Six teams began the season undefeated as Eastern New Mexico, Lubbock Christian, St. Edward’s, Tarleton, Texas A&M-commerce and UAFS all started the season 2-0.
LSC women’s basketball teams are 19-12 overall this season and 18-11 against Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference teams, the other league in the NCAA South Central Region.
LSC schedule and results available here:
https://lonestarconference.org/calendar.aspx?path=wbball&
PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
OFFENSIVE
Mackenzie Hailey, Tarleton State, SO, Kinesiology, G, Burleson, Texas, Burleson HS
Hailey led Tarleton to a 2-0 weekend with wins over RMAC opponents Adams State and Colorado Mesa by averaging 17.5 points, 8.5 rebounds, 3 assists and 1.5 blocks per game. Hailey led all players with 15 points in just 23 minutes in a 69-41 win over Adams State. The senior from Burleson had as many points (11) as Adams State did in the first half, where the Texans led by 34. She also added 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 blocks and a steal while shooting 5-9 from the floor and 3-3 on 3-pointers. Hailey and the Texans held Adams State to 34.1 percent shooting and forced 21 turnovers which translated into 28 points. In a matchup with two regional tournament teams last season, Hailey was dominate with a game-high 20 points and 13 rebounds for her 27th career double-double. Hailey shot 7-13 from the floor, including 2-3 on 3-pointers and 4-4 at the free-throw line in the win. She also had a team-leading three assists. Hailey’s defense helped hold Colorado Mesa to just 33 percent shooting and 21 percent on 3-pointers while committing 21 turnovers.
DEFENSIVE
Maddison Glass, Texas A&M-Commerce, SR, Criminal Justice, G, Missouri City, Texas, Hightower HS
Glass was disruptive on both ends of the court for the Lions' in their two blowout wins last week to open the season. She was charged with shutting down a pair of tough RMAC guards and rose to the challenge, helping the Lion defense hold shooters under 31 percent from the field and helping the Lions to a plus-25.5 scoring differential to begin the year. Against Metro State, Glass had a block and pulled in seven rebounds to go with nine points and three assists. Her efforts helped the Lions force 18 turnovers and hold MSU Denver to 31 percent shooting. Glass was even more troublesome in the team's 33-point win over CSU-Pueblo. She had four steals and affected multiple other plays as the Lions forced 28 turnovers in the game. Glass also poured in 12 points and six assists in the Lions' win, holding CSU Pueblo to under 30 percent from the field in the game.
WEEKLY AWARDS
Offensive
N-11 Mackenzie Hailey, Tarleton
Defensive
N-11 Maddison Glass, Texas A&M-Commerce
SELECTED NOTABLE PERFORMANCES
Holly Hemmeline, started her Falcon career with a pair of monster games and leads the Lone Star Conference with 22 points, and is the only player averaging more than 20 a game. The freshman caught fire in the second half on Friday, scoring all 18 of her points on 7-of-15 shooting and went 4-for-8 from three in just two quarters. She scored a team-high 26 points on Saturday, going for 19 in the second half. The freshman helped the Falcons with an 11-point fourth quarter. She added to the stat sheet with 3.5 rebounds per game and five assists. The Denver City native leads the Conference in three-pointers made with 10.
Tamera Gulley, UAFS, had an impressive defensive performance while also averaging double-double against Colorado School of Mines and Colorado Christian during the Conference Challenge in Austin, Texas. Gulley averaged 10.5 points and 10.5 rebounds while also adding four assists, five steals and four blocks. Gulley was a defensive force during the weekend closing down the paint against two tough opponents and helping hold Colorado School of Mines to a 50-point game with a .367 shooting percentage.
Kami Porter, Cameron, had a strong first two games of her Cameron basketball career. The freshman opened up the Texan Tip-Off Classic with a near double-double against Colorado Mesa, grabbing a team-high 10 rebounds to go along with nine points. Porter followed that up with an 18 point, four rebound outing in a win over Adams State the next day. The CU freshman recorded three steals in both contests and averaged 13.5 points and 7.0 rebounds for the weekend.
Maddi Chitsey, Lubbock Christian, helped the Lady Chaps to a 2-0 mark on the opening weekend of play, receiving All-Tournament Team honors at the Al Kaly Shrine Classic hosted by Colorado State-Pueblo, as she led the team with averages of 16.5 points, 7.5 rebounds and 3.0 blocks per game. She posted 18 points against CSU-Pueblo, with seven rebounds and three assists. Chitsey followed with 15 points in a win over Metro State, which also included a performance of eight rebounds and a career high five blocks. Chitsey's five blocks. LCU produced eight blocks as a team, which is something they only did once last season (10 against Oklahoma Christian on Jan. 26, 2019).
Avila Lewis, Eastern New Mexico, got her 2019-20 season started by averaging a double-double at the LSC/RMAC Challenge in Durango, Colo. over the weekend. Lewis averaged 15.0 points and 10.0 rebounds between the two games as the Hounds started the year off 2-0 with wins over New Mexico Highlands and Fort Lewis. Lewis recorded three blocks in each game as the Hounds limited their opponents to a 32.1 percent shooting percentage for the weekend. She totaled 10 points and eight rebounds against New Mexico Highlands and the scored 20 points and grabbed 12 rebounds against Fort Lewis.
Abby Spurgin, West Texas A&M, picked up where she left off following an LSC Championship MVP performance last season as the junior has averaged 11.8 points and 5.2 rebounds per game for the No. 12 Lady Buffs with wins over the University of Mary, UC-Colorado Springs and Regis to begin the 2019-20 season. The Fredericksburg, Texas product has registered 26 total rebounds (10 offensive, 16 defensive) over the first five games of the season to go along with five assists, two steals and an impressive 11 blocks for the Lady Buffs. Spurgin had her biggest game of the season on Friday night in Colorado Springs as the junior went 8-of-12 from the floor and 4-of-5 from the free throw line to lead all players with 20 points to go along with six rebounds and four blocks.
Hannah Reynolds, Midwestern State, was named to the All-Tournament Team at the Ashbrook Classic after averaging 19.5 PPG to help Midwestern State to a 1-1 record. Reynolds was the definition of efficient on Saturday night against Dixie State, scoring 22 points in 23 minutes in a 10-point win. The junior forward shot .552 from the floor during the tournament (16-for-29).
Maighan Hedge, Cameron, dropped 29 points in the Aggies first win of the season against Adams State. CU's sophomore was 8-17 from the floor, 5-10 from the perimeter, and 8-8 from the free throw line in the win over the Grizzlies. For the two games, Hedge averaged 17.5 points, 3.5 rebounds, 2.0 assists, and 1.0 steal. She finished the weekend a perfect 10-10 from the foul line.
Paige Elston, UAFS, powered UAFS offense during the Conference Challenge in Austin, Texas and led the team to a 2-0 weekend against Colorado School of Mines and Colorado Christian. Elston averaged 14 points and five assists per game while also adding five rebounds and five steals. Overall, Elston was shooting a .321 percentage (9-28) while averaging .750 from the free throw line.
Dyani Robinson, Texas A&M-Commerce, was a dynamic scorer for the Lions in both of their wins to open the season. In her first game against Metro State, Robinson drained all three of her triples, scoring nine points in the team's 69-51 win, as well as four rebounds and two assists. Robinson then exploded in the Lions' 33-point rout of CSU-Pueblo, hitting two more threes and also getting penetration in the lane, scoring 18 points in 20 minutes. In her two games, she shot 53 percent from the field and better than 71 percent from behind the arc and was also perfect from the free throw line.