The SMU women’s basketball team is depending on an experienced core of players this season. The Mustangs only lost two players off of last year’s squad in Gabrielle Wilkins and Keely Froling, and are now loaded with upperclassmen.

With forward Dai’ja Thomas being the only player not yet at least a junior, first year coach Travis Mays is taking over a veteran group.

Thomas might be among the least experienced, but she will be expected to be one of the team’s biggest contributors, even if she continues to come off the bench as she did in the season opening 64-56 win over Texas State. She scored 11 points and added 10 rebounds in a team-leading 31 minutes on the floor.

The team is led by junior Alicia Froling, a preseason second team all-AAC player, who is already off to a good start this season. The Aussie put up 15 points and brought down 15 rebounds in the season opener, not an irregular stat line for the SMU single-season leader in rebounds. Froling averaged a double-double last season and amassed 328 boards, best in the conference.

Still, the team is in transition and rough patches are bound to happen under a first year head coach. The team finished 13-18 in Rhonda Rompola’s last season as head coach and were bounced in the conference quarterfinals by USF. The other glaring challenge is the fact that the four-time consecutive national champion UConn huskies are on the schedule twice and will be a huge road block in the Mustangs route to an NCAA tournament birth.

Before the team thinks about March, it should focus on adapting to a new system under Mays. The new coach has said he will be demanding but his NBA and WNBA background gives him a depth of knowledge and experience that not many college coaches have.

The Mustangs can improve significantly this season because of their depth up front, with Froling and TCU-transfer Klara Bradshaw starting and fellow Aussie Stephanie Collins. The 6-foot-6 Bradshaw scored eight points and added nine rebounds in 20 minutes against Texas State. Thomas and Collins will also be in the rotation, giving Mays four solid options in the front court.

SMU guard play will be handled by Kiara Perry, who is coming off a back injury that cut her 2015-16 season short, and McKenzie Adams, the team’s leading scorer last season with 13.4 points per game. Adams was also voted the AAC newcomer of the year after transferring from Arkansas.

Out of conference egames against Kansas, Texas A&M and Boston college could be tough, but SMU has the experience to take a big leap in 2016-17 and a coach who can get the most out of his team. Do not be shocked to see SMU climb up the AAC this year.

Prediction: 16-11