March 4, 2013

DALLAS (SMU) - SMU women's basketball signee Kiara Perry was named Most Valuable Player after leading the Duncanville High School Pantherettes to their second straight 5A Texas State Championship and 70th consecutive win.

Perry, a 5-11 forward, scored 20 points with 13 rebounds to lead Duncanville to a 59-36 victory over Cibolo Steele in the championship game in Austin. The Pantherettes allowed more than 40 points just once during the eight-game run to the championship, and won all but one game by more than 20 points.

As a junior, Perry was named to the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches 5A All-State team after averaging 11.1 points per game with 6.8 rebounds, 3.3 steals and 2.4 assists. She pulled down a game-high 15 rebounds in the state championship game win over Dekaney last season. She is a two-time all-district and academic all-district, and was named Co-Best Offensive Player at Duncanville in 2012.

The high school standout will join an SMU team which is losing just one senior after winning at least a share of the Conference USA regular season championship with a 73-71 win against UTEP Sunday. The Mustangs conclude the regular season at Rice on Thursday at 7 p.m. before competing in the C-USA Championships in Tulsa March 13-16. SMU's first game in the tournament will be Thursday, March 14, with a game time yet to be determined.