Saturday, February 11
Storrs, CT
1 p.m.
SMU
at
No. 1 Connecticut
SMU Plays At No. 1 Connecticut Saturday On SNY/ESPN3
Feb 9 | Women's Basketball
| SMU (13-10, 4-6 The American) vs. No. 1 Connecticut (23-0, 11-0 The American) | |
| Date & Tip Time | Sat., Feb. 11 at 2 p.m. ET/1 p.m. CT |
| Location | Gampel Pavilion - Storrs, Conn. |
| Tickets | www.uconnhuskies.com |
| Live Video | SNY/ESPN3 |
| Radio | KAAM 770 AM – Dallas |
| Live Stats | Gametracker |
| 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 No. 1 Connecticut Saturday at 2 p.m. on SNY/ESPN3. The game is the first of four road trips in the next five games for the Mustangs. Fans can listen to the game in the Dallas area on KAAM 770 AM.Â
ABOUT SMU
The Mustangs are 13-10 overall, matching the win total from last season after home wins in their last two games. SMU is 4-6 in the American Athletic Conference, losing three games by a combined four points. Alicia Froling leads the team with 14.9 points and averages a conference-high 10.5 rebounds per game. The junior is the only player in the league averaging a double-double with 14 this season. SMU is second in the conference in field goal percentage defense, holding opponents to 35.2 percent from the field. SMU leads the league with 141 blocks, ranking eighth in the NCAA with 6.1 per game.Â
SCOUTING No. 1/1 CONNECTICUT
The Huskies are 23-0 overall, 11-0 in The American, and have won an NCAA-record 98 consecutive games. Four of the five starters average double-figures scoring, led by Katie Lou Samuelson's 21.3 points per game, a league high.Â
SERIES HISTORY
The Mustangs are 0-7 against Connecticut, playing at home and on the road in conference games each of the last four seasons. Connecticut won the first matchup this season, 88-48, in Dallas on Jan. 14.
LAST TIME OUT
The SMU women's basketball team defeated UCF, 63-58, Saturday afternoon at Moody Coliseum. The Mustangs outscored UCF 22-3 in the second quarter to take the lead, and held of a charge at the end for a second consecutive conference win at home.
Trailing 18-9 at the beginning of the second, the Mustangs (13-10, 4-6 American Athletic Conference) went on a 17-0 run, keeping UCF (13-9, 3-6 AAC) scoreless for the first 7:47 of the second period. SMU did not allow a single field goal in over 14 minutes, spanning from late in the first quarter to the middle of the third quarter.
LOOKING AHEAD
SMU plays four of its next five games on the road, starting Feb. 11 at No. 1 Connecticut, before ending the regular season at home on Feb. 27 against Houston. The five-game stretch spans 14 days and 9,478 miles traveled.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 its first five conference home games, improving to 14-0 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 34-5 this year, an 87.2 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 130, while Collins has 123, 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 15th in the NCAA in field goal percentage defense, holding opponents to a 35.2 shooting percentage, trailing No. 1 Connecticut's 34.7 percent. The Mustangs are third the league with 978 rebounds, averaging 42.5 per game, 31st in the NCAA. SMU has a 683 defensive rebounds, ranking 11th in the NCAA with 30.0 per game. SMU leads The American with 141 blocks, ahead of No. 1 Connecticut's 115 and Cincinnati's 93. Alicia Froling is fourth in the conference with 34 blocks, while Dai'ja Thomas has 36 and is second in the league lead with 1.7 per game.
ALICIA FROLING
Alicia Froling became the 23rd player in SMU history with 20 points in a win at Houston, and now has 1,069 in her career. The junior is the only player in the conference averaging a double-double with 14.9 points per game (12th - AAC) and a league-best 10.5 rebounds per game (21st - 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 130 blocks, and ninth at SMU with  786 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 16 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 12.0 points per game, and averages 4.5 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 7.3 points per game with 5.9 rebounds. She has reached double figures six times, including a career-high 19 points against Prairie View A&M (Nov. 22). The junior leads the team in assists, 61, steals, 39, and also has 14 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 123 blocks in her career, ranking fourth at SMU. The junior has blocked at least one shot in 13 of the last 16 games, with 25 this season. Over the past five games, Collins is averaging 7.4 points per game on 60.0 percent shooting (15-of-25), a team high during the stretch. She scored a season-high nine points at Tulsa. The 6-5 post player also has 12 blocks in the last six 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 5.9 points per game, reaching double figures four times in the last 11 games, including the last two. She leads the team with 30 made 3-pointers, shooting 33.3 percent from behind the arc, and has 52 assists this season, second on the team
DAI'JA THOMAS
Dai'ja Thomas has scored at least 10 points five times this season, averaging 6.2 points per game. The sophomore has 36 blocks, ranking second in the league lead with 1.7 per game, and is averaging 5.6 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. The Mustangs have played four top-25 opponents this season, including two in the top five (Connecticut and Mississippi State). SMU still has a game at No. 1 UConn on the schedule, as well as a game at Temple, a team currently receiving votes.Â
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Players Mentioned
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