Five Lone Star Conference women’s basketball teams went undefeated last week including Lubbock Christian, Tarleton, St. Mary’s, Texas A&M-Commerce and West Texas A&M. No. 2 LCU and No. 5 A&M-C sit at 8-0 and 9-0 against LSC competition as the only undefeated teams in conference.
LSC women’s basketball teams are 137-111 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
Maighan Hedge, Cameron, SO, Sports and Exercise Science, C, Melbourne, Australia, Rowville Secondary School
Hedge averaged 24.5 points for the Aggies as they went 1-1 in their two games last week. The conference's reigning Freshman of the Year started the week by scoring 19 points in a loss to St. Mary's on Thursday night. Hedge went 3-6 from three and was 4-4 from the charity stripe against the Rattlers. She followed that up with a career-high 30 points in CU's win over St. Edward's. Hedge shot 50 percent from the field in the win, going 2-4 from three and 10-12 from the foul line. She also averaged 3.0 assists, 2.0 steals, and 1.0 block over the two-game span. Hedge now has seven 20-plus point outings on the season and is third in the LSC with 18.9 points per game.
DEFENSIVE
Allie Schulte, Lubbock Christian, JR, Humanities, G, Nazareth, Texas, Nazareth HS
Schulte had a balanced performance in leading the Lady Chaparrals to a 69-52 win over Angelo State, which placed the NCAA (all levels) active-leading home win streak to 72 games. She posted 15 points in the game and all 15 were scored in the final 20:30 of the game, as her first field goal was a three-pointer with 30 seconds left in the first half while it was a two-point LCU lead. Along with her team-leading 15 points (eight in the fourth quarter to help LCU turn a six-point lead into a 17-point victory), Schulte produced seven assists, had five rebounds, swiped a pair of steals and matched a career-high with two blocks. She was part of a defense that held ASU to 29.5% from the field and 16.7% from three-point range.
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)
D-9 De’Anira Moore, Angelo State
D-16 Deijah Blanks, St. Edward’s
D-23 Nicole Heyn, Texas A&M International
J-7 Mar'Shalia Lollie, UAFS
J-13 Maighan Hedge, Cameron
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
D-9 Sawyer Lloyd, Angelo State
D-16 Sammie Dufek, St. Edward’s
D-23 Chania Wright, Texas A&M-Commerce
J-7 Alexis Bryant, Texas A&M-Commerce (2)
J-13 Allie Schulte, Lubbock Christian
SELECTED NOTABLE PERFORMANCES
Deijah Blanks, St. Edward's, made the most of her time on the court, averaging 22.5 points per game in just 26 minutes per game during a 1-1 week for the Hilltoppers. She shot 56.7 percent from the floor including hitting 60 percent (9-of-15) against Midwestern State on the road.
Sawyer Lloyd, Angelo State, continues her offensive campaign for ASU as the Belles faced off against the defending national champions, Lubbock Christian. The true freshman shot 73 percent from the field, 75 percent from the three point line, and 100 percent from the free throw line, scoring a career-high 21 points for the freshman. Lloyd registered seven defensive rebounds for the Rambelles.
Mackenzie Hailey, Tarleton, led Tarleton to a 2-0 weekend and extended the Texan’s win streak to five. The senior forward averaged 20.5 points per game off 57.7 percent shooting and was near-perfect from free throw line (9-of-10) over the weekend. Hailey averaged 5.5 rebounds and tallied three assists, five steals, and a block. On Thursday, Hailey scored 14 points and five rebounds to help lead Tarleton to a win over Oklahoma Christian on the road, 58-57. The Texans forced 26 Eagle turnovers, assisted by three steals from Hailey. The Burleson native was perfect from the free throw line (5-of-5) during Thursday’s match-up. On Saturday, Hailey captured a season-high of 27 points to lift Tarleton to their fifth straight win and fifth conference win over UAFS, 69-54, on the road. Hailey led all scorers with 13 points and four rebounds in the first 20 minutes. In addition to her season-high points, Hailey notched six rebounds, two steals, and a block in the match-up. The senior shot 73.3 percent from the field (11-of-15). As a team, Tarleton shot 55.6 percent and are now 9-0 on the season when shooting over 40 percent from the field. The Texans forced 23 Lion turnovers and have forced 114 total turnovers through their win streak, averaging 22.8 opponent turnovers over the last five games.
Tyra Peck, Oklahoma Christian, poured in a career-high 28 points, including 13 in the fourth quarter, as OC downed Texas Woman’s 60-53 on Saturday to record the program’s 800th all-time win, a total that ranks No. 2 among current LSC members. Peck started a decisive 18-1 run with a 3-pointer and ended with a traditional three-point play that put OC up 52-40 with 2:35 left. She went 6 of 6 from the free-throw line in the final 63 seconds to seal the win. She also had eight points and five rebounds in a 58-57 loss to Tarleton State in which OC led its regionally ranked opponent for more than 32 minutes.
Holly Hemmeline, UT Permian Basin, continues to quietly have a sensational first season in orange and white. The freshman broke out of a scoring slump on Saturday, dropping a career-high and school freshman record 28 points. She was efficient shooting 10-of-15 from the field. 5-of-6 from three and was 3-of-4 from the free throw line. The Denver City native also grabbed seven rebounds in the shorthanded Falcons victory over Eastern New Mexico and leads the Falcons in scoring and is second on the team in rebounding.
Briley Perkins, St. Mary's, made two starts this week, helping St. Mary's to a pair of Lone Star Conference victories over Cameron and Midwestern State. In the win over Cameron, Perkins scored a career-best 20 points, more than doubling her previous career high of eight from UC-Colorado Springs on Nov. 16. The freshman backed that up with 13 points at Midwestern State, giving her back-to-back double digit scoring games for the first time. Perkins nailed four three-pointers at Cameron after connecting on just six in the first 11 games of the season and she had never hit more than one in a contest prior to Thursday. For the week, Perkins was 7-for-11 (63.6 percent) from beyond the arc and a perfect 6-for-6 from the free throw line. From the field she was 10-for-18 (55.6 percent) to increase her scoring per game from 3.5 to 5.5 for the year. Perkins also recorded a career-high three assists in the win at Cameron and tied her career-high with two steals at Midwestern State.
Beezy Birchette, UT Tyler, scored a season-high 20 points in a double-overtime road win over Texas A&M International, lifting UT Tyler to its first Lone Star Conference win. She also registered a 12-point, 12-rebound double-double in the Patriots' first game of the week against Texas A&M-Kingsville.
Abby Spurgin, West Texas A&M, continued to dominate in the paint for the Lady Buffs this past weekend as the sophomore led WT to Lone Star Conference road wins at UT Permian Basin at Western New Mexico as the Lady Buffs ran their win streak to six contests. The Fredericksburg product went 13-of-20 from the floor to average 13.5 points per contest to go along with eight rebounds (two offensive, six defensive) and seven blocks as the Lady Buffs held their opponents to a shooting percentage of 31.6% while only allowing 49.0 points per game in the pair of road victories.
Hannah Boyett, UAFS, had two similar games this weekend as the Muldrow, Okla. native averaged 14 points and two steals against Texas Woman's and Tarleton State. Boyett shot 44 percent from the three point line, which helped power the Lady Lions' offense to a 1-1 weekend against tough competition.
Tiana Parker, West Texas A&M, was a dominant force in the paint for the Lady Buffs this past weekend as the senior led WT to Lone Star Conference road wins at UT Permian Basin and Western New Mexico to move to 14-3 overall and 7-1 in league action. The Chehalis, Washington product went 12-of-19 from the floor including a perfect 3-of-3 from the free throw line with 15 total rebounds (six offensive, nine defensive), three assists, one block and two steals to average 13.5 points per game for the Lady Buffs. Parker registered her second double-double of the season on Thursday night in Odessa, finishing the game with 16 points and 11 boards to go along with two steals and an assist.
Maddison Glass, Texas A&M-Commerce, was again a defensive menace for the Lions in their two wins last week. She was a force in the Lions' full court press, tallying six steals and helping the Lions to a +13.5 turnover margin, as they forced 49 giveaways in their two games combined. Against Texas A&M International, she had three steals and also had a blocked shot, helping the Lion defense hold the Dustdevils to just 39 points and a 30 percent shooting average. Against Texas A&M-Kingsville, she continued her pursuit of the basketball, taking away three more steals.
Katie Mayo, Oklahoma Christian, became only the fifth OC player to reach the 100-block mark for her career as she swatted three shots in the Eagles’ 60-53 win over Texas Woman’s on Saturday and played a big defensive role during a second-half stretch in which Texas Woman’s missed 18 consecutive shots. She also averaged 10.5 rebounds per game on the week, during which the Eagles led regionally ranked Tarleton State for more than 32 minutes before falling 58-57.
Macy Wilkerson, Texas Woman's, was the most consistent Pioneer on the weekend. Her performance at Oklahoma Christian was a 13 point, six rebound, three assist and two steal outing keeping TWU in the game until the final minutes. Wilkerson had four steals on the week picking up two more against UAFS.
Alexus Quaadman, UT Permian Basin, was a force in the paint for the Falcons as the freshman recorded her third double-double of her career. She grabbed a career-high 13 rebounds on Saturday and set a new high for the team for the season. The freshman also set a new career-high with three blocks against Eastern New Mexico as well as the Falcons picked up their biggest win of the season.
Kylea Johnson, UT Tyler, registered a five-steal effort to help lead the UT Tyler defense in an 86-79 double-OT win on the road at Texas A&M International. She helped hold TAMIU to 63 points in regulation as the Patriots posted their first Lone Star Conference victory. The freshman helped hold the Dustdevils to 31.5 percent from the floor in the game.
Hannah Reynolds, Midwestern State, scored 11 points and swatted a season-high five shots in Saturday's Lone Star Conference matchup against St. Mary's. It marked the fourth time in the junior's career she has recorded at least five blocks in a game. Earlier in the week, Reynolds grabbed five rebounds and blocked a shot against St. Edward's.
Marissa Escamilla, Tarleton, tallied 12 points and nine rebounds off the bench to help lead Tarleton to a 2-0 weekend and extended the Texan’s win streak to five. On Thursday, the sophomore tallied eight points, five rebounds, and a steal to lift Tarleton over Oklahoma Christian on the road, 58-57. The Texans forced 26 Eagle turnovers and held OCU to just 25% three-point shooting (4-16). Tarleton scored 23 points off turnovers in the match-up. On Saturday, Escamilla captured four points, four rebounds, and two steals to help lift Tarleton to their fifth straight win and fifth conference win over Arkansas-Fort Smith, 69-54, on the road. As a team, Tarleton shot 55.6% and are now 9-0 on the season when shooting over 40% from the field. The Texans forced 23 Lion turnovers and have forced 114 total turnovers through their win streak, averaging 22.8 opponent turnovers over the last five games. The Texans scored 22 points off those 23 turnovers.