Wednesday, January 11
Dallas
7 p.m.
SMU
vs
Tulane
Mustangs Take On Tulane At Home Wednesday At 7 P.M.
Jan 9 | Women's Basketball
| SMU (10-5; 1-1 American) vs. Tulane (10-6; 1-2 American) | |
| Date & Tip Time | Wed., Jan. 11 at 7 p.m. |
| Location | Moody Coliseum - Dallas, Texas |
| Tickets | 214-768-4263 or smumustangs.com/tickets |
| Live Video | PonyUp TV |
| 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 Tulane Wednesday in Moody Coliseum at 7 p.m. The Mustangs are 7-0 at home this season, and Alicia Froling has 10 double-doubles through 15 games, including five at home. The game will be streamed online at www.SMUMustangs.com, and can be heard in the Dallas area on KAAM 770 AM.
ABOUT SMU
The Mustangs are 10-5 overall, 1-1 in the American Athletic Conference, winning four straight before a 58-57 loss at East Carolina Saturday. Alicia Froling is the only player in the conference averaging a double-double with 15.0 points per game, 10th in the league, and a league-best 10.9 rebounds. SMU ranks third in The American in scoring defense, holding opponents to 57.3 points per game. The Mustangs lead the league with 93 blocks and 657 rebounds, including 464 defensive rebounds.Â
SCOUTING TULANE
The Green Wave is 10-6, 1-2 in The American, dropping its last two games. Kolby Morgan leads the team with 17.9 points, shooting 40.2 percent on 3-point attempts with 37 3-pointers this season. Leslie Vorpahl scores 11.9 per game, making 22 shots from outside the arc. As a team, Tulane shoots 43.5 percent from the field and averages 65.9 points, with four of five starters shooting above 40 percent and scoring at least seven points per game.
SERIES HISTORY
The Mustangs are 13-20 all-time against Tulane, with an 8-9 record in Moody Coliseum. The Green Wave has won the last five straight, including three wins in Dallas. The two teams first met on Jan. 26, 1980, when Tulane won 72-62 in Dallas. SMU had won five straight home games in the series before a Feb. 28, 2013, loss.
LAST TIME OUT
Alicia Froling recorded her 10th double-double of the season with 22 points and 15 rebounds in a 58-57 loss at East Carolina Saturday. ECU's Antoinette Bannister banked in a desperation 3-pointer with 15.7 remaining to give the Pirates a 58-55 lead. McKenzie Adams was fouled on a 3-point attempt with 2.1 seconds left, but only made two of three free throws. She then stole the inbounds pass, but was unable to get a shot off before the buzzer.Â
LOOKING AHEAD
The Mustangs host No. 1 Connecticut Saturday at 2 p.m. The Huskies play No. 20 USF Wednesday night at home before making the trip to Dallas. UConn is currently on an 89-game win streak, the second longest in college basketball history (UConn holds the record with 90 straight wins). After hosting the top-ranked Huskies, SMU plays three of its next four on the road, starting at Cincinnati Jan. 17. SMU defeated the Bearcats 64-47 in the conference opener. 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 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 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 has 110, 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 is tied with USF for the conference lead in field goal percentage defense, holding opponents to a 34.8 shooting percentage, and SMU is third in scoring defense, allowing 57.3 points per game. The Mustangs lead the league with 657 rebounds, averaging 43.8 per game, including a league-best 464 defensive rebounds, ranking second in the conference with 30.9 per game, trailing USF (31.9). SMU leads The American with 93 blocks, ahead of Cincinnati's 65 blocks and No. 1 Connecticut's 53 blocks. Klara Bradshaw is second in the league with 23, while Dai'ja Thomas is third with 22 blocks. Alicia Froling has 21 blocks, 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 10.9 rebounds per game (14th - 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 952 career points, needing 48 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  709 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 10 times this season, including a season-high 21 points at TCU. She is second on the team with 10.6 points per game, and averages 4.5 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 8.7 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, 45, 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 110 blocks in her career, ranking fourth at SMU. The junior has blocked at least one shot in seven of the last eight 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 30 assists this season, and is averaging 5.5 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 seven games and has reached double figures five times this season, averaging 8.3 points per game. The sophomore is second on the team with 22 blocks, and is averaging 6.6 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 five statistical categories, including field goal percentage defense. SMU is 21st in the country, holding opponents to a 34.8 shooting percentage. The Mustangs are ninth with 93 blocks, averaging 6.2 per game, 10th in the nation. SMU ranks 11th in the NCAA with 31.0 defensive rebounds per game, and 27th with 43.8 total rebounds per game. The Mustnags also get to the charity stripe, ranking 18th with 344 free throws attempted. Alicia Froling is 15th in the nation with 164 rebounds this season.
Players Mentioned
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Forward
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