Mays Named All-Conference By AAC
{fshare id=4880}
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (SMU) – Keena Mays was a unanimous selection to the inaugural All-American Athletic Conference First Team, as voted by the league’s coaches, league officials announced Thursday. Akil Simpson earned second team honors, and Kiara Perry was named to the All-Freshman team.
Mays won the regular season scoring title, averaging a league-high 20.8 points per game. She is one of just two players in the conference with more than 600 points this season, becoming just the second player in SMU history to reach 600 in a season. The Arlington, Texas, native also finished second in the league with a school-record 73 3-point field goals, and led the conference with a 38.2 shooting percentage behind the arc. She reached 1,000 points in just 51 games on the Hilltop.
A senior guard, Mays scored at least 20 points in 17 of 29 games played, including
an SMU-record four 30-point performances. She scored a career-high 34 twice and also ranked 10th in The American with 3.4 assists per game, passing out 100 on the season. Defensively, Mays led the Mustangs with 64 steals, ranking third in the league with 2.2 per game. This is the second first-team selection of her career at SMU.
Simpson earned her third straight second-team all-conference award, averaging 13.7 points per game, ninth in The American, and a team-high 8.3 rebounds per game, seventh in the league. She became the 21st player to score 1,000 points in a career at SMU, reaching double figures in points 26 times in 29 games this season. She also became the first player with 10 double-doubles in a season at SMU since Janelle Dodds recorded 12 during the 2005-06 season. She scored a season-high 23 points in a win over Temple, and had a season-high 15 rebounds at UTEP. The forward from Duncanville, Texas, was also named to the All-Freshman team after the 2010-11 season.
Perry was named to the All-Freshman team, scoring 7.7 points with 4.8 rebounds per game. She scored at least 10 points 10 times this season, including seven conference games, and had a season-high 15 points against Memphis. She finished with a double-double at Rutgers, scoring 10 points with 10 rebounds, and led the Mustangs in rebounds three times this season.
SMU begins postseason play Saturday against No. 24 Rutgers in the quarterfinals of the American Athletic Conference Championship at 11 a.m. CT (ESPN3). The tournament is being played at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn., and all games will air on the ESPN family of networks.
