DALLAS (SMU) - SMU head coach Toyelle Wilson knew it, she made sure her players knew it and now the rest of the ACC is on notice.

The Mustangs belong.

"I told the girls in the locker room, we know we belong here in the ACC. We just had to show the world that we belong and that we can compete," Wilson said. "The girls never doubted. They had confidence in everything they did this whole last week, since we got back (from the break). I'm just incredibly proud of the team, our staff, preparing for this game, preparing for the ACC, being locked in. But overall, I'm just super proud and happy for the girls, for them to experience this for the first time in the ACC."

SMU scored the first 10 points of the game and led by as many as 13 points in the opening quarter. The Mustangs finished the frame with an 11-point lead. That lead would grow to 16 points early in the second quarter and never dropped lower than eight points, SMU's halftime advantage.

"It was huge to send a statement," Wilson said of SMU's start. "And I told the kids, we're really good at home and it's really hard for people to come in here and compete with us. So, just proud of our start."

Nya Robertson helped fuel that fast start. She had a pair of 3-pointers in the opening 10-0 run and then hit back-to-back 3-pointers to put the Mustangs up by 13 late in the quarter. Robertson finished with a game-high 21 points, her seventh game with at least 20 points this season.

"It feels great, just be able to play for the people who come out and watch us," Robertson, a Fort Worth native, said. "We have a statement to prove and we're going to prove that to everyone we belong here. We're going to do everything we've got to prove to everyone that this is us."

Even with an eight-point lead at halftime, the Mustangs knew the game was far from over. Stanford came into the game outsourcing its opponents by 46 points in the third quarter, their biggest margin in any frame.

SMU came out and outscored the Cardinal by two to take a 10-point lead into the final 10 minutes.

Then they had to hang on.

"It happens. I mean, that's what makes the game beautiful though," guard Zanai Jones, who scored a career-high 20 points, said. "We always had the lead, but obviously, they're a great team. We didn't think they were going to bow down at all. So when they came back, it's just heavy on the, 'Let's stay together. Take a deep breath.' I remember a lot of our huddles were focused in on deep breaths, we're still here, we still have control. I think we did a very good job handling that adversity again."

The Cardinal used an 11-0 run to make it a one-point game with 42 seconds left to play. Jones put SMU back up by three with a drive, fighting through contact and a foul to score. 

Jessica Peterson grabbed the rebound after Stanford's game-tying 3-point attempt missed. TK Pitts made a free throw with two seconds left to effectively put the game away and Peterson's 16th rebound sealed the win. Pitts and Peterson each finished with nine points.

"I'm very excited," Jones said. "I think this is a conference that all of us belong in. I'm super proud of us and proud of myself, of course, to put in the work and seeing it come out, but just more excited for the team and our collective effort. It's going to be fun."

Wilson brought in players like Robertson and Jones this offseason to compete and deliver in games just like Thursday night's. They came to SMU for that opportunity.

"That's why these two came here," Wilson said. "To do something special, do something different and for people to remember this team."

The road in the ACC doesn't get any easier though. SMU welcomes No. 20 California to Moody on Sunday afternoon. The Golden Bears are coming off an upset loss to Clemson, so the Mustangs know they will get their best shot.

That doesn't change how SMU will approach the game. It's back to the drawing board to put in a game plan, just like it did to get the win against Stanford.

"I think that the growth of this team and different from our other teams, is that they can take what we're telling them and put it on the court," Wilson said. "We're going to do the same thing for Cal. They're a great program. … We're going to do what we do and look at the game and how I scout every game, I'm going to find weaknesses, strengths, take away what they do well and what we do well and do it on the court."