Tuesday, December 31
Dallas, Texas
2 p.m.
SMU
vs
George Mason
SMU Plays George Mason Tuesday To End Non-Conference Slate
Dec 27 | Women's Basketball
SMU vs. George Mason (5-6)
Dec. 31, 2019 – 2 p.m.
Dallas, Texas | Moody Coliseum
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SMU plays its final non-conference game at home Tuesday against George Mason at 2 p.m. in Moody Coliseum.
NEW YEAR'S EVE
• The Mustangs are 3-0 all-time on New Year's Eve, and this is the second Dec. 31 contest during the Travis Mays era. Mays led SMU to a 64-47 win at Cincinnati in his first American Athletic Conference game on Dec. 31, 2016.Â
LAST TIME OUT
• Paige Bayliss' putback in the final seconds pushed SMU past UC Irvine, 59-56, on Sunday afternoon inside Moody Coliseum.
 In a tie game with 17 seconds remaining, Bayliss pulled down an offensive rebound over the crowd for her 10th of the game. The sophomore center went right back up for the score to give SMU a 58-56 lead.The SMU defense held the Anteaters scoreless on their final two possessions for the victory. Bayliss recorded her first career double-double with a team-best 14 points lead SMU to its sixth win of the season, improving to 5-3 at home.
NEXT ON THE SLATE
• SMU starts conference play Jan. 5 at home against No. 1 Connecticut at 2 p.m.Â
TEAM NOTES
• SMU set the Moody Coliseum record with 64 rebounds against North Dakota. The mark is tied for second in a game all-time at SMU (64 Feb. 19, 1998 at TCU; Record is 69 on Dec. 1, 1984).
• SMU averages 45.3 rebounds per game, 10th in the NCAA and first in The American.Â
• SMU is 31st in the NCAA and second in The American in field-goal defense, holding opponents to 34.6 percent from the field.Â
• SMU has held its opponent to 60 points or less six times, with a 5-1 record in those games. SMU is 66th in the NCAA and fourth in The American in scoring defense, allowing 58.3 points per game.Â
JOHNASIA CASH
Johnasia Cash is nearly averaging a double-double with a team-best 11.4 points, 18th in The American, and ranks third in the conference with 9.8 rebounds per game. Cash also tops the team and is second in the league in blocks  with 19, averaging 1.9 per game. She posted four-block nights against Wright State and North Dakota. Cash ranks 39th in the NCAA in rebounds per game, 54th in blocks per game, and 34th in double-doubles with five, including four of the last five games. Â
REAGAN BRADLEY
Reagan Bradley scored 13 points in her collegiate debut, and recorded eight assists, second all-time at the time by a freshman at SMU. She handed out nine assists against UTEP, tied for 16th in a game at SMU (SINGLE-GAME RECORD IS 11). She is averaging 4.9 assists per game, 46th in the NCAA and first in The American. Bradley is scoring 8.7 points per game after finishing with a season-high 16 against UTEP and a team-high 12 at UT Arlington. Bradley is shooting 35.0 percent from the field, and also averages 5.4 rebounds, third on the team. With 49 assists, she needs 46 to tie the SMU freshman record (95 in 1982-83 by Tomi Hollis).
KAYLA WHITE
In her first game of the season against TCU, Kayla White scored five points with five rebounds, a steal and a block. White dropped 21 points on Wright State, including 15 in the second half, and followed it up with another 20-point performance against North Dakota. She is second on the team and tied for 21st in The American with 10.1 points per game as a sophomore.
BRISHONNE TOLLIE
Brishonne Tollie is fifth on the team with 8.2 points per game, shooting 36.8 percent from the field. She is averaging 7.8 rebounds, ninth in the conference, and is third on the team with 16 steals. She scored at least 10 in five of the first seven games, including a career-high 19 points against Rice. Last season, she averaged 3.6 points per game, shooting 35.4 percent from the field. She also averaged 2.8 rebounds and had 19 steals.
PAIGE BAYLISS
Paige Bayliss is averaging 5.1 points per game and shooting 46.8 percent from the floor. She scored nine points against Northern Colorado, and had eight points each in two of the last five games. The Australian averages 3.3 rebounds, and has six blocks and seven steals.
AMBER BACON
Amber Bacon is third on the team with 9.6 points this season. She reached double digits five times, including a season-high 16 points against CSUN. She averages 4.6 rebounds per game, and leads the team with 22 steals, ranking fifth in The American with 2.2 per game. Bacon is hitting a team-best 75.6 percent from the free-throw line, seventh in the league, and is second on the team with 30 assists.Â
JAQUIA WHITE
JaQuia White is averaging 5.3 points per game, reaching double figures twice. She scored a career-high 13 points against McNeese and had 12 against UTEP. White leads the SMU guards with a 37.3 shooting percentage, and leads the team outside the arc, going 7-for-21 on 3-point attempts.Â
ARIANA WHITFIELD
Ariana Whitfield scored a season-high nine points in the opening win against McNeese. Last season, she led the team with 98 assists, while averaging 7.1 points per game. Whitfield scored a career-high 24 points in a win at Tulane, and handed out nine assists against Robert Morris, also a career high. Whitfield scored at least 10 points seven times last season.
YOUTH LEADS TO EXPERIENCE
• SMU returns three starters and seven total letterwinners from last season's squad. A year ago, the Mustangs had one of the two youngest team in the country based on average age. This season's returners accounted for more than half of the minutes played a year ago, and the three starters all averaged more than 29 minutes. A year ago, SMU started the season with seven freshmen. This season, the roster lists three freshmen, including one redshirt freshman. While the roster features no seniors, juniors Ariana Whitfield and Johnasia Cash have taken up the leadership torch.
GROWING PAINS
• SMU finished 11-19 overall last season and 5-11 in The American. The Mustangs won three of their last four conference games, two by a combined five points, finishing 8-8 in Moody Coliseum. SMU also earned its first win against perennially-ranked USF, taking a 46-44 victory at home.Â
RECRUITING YOUNG STARS
• Two seasons ago, Ariana Whitfield, a member of head coach Travis Mays' first signing class, was named to the American Athletic Conference All-Freshman Team. For her career, the guard is averaging seven points and three assists per game, and Whitfield led SMU with 42 steals last year. Last season, Kayla White was named to the all-freshman team after leading SMU with 11.4 points per game. She was second on the roster with 38 steals, and shot 33.3 percent from the field. This season, Mays added Arkansas Player of the Year and state champion Reagan Bradley to the squad.
MOODY MAGIC
• SMU is 377-236 at home all-time. Travis Mays has led the Mustangs to a 32-19 record in Moody Coliseum, winning 63 percent of home games. This season, SMU has 17 home games, including nine of 12 non-conference games.Â
SIGNING DAY
Three-time state champion Rhyle McKinney, all-state guard Tamia Jones and point guard Jayla Brooks, the 2018-19 District 10-6A Offensive Player of the Year, make up the SMU 2020 freshman class.
RHYLE McKINNEY
McKinney averaged 23.9 points with 4.3 rebounds and 2.9 steals as a junior. She was named Texas Class 1A-4A Player of the Year by the Texas Girls Coaches Association after leading Argyle to a 32-7 record, which included the program's fifth consecutive Class 4A state championship. McKinney was named to the all-state, all-area and all-district teams.
TAMIA JONES
Jones was named to the all-state team after a stellar year at The Colony High School, where she led her team to the Class 5A Region I semifinals. She scored 14 points in a 68-66 loss to eventual state champion Amarillo, averaging 16.2 points and 4.7 assists for the season.
JAYLA BROOKS
As a junior, Brooks led Sachse to the Texas 6A Region II quarterfinals before a one-point loss to eventual state semifinalist Allen, 49-48. She is a three-time first-team all-district selection. During her sophomore year, Brooks led Sachse to one of the most prolific comeback wins in program history. Trailing Pflugerville Hendrickson 27-4 in the second quarter of the 2018 Class 6A Region II semifinal, Brooks aided in the comeback to send Sachse to just its second region final in school history.
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Dec. 31, 2019 – 2 p.m.
Dallas, Texas | Moody Coliseum
PonyUp TV | Live Stats | Radio
SMU Social Apps
Facebook | Twitter | Instagram
SMU Mobile App
Apple | Google Play
SMU plays its final non-conference game at home Tuesday against George Mason at 2 p.m. in Moody Coliseum.
NEW YEAR'S EVE
• The Mustangs are 3-0 all-time on New Year's Eve, and this is the second Dec. 31 contest during the Travis Mays era. Mays led SMU to a 64-47 win at Cincinnati in his first American Athletic Conference game on Dec. 31, 2016.Â
LAST TIME OUT
• Paige Bayliss' putback in the final seconds pushed SMU past UC Irvine, 59-56, on Sunday afternoon inside Moody Coliseum.
 In a tie game with 17 seconds remaining, Bayliss pulled down an offensive rebound over the crowd for her 10th of the game. The sophomore center went right back up for the score to give SMU a 58-56 lead.The SMU defense held the Anteaters scoreless on their final two possessions for the victory. Bayliss recorded her first career double-double with a team-best 14 points lead SMU to its sixth win of the season, improving to 5-3 at home.
NEXT ON THE SLATE
• SMU starts conference play Jan. 5 at home against No. 1 Connecticut at 2 p.m.Â
TEAM NOTES
• SMU set the Moody Coliseum record with 64 rebounds against North Dakota. The mark is tied for second in a game all-time at SMU (64 Feb. 19, 1998 at TCU; Record is 69 on Dec. 1, 1984).
• SMU averages 45.3 rebounds per game, 10th in the NCAA and first in The American.Â
• SMU is 31st in the NCAA and second in The American in field-goal defense, holding opponents to 34.6 percent from the field.Â
• SMU has held its opponent to 60 points or less six times, with a 5-1 record in those games. SMU is 66th in the NCAA and fourth in The American in scoring defense, allowing 58.3 points per game.Â
JOHNASIA CASH
Johnasia Cash is nearly averaging a double-double with a team-best 11.4 points, 18th in The American, and ranks third in the conference with 9.8 rebounds per game. Cash also tops the team and is second in the league in blocks  with 19, averaging 1.9 per game. She posted four-block nights against Wright State and North Dakota. Cash ranks 39th in the NCAA in rebounds per game, 54th in blocks per game, and 34th in double-doubles with five, including four of the last five games. Â
REAGAN BRADLEY
Reagan Bradley scored 13 points in her collegiate debut, and recorded eight assists, second all-time at the time by a freshman at SMU. She handed out nine assists against UTEP, tied for 16th in a game at SMU (SINGLE-GAME RECORD IS 11). She is averaging 4.9 assists per game, 46th in the NCAA and first in The American. Bradley is scoring 8.7 points per game after finishing with a season-high 16 against UTEP and a team-high 12 at UT Arlington. Bradley is shooting 35.0 percent from the field, and also averages 5.4 rebounds, third on the team. With 49 assists, she needs 46 to tie the SMU freshman record (95 in 1982-83 by Tomi Hollis).
KAYLA WHITE
In her first game of the season against TCU, Kayla White scored five points with five rebounds, a steal and a block. White dropped 21 points on Wright State, including 15 in the second half, and followed it up with another 20-point performance against North Dakota. She is second on the team and tied for 21st in The American with 10.1 points per game as a sophomore.
BRISHONNE TOLLIE
Brishonne Tollie is fifth on the team with 8.2 points per game, shooting 36.8 percent from the field. She is averaging 7.8 rebounds, ninth in the conference, and is third on the team with 16 steals. She scored at least 10 in five of the first seven games, including a career-high 19 points against Rice. Last season, she averaged 3.6 points per game, shooting 35.4 percent from the field. She also averaged 2.8 rebounds and had 19 steals.
PAIGE BAYLISS
Paige Bayliss is averaging 5.1 points per game and shooting 46.8 percent from the floor. She scored nine points against Northern Colorado, and had eight points each in two of the last five games. The Australian averages 3.3 rebounds, and has six blocks and seven steals.
AMBER BACON
Amber Bacon is third on the team with 9.6 points this season. She reached double digits five times, including a season-high 16 points against CSUN. She averages 4.6 rebounds per game, and leads the team with 22 steals, ranking fifth in The American with 2.2 per game. Bacon is hitting a team-best 75.6 percent from the free-throw line, seventh in the league, and is second on the team with 30 assists.Â
JAQUIA WHITE
JaQuia White is averaging 5.3 points per game, reaching double figures twice. She scored a career-high 13 points against McNeese and had 12 against UTEP. White leads the SMU guards with a 37.3 shooting percentage, and leads the team outside the arc, going 7-for-21 on 3-point attempts.Â
ARIANA WHITFIELD
Ariana Whitfield scored a season-high nine points in the opening win against McNeese. Last season, she led the team with 98 assists, while averaging 7.1 points per game. Whitfield scored a career-high 24 points in a win at Tulane, and handed out nine assists against Robert Morris, also a career high. Whitfield scored at least 10 points seven times last season.
YOUTH LEADS TO EXPERIENCE
• SMU returns three starters and seven total letterwinners from last season's squad. A year ago, the Mustangs had one of the two youngest team in the country based on average age. This season's returners accounted for more than half of the minutes played a year ago, and the three starters all averaged more than 29 minutes. A year ago, SMU started the season with seven freshmen. This season, the roster lists three freshmen, including one redshirt freshman. While the roster features no seniors, juniors Ariana Whitfield and Johnasia Cash have taken up the leadership torch.
GROWING PAINS
• SMU finished 11-19 overall last season and 5-11 in The American. The Mustangs won three of their last four conference games, two by a combined five points, finishing 8-8 in Moody Coliseum. SMU also earned its first win against perennially-ranked USF, taking a 46-44 victory at home.Â
RECRUITING YOUNG STARS
• Two seasons ago, Ariana Whitfield, a member of head coach Travis Mays' first signing class, was named to the American Athletic Conference All-Freshman Team. For her career, the guard is averaging seven points and three assists per game, and Whitfield led SMU with 42 steals last year. Last season, Kayla White was named to the all-freshman team after leading SMU with 11.4 points per game. She was second on the roster with 38 steals, and shot 33.3 percent from the field. This season, Mays added Arkansas Player of the Year and state champion Reagan Bradley to the squad.
MOODY MAGIC
• SMU is 377-236 at home all-time. Travis Mays has led the Mustangs to a 32-19 record in Moody Coliseum, winning 63 percent of home games. This season, SMU has 17 home games, including nine of 12 non-conference games.Â
SIGNING DAY
Three-time state champion Rhyle McKinney, all-state guard Tamia Jones and point guard Jayla Brooks, the 2018-19 District 10-6A Offensive Player of the Year, make up the SMU 2020 freshman class.
RHYLE McKINNEY
McKinney averaged 23.9 points with 4.3 rebounds and 2.9 steals as a junior. She was named Texas Class 1A-4A Player of the Year by the Texas Girls Coaches Association after leading Argyle to a 32-7 record, which included the program's fifth consecutive Class 4A state championship. McKinney was named to the all-state, all-area and all-district teams.
TAMIA JONES
Jones was named to the all-state team after a stellar year at The Colony High School, where she led her team to the Class 5A Region I semifinals. She scored 14 points in a 68-66 loss to eventual state champion Amarillo, averaging 16.2 points and 4.7 assists for the season.
JAYLA BROOKS
As a junior, Brooks led Sachse to the Texas 6A Region II quarterfinals before a one-point loss to eventual state semifinalist Allen, 49-48. She is a three-time first-team all-district selection. During her sophomore year, Brooks led Sachse to one of the most prolific comeback wins in program history. Trailing Pflugerville Hendrickson 27-4 in the second quarter of the 2018 Class 6A Region II semifinal, Brooks aided in the comeback to send Sachse to just its second region final in school history.
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