Lone Star Conference women’s basketball teams combined to go 14-7 over the Thanksgiving week. Lubbock Christian and Texas A&M-Commerce lead the group of undefeated teams with impressive wins. LCU went 2-0 against teams receiving votes in the WBCA Top 25 poll and A&M-C went 2-0 with a win over No. 18 Southeastern Oklahoma State. Angelo State, Eastern New Mexico, Tarleton, UAFS, UT Tyler, West Texas A&M and Western New Mexico also went undefeated last week.
LSC women’s basketball teams are 67-41 overall this season and 20-11 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, SR, Kinesiology, F, Burleson, Texas, Burleson HS
Hailey tied her season high with 20 points in Tarleton's 83-76 road win over Pittsburg State to improve to 5-1 on the season. The senior forward also added 8 rebounds, 2 assists, and a block in the win. Hailey was 7-of-12 from the field (58.3 percent) and hit 6-of-7 from the free throw line. As a team, Tarleton shot 55.7%, their highest field goal percentage of the season for the Texans.
DEFENSIVE
Juliana Louis, Texas A&M-Commerce, JR, General Business, F, Long Beach, Calif., St. Anthony's HS
Louis helped anchor the No. 20 Lions' defense in both of their wins last week to remain perfect to begin the season. Against No. 18 Southeastern Oklahoma, the junior from Long Beach, Calif. had a pair of steals and used her length to create problems for the Savage Storm in the full court press and in the paint, helping the Lion defense to cause 20 turnovers in their six-point win, the most the Savage Storm had given up in any game this year. Louis then had three steals and altered several shots and passes in the No. 20 Lions' 24-point road win over Northeastern State. She also recorded her first double-double in a Lion uniform, pulling in 10 rebounds to go with 14 points in the game, helping the Lions to a +16 margin on the glass. Louis has been a major contributor on the Lion defense that came into the week as a top-10 scoring defense.
WEEKLY AWARDS
Offensive
N-11 Mackenzie Hailey, Tarleton
N-18 Maddi Chitsey, Lubbock Christian
N-25 Ashton Duncan, Lubbock Christian
D-2 Mackenzie Hailey, Tarleton (2)
Defensive
N-11 Maddison Glass, Texas A&M-Commerce
N-18 Juliana Robertson, Lubbock Christian
N-25 Alexis Bryant, Texas A&M-Commerce
D-2 Juliana Louis, Texas A&M-Commerce
SELECTED NOTABLE PERFORMANCES
Allie Schulte, Lubbock Christian, led LCU in San Antonio with 14.5-point scoring average in the pair of games. She averaged 12 points a contest in the second half alone, as her performance helped LCU overcome halftime deficits in each game to produce wins over Southern Nazarene and Central Oklahoma, who were a combined 10-1 going into the games. Schulte posted 14 points and a career-high nine rebounds against Southern Nazarene and followed with 15 points against Central Oklahoma. She went 8-of-8 from the free-throw line against SNU and finished the week 10-of-12 from the line. Schulte also averaged 2.5 assists and contributed three steals and a pair of blocks.
DesiRay Kernal, Texas A&M-Commerce, had a career week last week, playing her best two games of her freshman season. She neared a double-double average and had her first collegiate double-double in the Lions' 24-point win over Northeastern State, pouring in 11 points with 10 rebounds, including five offensive boards. She also had eight points and eight rebounds in the team's six-point win over No. 18 Southeastern Oklahoma State. On the week, she shot 60 percent from the field, 71 percent from the foul line and was a perfect 2-2 from behind the arc.
Paige Elston, UAFS, led the UAFS offense over the weekend as she contributed 21 points and one assist to the Lady Lions win over East Central. Elston shot 8-14 (57 percent) from the field and 1-2 from beyond the arc while also adding four rebounds and one steal. She was stone cold at the end of the match as the Lady Lions needed her to make crucial free throws to win the game.
Sawyer Lloyd, Angelo State, was an offensive force for the Belles against Northern New Mexico College. Lloyd scored 14 points, shooting 5-10 from the field and 4-6 from the three-point line, shooting .500 from the field and .667 from the three-point line. Lloyd registered 10 rebounds total, three on offense and seven on defense, as well as two assists and two steals, all in 20 minutes of game time.
Alivia Lewis, Eastern New Mexico, recorded her second double-double of the season with 18 points and ten boards in victory over CSU-Pueblo. She led the team to a perfect 2-0 record at the WT Pak-A-Sak Thanksgiving Classic after a 13 point and nine rebound performance against Adams State. Lewis ranks fifth in the LSC in total rebounds (50) and rebounds per game (8.3).
Caitlyn Cunyus, Lubbock Christian, completed a stretch of four consecutive games against teams either nationally ranked or receiving votes in Top-25 voting going 4-0, with a mark of 2-0 last week in games conducted at the St. Mary's Thanksgiving Classic. At 5-6, Caitlyn Cunyus was the smallest player on the floor, but it did not stop her in matching career highs in consecutive performances, grabbing nine rebounds in a win over Southern Nazarene and Central Oklahoma. LCU overcame halftime deficits in each game and in overtime against UCO, it was key rebounds leading to her being fouled and earning the win going 6-of-6 from the free-throw line in the overtime frame. She went 9-of-9 from the line against UCO (13-of-13 on the week), which was the highest single-game mark by a Lady Chap since Nicole Hampton was 14-of-14 in a contest during the 2013-14 season. Cunyus also contributes scoring averages of 12.0 points a game on the week, capped by her 17-point nine-rebound performance against UCO. She also contributed six assists and a steal on the week.
Mar'Shalia Lollie, UAFS, led the Lady Lions defense to a big non-conference win against East Central with 13 rebounds, eight points, two assists, two blocks, and two steals. Lollie was efficient from the free throw line (4-of-4) and stepped up defensively to help the Lady Lions to another victory.
Jasmine Williams, Eastern New Mexico, recorded 17 rebounds in win over CSU-Pueblo which is tied for the second-best game in the conference this season and is tied for fifth in the ENMU single-game all-time record book. Led the team defensively to hold Adams State to just 41 total points and a 29.1 shooting percentage. Tied for second in the conference with 20 offensive rebounds and ranks third in the LSC in both total rebounds (51) and rebounds per game (8.5).
Lucy Benson, Tarleton, Lucy Benson recorded a career-high 15 points in Tarleton's 83-76 win over Pittsburg State to improve to 5-1 on the season. The junior forward also added 7 rebounds and a team-high 3 steals in the road win. Benson's defense helped forced 10 Gorilla turnovers and held them to a .433 field goal percentage.