Six score in double figures, WBB knocks off UCF to advance

[PonyPride]

From SMUMustangs.com:

SMU Eliminates UCF With Overtime Victory
Six Mustangs Score at Least 10 Points; Froling Records 14th Double-Double of Season

UNCASVILLE, Conn. (SMU) – With two seconds left in regulation, Dai’ja Thomas forced overtime with a layup, before the SMU women’s basketball team outscored UCF 15-6 in overtime to claim an 83-74 come-from-behind victory and advance to the second round of the American Athletic Conference Championship Friday night at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut.

It was all SMU in the final five minutes, as the Mustangs made 5-of-10 shots from the field, while holding the Knights to 2-of-8 shooting. SMU also capitalized from the free-throw line in the final five minutes, converting 4-of-7 attempts.

All five SMU starters, along with Thomas, recorded double-digit scoring performances. Alicia Froling scored 17 points and grabbed 12 rebounds en route to her 14th double-double of the season. Froling is one double-double shy of tying the SMU single-season double-double record, which was set by Shasta Smothers-Johnson in the 1984-85 season. McKenzie Adams added 14 points for the Mustangs, and tallied three rebounds and three assists. Morgan Bolton scored 13 points and had seven assists, tying her career-highs in both categories. The junior guard also recorded six rebounds. Stephanie Collins and Thomas each finished with 12 points, with Thomas tying her career-high in points scored. Gabrielle Wilkins rounded off the group, scoring 10 points on 5-for-12 shooting.

The last time all five SMU starters scored at least 10 points in a game, was on Feb. 8, 2014, when the Mustangs took on Rutgers.

Trailing 66-57 with 2:39 left in the game, Froling hit a 3-point jumper to spark a 7-0 run that would cut the UCF lead to two, 66-64, with 54 seconds left in the game. After UCF converted two late free-throws, Adams brought the game back within two, 68-66, before Thomas kept SMU’s tournament run alive in the final seconds.

SMU shot 45.7 percent from the field and made four 3-pointers, while holding the Knights to 38.0 percent from the field and 37.0 percent from behind the 3-point arc. The Mustangs also converted 78.9 percent (15-of-19) from the free-throw-line.

SMU will take on No. 20/20 USF at 6 p.m. ET/5 p.m. CT Saturday in the second round of the American Athletic Conference Championship.

NOTES:
• SMU recorded its first postseason victory since joining the American Athletic Conference. In two previous trips to Mohegan Sun Arena, the Mustangs fell to Memphis (71‐59 last year) and Rutgers (68‐ 49) two years ago.
• The Mustangs advanced to the quarterfinals, where they will meet No. 2 USF in the quarterfinals tomorrow night at 6 p.m. SMU is 0‐2 this season against the Bulls, losing 83‐56 on January 7th, and 66‐48 on January 31st.
• This was the third meeting between the Knights and Mustangs since February 6th. The teams split the first two games.
• Before tonight, the last time UCF and SMU faced each other in the postseason was 2013, when the Knights pulled off an upset in the quarterfinals of the Conference USA tournament.
• SMU forward Alicia Froling recorded her 14th double‐double (17 points, 12 rebounds) of the season to move into second place all‐time in program history. She had been tied at 13 with SMU coach Rhonda Rompola, who had 13 during the 1981‐82 season. Froling now has 323 rebounds this season, adding to her single‐season program record.
• SMU sophomore forward Stephanie Collins added to her program record for career blocks, picking up four tonight against UCF. She now has 71 on the year. Collins also broke a tie with Froling for sixth place in career blocks. She now has 96, moving past Christine Elliott into fifth. Froling had one block tonight, giving her 93.
• As a team, the Mustangs had six blocks. That pushes their program single‐season record to 175.
• The Mustangs had six players score in double figures. The last time five or more SMU players did that was February 8, 2014 against Rutgers.

QUOTES:

Head coach Rhonda Rompola

“I told our kids right before we went into overtime...this is why coaches have grey hair.”

“You got to want it more than them. You got to have a bigger heart and I tell you what, we had some big hearts.”

“Our kids haven’t experienced a lot of joy in the last couple of weeks. I know they have been tired. I told our coaches I would like to see them experience some joy and it was nice to see that in the locker room.”

On last play of regulation
“Credit to Gabby (Wilkins) to seeing her. Credit it to Gabby for making the pass. A lot of kids in that situation would take the shot and Gabby made the right decision.”

On facing USF
“Jose has done a fantastic job and they are a heck of a team. They got one of the best players in the country in Courtney Williams. They are not an easy team to defend.”

Gabrielle Wilkins (on Coach Rompola’s final season)
“It makes want to play harder. It makes us want to win for ourselves and for our coach...Our heart was all there. We wanted this lot more than just like winning. It was beyond that. “

Alicia Froling (on the comeback)
“We didn’t want to end today. Credit to Dai’Ja Thomas in the last quarter. She came up big.”