Saturday, February 18
Dallas
2 p.m.
SMU
vs
Tulsa
SMU Hosts Tulsa Saturday In Mustangs For A Cure Game
Feb 16 | Women's Basketball
| SMU (13-12, 4-8 The American) vs. Tulsa (8-18, 4-9 The American) | |
| Date & Tip Time | Sat., Feb. 18 at 2 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 | |
After a pair of road losses to ranked teams, the SMU women's basketball team returns home to Moody Coliseum Saturday to host Tulsa at 2 p.m. The Mustangs will take part in the effort to raise funds and awareness for breast cancer research. All proceeds will go to the Baylor Foundation Celebrating Women fund. Fans can listen to the game in the Dallas area on KAAM 770 AM.Â
ABOUT SMU
The Mustangs are 13-12 overall, 4-8 in the American Athletic Conference, with four conference losses against top-25 opponents, including No. 1 Connecticut twice. SMU lost three conference games by a combined four points, including a one-point loss against then-No. 23 USF. The Mustangs lost at No. 25 Temple Wednesday in the second straight road game against a ranked opponent.Â
Alicia Froling is the only player in the conference averaging a double-double with 14.1 points per game and a league-high 10.2 rebounds. The junior also has a team-high 38 blocks, ranking second in The American. SMU is second in the league in field goal percentage defense, holding opponents to 35.7 percent shooting. The Mustangs lead the league in blocks with 151, ranking eighth in the NCAA with 6.0 per game.Â
SCOUTING TULSA
Tulsa is 8-18 overall, 4-9 in The American, losing its last four games. Erika Wakefield leads the team with 11.6 points per game. As a team, Tulsa shoots 33.0 percent from 3-point range. Four players have made at least 25 3-pointers, led by Ebony Parker's 49.Â
SERIES HISTORY
The Mustangs are 26-17 all-time in a series that started on Nov. 30, 1981, with an 86-64 victory by the Mustangs in Moody Coliseum. SMU is 15-6 at home against the Golden Hurricane. Each team won on its home court last season, with SMU losing 56-54 at Tulsa on Jan. 2 before winning 62-45 at home on Feb. 17. Tulsa won the first meeting this season, 66-59, on Jan. 28 in Tulsa.
LAST TIME OUT
Dai'ja Thomas scored a career-high 18 points in SMU's 66-52 loss at [RV/25] Temple Wednesday night. The sophomore was one of three Mustangs to score in double figures. Stephanie Collins finished with a season-high 10 points, and McKenzie Adams added 10 points, with both players going 5-for-10 from the field.Â
LOOKING AHEAD
SMU plays two of its last three games on the road, ending the regular season at home on Feb. 27 against Houston. The Mustangs play at Memphis Wednesday night and at UCF on Feb. 25.Â
MOODY MAGIC
SMU went 6-0 at home in non-conference games, and opened conference play with a 64-47 win against Cincinnati to improve to 7-0 in Moody Coliseum. The Mustangs are 9-3 at home. The SMU men's basketball team also went undefeated at home in non-conference play and won seven straight conference home games for a 16-0 record 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 36-5 this year, an 87.8 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 134, while Collins has 126, 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 second in the conference and 23rd in the NCAA in field goal percentage defense, holding opponents to a 35.7 shooting percentage, trailing No. 1 Connecticut's 34.4 percent. The Mustangs are third the league with 1,064 rebounds, averaging 42.6 per game, 24th in the NCAA. SMU has 743 defensive rebounds, ranking seventh in the NCAA with 30.0 per game. SMU leads The American with 151 blocks, ranking eighth in the nation with 6.0 per game.Â
Alicia Froling is second in the conference with 38 blocks, averaging 1.5 per game, while Dai'ja Thomas has 37 blocks, and is second in the league lead with 1.6 per game.
ALICIA FROLING
Alicia Froling became the 23rd player in SMU history with 20 points in a win at Houston, and now has 1,079 in her career. The junior is the only player in the conference averaging a double-double with 14.1 points per game (14th - AAC) and a league-best 10.2 rebounds per game (23rd - NCAA). She has scored at least 20 points five times this season and 12 times in her career, including a career-high 33 points at Cincinnati last season (Jan. 27). She is third all-time at SMU with 134 blocks, and eighth at SMU with  798 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 33 double-doubles in her career, third in program history.Â
McKENZIE ADAMS
McKenzie Adams has scored in double figures 17 times this season, including a career-high 32 points at Cincinnati. She finished with 17 at Houston, earning a mention on the league's Weekly Honor Roll after averaging 24.5 points in the two games. Adams is second on the team with 11.6 points per game, and averages 4.6 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 7.4 points per game with 5.8 rebounds. She has reached double figures seven times, including a career-high 19 points against Prairie View A&M (Nov. 22). The junior leads the team in assists, 67, steals, 41, and also has 15 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. Perry led the team with 11 points at No. 1 UConn.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. She has 126 blocks in her career, ranking fourth at SMU. The junior has blocked at least one shot in 15 of the last 18 games, with 28 this season. Over the past seven games, Collins is averaging 8.0 points per game on 57.1 percent shooting (24-of-42), a team high during the stretch. She scored a season-high 10 points at Temple, and finished with nine twice during the stretch. The 6-5 post player also has 15 blocks in the last eight games.
MORGAN BOLTON
Morgan Bolton scored a career-high 15 points against Memphis, going 5-for-6 on 3-point attempts. The senior point guard is averaging 5.6 points per game, reaching double figures four times in the last 13 games, including two of the last three. She leads the team with 30 made 3-pointers, shooting 31.6 percent from behind the arc, and has 64 assists this season, second on the team. She set career highs at Temple with nine rebounds and eight assists.
DAI'JA THOMAS
Dai'ja Thomas has scored at least 10 points six times this season, averaging 6.6 points per game. The sophomore scored a career-high 18 points at then-No. 25 Temple. She has 37 blocks, ranking second in the league lead with 1.6 per game, and is averaging 5.3 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. The Mustangs have played six games against five top-25 opponents this season, including three games against top-five opponents (Connecticut twice and Mississippi State).Â
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Players Mentioned
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