The SMU women's basketball team hosts Abilene Christian Monday night at 7 p.m. in the second round of the Women's National Invitation Tournament in Moody Coliseum. The Mustangs (18-14) advanced with a 75-70 overtime win against Louisiana Tech, while the Wildcats (23-8) defeated Oklahoma State 66-56. Tickets are $5, with group tickets available for $3 (6 or more). Head Coach
Travis Mays has announced an "aMAYSin" off for faculty, staff and students, covering the costs of their tickets. Tournament notes are available at www.womensnit.com.
ABOUT SMU
The Mustangs won five of their last seven games, including a victory in the American Athletic Conference Championship for the second straight season and a WNIT first-round win for the second time in four seasons. SMU is 12-3 in Moody Coliseum this year, with all three losses to teams ranked or receiving votes at the time of the game (No. 1 Connecticut, No. 23 USF and [RV] Tulane). SMU also dropped three conference games by a combined four points, including a one-point loss at home to then-No. 23 USF.
Alicia Froling leads the team with 14.5 points per game and leads The American with 10.0 rebounds per game. The junior set an SMU single-season record with 17 double-doubles, and with 320 rebounds, needs just nine to break her season record of 328 set in 2015-16.
McKenzie Adams is scoring 12.4 points per game, and is averaging a team-high 14.6 points over the last 15 games, shooting 42.6 percent. The junior started the stretch with a career-high 32 points at Cincinnati, and had 26 points in the tournament loss to USF. In three postseason games, Adams is averaging 18.0 points, while Froling is scoring 20.0 per contest.
The Mustangs are second in the conference and 13th in the NCAA in field goal percentage defense, holding opponents to 35.2 percent shooting. SMU is 12th in the nation with 29.3 defensive rebounds per game, and 16th with 5.6 blocks per game, both league highs. With 180 blocks, SMU needs just five to break the single-season record for the third straight season.
SMU IN THE POSTSEASON
The Mustangs are making their 14th appearance in a postseason tournament and the seventh in the WNIT. SMU has played in the WNIT in three of the last five seasons, but this is the first postseason berth since 2014 when SMU defeated Texas Southern 84-72 at home before losing 77-70 at Minnesota. SMU first played in the WNIT in 1993, going 2-1. The Mustangs are 4-6 all-time in the WNIT after defeating Louisiana Tech for the first time in program history (1-18).
MOODY MAGIC
SMU is 12-3 at home, including a win against then-No. 19 Texas A&M. All three home losses were to teams ranked or receiving votes (No. 1 UConn, No. 23 USF and [RV] Tulane). The SMU men's basketball team went 18-0 in Moody Coliseum, winning the regular-season championship at home. 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 41-5 this year, an 89.1 win percentage.
SCOUTING THE OPPONENT
Abilene Christian is 23-8 overall and went 16-2 in the Southland Conference, tying Central Arkansas for the regular-season title. The Wildcats have won eight straight, including a 66-56 win against Oklahoma State for their first Division I postseason victory. Four players average double figures scoring, led by Alexis Mason with 16.2 points per game.
SERIES HISTORY
SMU is 2-2 all-time against Abilene Christian, but the Mustangs have not played the Wildcats since Dec. 2, 1983, when SMU won 82-59 in Moody Coliseum. SMU is 2-1 at home in the series, losing the first matchup of the series at home, 69-67 on Nov. 26, 1979.
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.
ALL-CONFERENCE HONORS
Alicia Froling was named to the All-American Athletic Conference Second Team, earning all-conference honors for the second straight season. The junior averaged 13.6 points (14th) and 9.6 rebounds (third) in 16 conference games. She was also second with 29 blocks in league games, averaging 1.8 per game. Froling shot 52.0 percent from the field (fourth) and 73.8 percent from the free-throw line (15th) against AAC competition.
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 second in school history in blocks with 144, while Collins has 131, 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 is second in the conference and 13th in the NCAA in field goal percentage defense, holding opponents to a 35.2 shooting percentage. The Mustangs are 30th in the NCAA with 1,335 rebounds, averaging 41.7 per game, 34th in the NCAA. SMU has 939 defensive rebounds, ranking 12th in the NCAA with 29.4 per game. SMU leads The American with 180 blocks, ranking 16th in the nation with 5.6 per game.
ALICIA FROLING
Alicia Froling became the 23rd player in SMU history with 20 points in a win at Houston. She now has 1,190 in her career, ranking 15th all-time at SMU. She scored at least 20 points seven times this season, with a season-high 28 against LA Tech, and 14 times in her career, including a career-high 33 points at Cincinnati last season (Jan. 27). She is second all-time at SMU with 144 blocks, and seventh at SMU with 865 career rebounds. With 320 rebounds this season, she needs just nine to break her own single-season record (328 - 2015-16). 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 36 double-doubles in her career, third in program history.
McKENZIE ADAMS
McKenzie Adams has scored in double figures 23 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 12.4 points per game, and averages 4.3 rebounds per game. She had a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds at Colorado. The junior has scored at least 10 points in 12 of the last 15 games, averaging a team-high 14.6 points and shooting 42.6 percent during the stretch. She scored 26 points against USF after 12 against ECU, and finished with 16 against LA Tech, averaging 18.0 points in the postseason.
KIARA PERRY
After missing last season due to a back injury,
Kiara Perry is averaging 7.1 points per game with 5.4 rebounds. She has reached double figures nine times, including a career-high 19 points against Prairie View A&M (Nov. 22). She averaging 13.0 points at the conference tournament, reaching double figures in both games. The junior leads the team with 53 steals and is tied for the lead with 80 assists. 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 UConn.
STEPHANIE COLLINS
Stephanie Collins recorded 73 blocks last season, breaking the SMU single-season record
Alicia Froling set with 54 blocks as a freshman in 2014-15. She has 131 blocks in her career, ranking fourth at SMU. The junior has blocked at least one shot in 19 of the last 25 games, with 33 this season. Collins is averaging 4.9 points and 3.6 rebounds on the season, but has scored at least eight points in four of the last nine games.
MORGAN BOLTON
Morgan Bolton scored what was a career-high 15 points at home against Memphis, going 5-for-6 on 3-point attempts. The senior point guard went 6-for-7 from behind the arc against Houston in her final regular-season game, scoring a career-high 20 points on 7-of-9 shooting. Six 3-pointers in a game is tied for fifth all-time at SMU. Bolton is averaging 5.9 points per game, reaching double figures eight times this season, including four of the last 11 games. She leads the team with 41 made 3-pointers, shooting 33.6 percent from behind the arc, and is tied for the team lead with 80 assists this season. She set career highs at Temple with nine rebounds and eight assists, and had seven assists against Tulsa.
DAI'JA THOMAS
Dai'ja Thomas has scored at least 10 points seven times this season, averaging 6.3 points per game. The sophomore scored a career-high 18 points at then-No. 25 Temple. She has 40 blocks, tied for fourth in the league with 1.4 per game, and is averaging 5.2 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.
