Thursday, March 23
Bloomington, IN
6 P.M.
SMU
at
Indiana
SMU Plays In WNIT Third Round Thursday At Indiana
Mar 21 | Women's Basketball
| 2017 WNIT Championship Round 3 SMU (19-14, 7-9 The American) vs. Indiana (22-10, 10-6 Big Ten) |
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| Date & Tip Time | Thurs., March 23 at 7 p.m. ET/6 p.m. CT |
| Location | Assembly Hall - Bloomington, Ind. |
| Tickets | 812-855-4006 or IUHoosiers.com |
| Live Video | Big Ten Network Plus - BTN2Go.com |
| Radio | KAAM 770 AM – Dallas |
| Live Stats | Sidearm Stats |
| Game Info | Game Notes (.pdf) |
| Tournament Bracket | 2017 WNIT Championship Bracket |
| SMU Basketball on Social Media | |
| /SMUMustangs | /SMUBasketballW | |
| @SMUMustangs | @SMUBasketballW | |
| SMU.Mustangs | SMUBasketballW | |
The SMU women's basketball team plays in the third round of the WNIT at Indiana Thursday at 7 p.m. ET/6 p.m. CT after a 59-52 win at home against Abilene Christian. The Mustangs won multiple games in a postseason tournament for just the second time in program history, playing in the championship game of the 1993 WNIT. Fans can watch the game on the Big Ten Network Plus, or listen to the game in the Dallas area on KAAM 770 AM. Tournament notes are available at www.womensnit.com.Â
ABOUT SMU
The Mustangs have won six of their last eight games, including four of the last five, and are 19-14 overall. Alicia Froling leads the team with 14.2 points per game, and averages a conference-high 10.0 rebounds. The junior has 330 rebounds this season, breaking her own single-season record. In the last four games, Froling is averaging 16.8 points and 10.0 rebounds.
McKenzie Adams is scoring 12.4 points per game overall and averaging 16.5 points in four games since the end of the regular season, shooting 46.6 percent in the last four games. SMU is 11th in the NCAA in field goal percentage defense, holding opponents to 34.9 percent shooting. The Mustangs are 20th with 5.6 blocks per game, setting a program record for the third straight year with 185 blocks this season.Â
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, falling 67-54 to Arkansas State in the championship game. The Mustangs are 5-6 all-time in the WNIT after defeating Louisiana Tech for the first time in program history (1-18) and Abilene Christian to advance to the round of 16.
MOODY MAGIC
SMU is 13-3 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 42-5 this year, an 89.4 win percentage.Â
SCOUTING THE OPPONENT
Indiana is 22-10 overall with a 14-2 record at home, including double-digit WNIT wins against Ball State and Saint Louis. Tyra Buss leads the team with 18.4 points per game, and is one of three players averaging double figures. Amanda Cahill scores 15.1 points with a team-high 9.0 rebounds per game. The Hoosiers shoot 45.0 percent from the field and average 75.8 points as a team.Â
SERIES HISTORY
This is the second meeting between SMU and Indiana. The Hoosiers won 69-63 on Nov. 25, 1994, in Lincoln, Neb. The game was the season opener for the Mustangs, who then beat BYU 88-74 in the consolation game of the Cablevision Classic.Â
LOOKING AHEAD
With a win at Indiana, SMU would face the winner between James Madison and Villanova. James Madison advanced with home wins against Radford and Virginia, while Villanova won at Princeton and Drexel. Date, time and location for potential quarterfinal matchups has yet to be determined.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.Â
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 145, while Collins has 134, 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 11th in the NCAA in field goal percentage defense, holding opponents to a 34.9 shooting percentage. The Mustangs are 23rd in the NCAA with an SMU-record 1,380 rebounds, averaging 41.8 per game, 30th in the NCAA. SMU has 968 defensive rebounds, ranking 12th in the NCAA with 29.3 per game. SMU leads The American with 185 blocks, ranking 20th in the nation with 5.6 per game. SMU set the single-season blocks record for the third straight year.
ALICIA FROLING
Alicia Froling became the 23rd player in SMU history with 20 points in a win at Houston. She now has 1,197 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 145 blocks, and sixth at SMU with  875 career rebounds. She broke her own single-season record with 330 rebounds this season (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.Â
McKENZIE ADAMS
McKenzie Adams has scored in double figures 24 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 13 of the last 16 games, averaging a team-high 14.4 points and shooting 42.0 percent during the stretch. She scored 26 points against USF after 12 against ECU, and finished with 16 against LA Tech. Adams scored 12 points against ACU, and is averaging 16.5 points in four tournament games.
KIARA PERRY
After missing last season due to a back injury, Kiara Perry is averaging 7.2 points per game with 5.4 rebounds. She has reached double figures 10 times, including a career-high 19 points against Prairie View A&M (Nov. 22). She averaged 13.0 points at the conference tournament, reaching double figures in both games. The junior leads the team with 55 steals and is tied for the lead with 83 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.She scored 11 points against ACU, reaching double figures for the third time in the last four games.Â
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 134 blocks in her career, ranking fourth at SMU. The junior has blocked at least one shot in 20 of the last 26 games, with 36 this season. Collins is averaging 5.0 points and 3.6 rebounds on the season, but has scored at least eight points in four of the last 10 games.Â
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 6.2 points per game, reaching double figures nine times this season, including five of the last 12 games. She leads the team with 44 made 3-pointers, shooting 34.6 percent from behind the arc, and is tied for the team lead with 83 assists this season. She set career highs at Temple with nine rebounds and eight assists, and had seven assists against Tulsa. In the last four games, Bolton is 7-of-16 from 3-point range, shooting 43.8 percent.
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 5.1 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
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Players Mentioned
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