The Mustangs face Houston Saturday at 2 p.m. in the H&PE Arena at Texas Southern University in Houston. The game is the third of three road games in a four-game stretch for SMU. Fans in the Dallas area can listen to the broadcast on KAAM 770 AM.
ABOUT SMU
The Mustangs are 7-13, 1-6 in The American, defeating East Carolina at home.
McKenzie Adams is sixth in the conference and 89th nationally with 17.5 points per game.
Kiara Perry is also averaging double figures with 10.2 points per game, ranking 29th in the league, and has four double-doubles this season. Freshman
Ariana Whitfield is scoring 7.4 points per game.
Defensively, SMU is fourth in The American in scoring defense, allowing 60.5 points per game, and ranks second with a 35.8 defensive field goal percentage, 20th in the NCAA. The Mustangs have 89 blocks, averaging 4.5 per game, second in the league and 60th in the NCAA.
Klara Bradshaw has 32 blocks this season, ranking third in the league with 1.7 per game.
SMU is tied for the league lead and ranks 25th nationally with 43.0 rebounds per game, and ranks 89th in the country with a +4.1 rebound margin. Perry leads the team and is 12th in the league with 7.3 rebounds per game, and
Dai'ja Thomas is 13th with 7.2 per game. Thomas tied the program record with 22 rebounds against ECU.
Travis Mays signed six high school players in his second signing class as head coach at SMU. The class includes three local standouts and two players ranked in the top 50 at their position by ESPN. The class includes three guards and three interior players.
SCOUTING THE OPPONENT
Houston is 15-6 overall and 4-3 in The American, losing three of its last four games. Jasmyne Harris leads the team with 20.5 ponts per game, and is one of four Cougars averaging at least 10 points per game. Houston averages 76.3 points with a 41.5 shooting percentage, while opponents are scoring 72.2 points.
SERIES HISTORY
SMU is 25-33 all-time against the Cougars. Houston won the first 20 games in the series before SMU earned its first win, a 69-66 victory in Dallas on Feb. 5, 1992. Since then, SMU is 25-13 against Houston. The Mustangs swept the season series last year, winning 66-45 in Houston and 74-45 in Dallas, but lost, 85-75, at home in the conference opener this season.
LAST TIME OUT
Freshmen
Johnasia Cash and
Ariana Whitfield logged double-digit scoring performances for the Mustangs, but SMU fell to Cincinnati Wednesday, 58-40.
Cash led the way in the scoring column for the Mustangs by posting a career-high 11 points. Meanwhile, Whitfield tallied her sixth 10-point game of the season by dropping in 10 points.
POSTSEASON IN FIRST SEASON
In his first season as head coach,
Travis Mays guided the Mustangs to a 19-13 record, including a pair of WNIT wins. SMU advanced to the round of 16 in the tournament with wins at home against Louisiana Tech and Abilene Christian. It was the first time since 1993 that an SMU team won twice in a postseason tournament.
DEFEND YOUR HOUSE
SMU went 13-3 in Moody Coliseum last season, just two wins shy of the program-record 15 home wins during the 2012-13 season. The win total included a victory over then-No. 19 Texas A&M, while the three losses came against then-No. 1 Connecticut, then-No. 23 USF and a Tulane team that was receiving votes at the time of the matchup. This season, the Mustangs are 6-3 in Moody Coliseum.
INCREASED ATTENDANCE
SMU had the seventh largest increase in attendance last season, averaging an additional 1,028 fans per game in Moody Coliseum than the previous year.
SIGNING CLASS
Amber Bacon, a 5-5 guard from Grand Prairie, Texas, was named Defensive MVP in Texas 7-6A last season. She averaged 12.5 points and 3.5 assists as a junior at South Grand Prairie High School, earning All-State honors. Bacon is the No. 75 guard prospect according to ESPN and was named to the All-Region team, as well as the TGCA All-Star team.
Desoto teammates and cousins Kayla and Jaquia White will continue to play together at the collegiate level on the Hilltop. Kayla, a 5-10 shooting guard, averaged 13.7 points per game last season, earning All-District honors. Jaquia is a tough tenacious combo guard at Desoto, who will serve as a very valuable piece for SMU especially on the defensive end. Both players are members of the National Honor Society. Together, the duo led Desoto to the third round of the state playoffs.
Alexis Leggett is a 6-3 post player from Ariton High School in Ariton, Ala. Rated as the No. 38 post player by ESPN, Leggett averages 10 points and 15 rebounds per game.
Marie Olson is the No. 21 post prospect according to ESPN, who averaged 10.1 points as a junior at Oak Ridge High School in El Dorado Hills, Calif., leading her team to the regional finals in the state tournament.
Brishonne Tollie is a 6-2 post player from Bartow, Fla. During her junior season, she averaged 18.0 points and 11.9 rebounds, leading her team to the regional quarterfinals of the state tournament.
BROKEN RECORD
For the third straight season, SMU set a program record in blocked shots, recording 187 as a team. SMU also set the single-season rebounds record with 1,409 boards last season. It was the second straight season in which the rebounds record was broken. The Mustangs finished with 1,331 rebounds in 2015-16, which was the most since the 1981-82 season.
This season, SMU is second in The American, averaging 4.5 blocks per game with 89 total blocks.
SMU SINGLE-SEASON BLOCKS
1. 187 2016-17
2. 184 2015-16
3. 160 2014-15
4. 142 2005-06
SMU SINGLE-SEASON REBOUNDS
1. 1,409 2016-17
2. 1,331 2015-16
3. 1,327 1981-82
SMU CAREER BLOCKS
1. Sarah Davis (2003-06) 180
2.
Stephanie Collins (2015-Present) 149
3.
Alicia Froling (2015-Present) 145
4. Karlin Kennedy (1996-00) 139
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.
Stephanie Collins also represented Australia at the 2012 World University Games.
Alicia Froling
As a junior,
Alicia Froling was the only player in The American to average a double-double, scoring a team-high 14.3 points per game with a league-best 10.0 rebounds. With 486 points, she climbed to 14th on the all-time scoring list at SMU with 1,213 career points. Froling is sixth all-time in rebounds with 884 after grabbing 339 to reset her own program record. She also has 147 career blocks, second all-time at SMU. She posted a program-record 17 double-doubles, and scored a season-high 28 points in the win against Louisiana Tech.
SMU SINGLE SEASON DOUBLE-DOUBLES
1.
Alicia Froling (2016-17) 17
2. Shasta Smothers-Johnson (1984-85) 15
3.
Alicia Froling (2015-16) 14
SMU CAREER DOUBLE-DOUBLES
T-1. Shasta Smothers-Johnson (1983-87) 38
T-1. Janielle Dodds (2005-08) 38
3.
Alicia Froling (2015-Present) 36
INDIVIDUAL SEASON REBOUNDS LIST
1.
Alicia Froling (2016-17) 339
2.
Alicia Froling (2015-16) 328
3. Shasta Smothers-Johnson (1984-85) 310
SMU CAREER REBOUNDS
1. Janielle Dodds (2004-08) 974
2. Karlin Kennedy (1996-2000) 946
3. Shasta Smothers-Johnson (1983-87) 933
4. Teri Baldwin (1977-80) 890
5. Christine Elliott (2008-12) 886
6.
Alicia Froling (2015-Present) 884
McKenzie Adams
McKenzie Adams ranks 89th in the NCAA and sixth in the American Athletic Conference with 17.5 points per game. She reached double figures in 16 of 20 games, including two of the top-five scoring performances in program history. Her career-high 38 points in the season opener ranks third in a game at SMU, and she is tied with three other players with 35 points at Nevada. Adams is the first player at SMU with multiple 30-point games in a season since Keena Mays in 2013-14. She shot a season-high 60.0 percent at Nevada (12-20). Adams became the 24th player in program history to score 1,000 points and ranks 17th at SMU with 1,180, and has 1,437 points overall, including 257 at Arkansas.
SMU SINGLE-GAME SCORING
1. Jeannia Nix vs. Texas (2/28/89) 43
2. Shawna Ford vs. TCU (1/25/97) 42
3.
McKenzie Adams vs. Nicholls (11/10/17) 38
4. Shasta Smothers-Johnson vs. TCU (1/18/85) 36
T-5.
McKenzie Adams at Nevada (11/26/17) 35
T-5. Three other players 35
Kiara Perry
Kiara Perry is second on the team and 29th in The American with 10.2 points per game, reaching double figures in 11 games, including a career-high 23 points against TCU. Perry has four double-doubles this season. She has 44 steals, ranking sixth in The American with 2.2 per game. The senior is 12th in the conference with 7.3 rebounds per game, matching her career high with 14 twice this season.
ARIANNA WHITFIELD
Freshman
Ariana Whitfield is third on the team in scoring with 7.4 points per game. She has scored at least 10 six times, including a career-high 18 points against Abilene Christian. Whitfield made four of five 3-point attempts at then-No. 21 Oklahoma. She scored 17 points in the win against McNeese.
Stephanie Collins
Stephanie Collins is second on the all-time blocks list at SMU with 149 career blocks. She set the SMU single-season record with 73 as a sophomore. The post player averaged 4.9 points and 3.5 rebounds last season. She scored a season-high 10 points at Temple, and increased her scoring average to 6.5 in conference games. This season, Collins is shooting 43.5 percent with 3.6 points per game, scoring 10 at UT Arlington.
Dai'ja Thomas
As a sophomore,
Dai'ja Thomas was second on the team with 40 blocks, and the Dallas native averaged 6.2 points and 5.1 rebounds. She scored a career-high 18 points at Temple, and reached double figures seven times. Thomas had two double-doubles, and blocked four shots against TCU, matching her career high. This season, she matched the program record with 22 rebounds and matched her season high with 15 points against East Carolina. Thomas is 13th in The American this season with 7.2 rebounds per game and averages 4.9 points.
Klara Bradshaw
Klara Bradshaw is fourth in the conference in total blocks, 32, and and tied for third in blocks per game, 1.7. She recorded blocks in 15 of 20 games this season, and knocked away a career-high five blocks against TCU. The redshirt senior scored a season-high 10 points at Temple, and pulled down a career-high 11 rebounds against CSU Bakersfield and again vs Cincinnati.
Travis Mays is Bradshaw's fourth head coach in college, and this is the first season the TCU transfer is working with the same coach in consecutive seasons.
Mikayla Reese
Mikayla Reese posted a career-high six assists in the opener against Nicholls this season, and followed it with six more against TCU. She is averaging 2.9 per game, passing out at least five assists in five of the first six games. Reese is scoring 3.4 points per game, including a season-high 10 against UCF.
Johnasia Cash
Johnasia Cash grabbed a career-high 10 rebounds at UCF, and scored a career-high 11 points against Cincinnati, reaching double figures for the second time. The freshman is averaging 4.8 points and 5.6 rebounds, third on the team. She scored 10 points at Oklahoma.
