Women’s basketball ready to shine with reloaded roster

[PonyPride]

From SMUMustangs.com:

SMU Women’s Basketball Ready To Shine With Reloaded Roster

DALLAS (SMU) – Toyelle Wilson's pitch was twofold. As the SMU women's basketball coach met with prospective players ahead of the 2024-25 season, her message was simple – there is opportunity in Dallas and it's up to you to seize it.

Very quickly, the fourth-year head coach noted that her words were resonating with the right people.

"They're really smart basketball IQ kids. We don't have to over-coach them with scouts and personnel and things like that. They really get things down quickly. And then they really enjoy and love the game," Wilson said. "I just love that kids want to be around the game. They want to grow, they want to be challenged on the court. They want to learn and they have that mental toughness."

The 13-player roster features eight new faces to the program, including seven additions via the transfer portal.

Building connections between the returning and new talent, along with developing an understanding of the team culture, was the offseason focus for Wilson and her staff. Fortunately, the Mustangs had a pair of things on their side.

First was a trip to Greece and Croatia over the summer. While overseas, SMU got to play against other teams as part of the international experience, allowing for real game action, something that can't truly be simulated in practice.

Secondly, the transfers are no strangers to basketball at the Division I level. Combined, the group made 161 appearances in games last season alone. Wilson noted that some had been asked to carry heavy loads at their previous institutions, while others had more limited roles. At SMU, they've been given the chance to find their place and figure out where they can have the most impact.

It's a combination that helped the Mustangs get ahead from the jump.

"This summer, we could practice full-time and we could put in some plays that we normally wouldn't put in until the fall. So the girls were kind of ahead from summer when we got back in the fall," Wilson said. "It was just really nice to learn the players, learn the eight new kids who come in with the five returning kids and build that chemistry."

While the challenge of playing in the ACC looms, the Mustangs aren't looking too far down the road just yet. Right now, the focus centers on Monday as North Carolina A&T visits Moody Coliseum for a 4:30 p.m. matchup to open the season.

From there, it will be incremental steps, building confidence and relying on previous insights to move the program forward. Those are steps the Mustangs are looking forward to taking together.

"It's just an exciting time. I think it's also a time where we kind of get to go out, do what we do and prove ourselves to a lot of people and prove that we belong in a new conference," Wilson said. "But right now, we're just laser focused on our nonconference schedule and just getting ready for N.C. A&T and trying to just be better for us. We're just focusing on us and not really focusing on that long journey that we're going to have day-in and day-out."

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