blocks in her career, ranking sixth at SMU. The junior has blocked at least one shot in six of the last seven 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 5.7 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 six games and has reached double figures five times this season, averaging 8.8 points per game. The sophomore is tied for the team lead with 21 blocks, and is averaging 6.9 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
Players Mentioned
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