Seven Lone Star Conference women’s basketball teams went undefeated last week including No. 4 Texas A&M-Commerce who remained undefeated on the season. Angelo State, Cameron, Eastern New Mexico, No. 9 Lubbock Christian, Tarleton and No. 21 West Texas A&M also went undefeated last week.
LSC women’s basketball teams are 172-146 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&
LSC BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP
The LSC Men’s and Women’s Basketball Championship is set for March 3-5-6-7-8, 2020 with the opening round on campus (March 3), and the final eight teams at Comerica Center in Frisco, Texas on Thursday-Sunday, March 5-8. The top 12 men’s and women’s teams will qualify with seeding based on the conference standings (22 games). The divisional champions will automatically qualify and be seeded using the conference standings.
PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
OFFENSIVE
Allie Schulte, Lubbock Christian, JR, Humanities, G, Nazareth, Texas, Nazareth HS
Schulte helped LCU return to form this week with wins over St. Mary's and St. Edward's behind an average of 17.0 points and 6.5 rebounds. Schulte ended up 2-of-3 from beyond the arc against St. Mary’s and finished the game with 15 points seven of which came in the fourth quarter as part of a personal 7-0 run. She continued Saturday with 19 points against St. Edward's. Schulte nailed a three-pointer to end St. Edward's 13-0 run, and she ended up with seven points in the third quarter to help LCU pull away with the victory. On the week, Schulte was +19 (plus/minus) and she averaged 9.5 points in the second half and 7.0 points in the third quarter of the week's two games. Schulte also had six steals and averaged 6.5 rebounds on the week. Saturday, she matched a career-high nine rebounds all on the defensive end. Overall, she was 15-of-22 (68.2 percent) from the field.
DEFENSIVE
Tiana Parker, West Texas A&M, SR, H.R. Management, C, Chehalis, Washington, William F. West HS
Parker earned her second-straight weekly award as she continued to dominate in the paint for the No. 21 Lady Buffs with back-to-back double-doubles as WT ran their win streak to 10 contests to move to 18-3 overall and 11-1 in league action. The Chehalis, Washington pulled down 22 rebounds (eight offensive and 14 defensive) to average 11.0 rebounds per game to go along with eight blocks and two steals. Parker went 9-of-18 shooting 50 percent from the floor and a perfect 4-of-4 from the free throw line to average 11.0 points per game Parker helped anchor a defense that held Texas A&M-Kingsville to a season-low 26.4 percent from the floor.
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
J-20 Elizabeth Cathcart, Midwestern State
J-27 Allie Schulte, Lubbock Christian (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
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
J-20 Tiana Parker, West Texas A&M
J-27 Tiana Parker, West Texas A&M (2)
SELECTED NOTABLE PERFORMANCES
Hannah Boyett, UAFS, continued to shoot well from beyond the arc. During the past weekend, Boyett shot 50 percent from the field (13-of-26) and 50 percent from the three-point line (10-of-20). She averaged 20 points and 2.5 rebounds per game and led the Lady Lions with 26 points in a win against Midwestern State on Saturday. Boyett also recorded three steals in that game to go along with six three-pointers.
Mackenzie Hailey, Tarleton, led the Texans to a dominant win over Texas Woman's on Saturday. The Texans defeated the Pioneers by 22, 69-47, in Denton. Hailey led the team with 20 points and seven rebounds. The senior shot 57 percent from the field (8-of-14) and was perfect from the free throw line (3-of-3). Hailey has scored double digits in 30 straight games, dating back to last season versus Angelo State (Jan. 31, 2019). The Texans forced 21 Pioneer turnovers, assisted by three Hailey steals.
Abby Spurgin, West Texas A&M, continued to lead the Lady Buffs this past weekend as the junior sparked WT to a pair of Lone Star Conference road victories at Texas A&M-Kingsville and Texas A&M International to move to 18-3 overall and 11-1 in league action. The Fredericksburg HS product went 12-of-20 (60 percent) from the floor including 13-of-16 (81.3 percent) from the charity stripe to average 18.5 points per contest this past weekend, grabbing six rebounds to go along with four assists, four blocks and two steals. Spurgin tied a career high with 25 points on Saturday afternoon in Laredo, going 7-of-11 from the floor and 11-of-12 from the free throw line with four rebounds, two assists, three blocks and one steal during her 25 minutes on the floor. The Lady Buffs continue to lead Division II Women's Basketball in blocks as they added 14 more this past weekend to run their season total to 135 (6.4/game).
Maighan Hedge, Cameron, helped the Aggies go 2-0 this week by averaging 18.5 points and 4.0 assists against UAFS and Oklahoma Christian. The sophomore from Melbourne, Australia opened up the week with a 29-point outing against the Lady Lions, scoring 19 in the second half alone. Hedge shot 10-of-17 from the field, was 8-of-9 from the foul line and dished out a trio of assists. She followed that up with just eight points against Oklahoma Christian, but her five assists were a big part of CU's success in the 79-71 win. Over the last two weeks, Hedge has averaged 24.3 points and 3.0 assists while going 33-35 from the charity stripe. She is currently tied for the LSC lead with 20.1 points per game this season.
DesiRay Kernal, Texas A&M-Commerce, had an explosive week for the Lions, nearly averaging a double-double, with 17.5 points and 9.5 rebounds per game. The freshman was hot from the field and from the charity stripe, shooting 82.4 percent from the floor and 85.7 percent from the free throw line. Against WNMU, Kernal had 13 points and also grabbed seven rebounds. Then she had a career day, posting a double-double with a career-high 22 points and a career-high 12 rebounds. She was a major impact player for the Lions, leading the team to a pair of 20-point road wins.
Holly Hemmeline, UT Permian Basin, continues to find more ways to score the basketball. The freshman moved into second place in UTPB freshman history on Thursday as the Falcons cruised to a victory over UT Tyler. She scored 19 points and followed it with 14 more against No. 4 Texas A&M-Commerce, as the Falcons took the Lions into the fourth quarter. The Denver City native has been the Falcons leading scorer all season and is on pace to set the program record for freshman scoring. Hemmeline leads all freshman in the Lone Star Conference, scoring 13.2 points per game and is 10th in the conference.
Kaela Chavez, Western New Mexico, had a career weekend, averaging 16.5 points for the Mustangs. The sophomore guard went 2-of-3 beyond the arc and 3-of-4 from the field in the fourth quarter against the No. 4 ranked Texas A&M-Commerce scoring 8 of her 16 points to lead the team Thursday night. She followed up Thursday's performance with a career-high 17 points, shooting 6-of-11 (60 percent) and 5-of-9 (55.6 percent) from deep in a dominant 73-40 win over UT Tyler. As a team, the Mustangs sank 17 three pointers against the Patriots in 31 attempts. Chavez finished the weekend 12-of-20 (60 percent) and 9-of-15 (60 percent) from three-point range.
Catara Samuel, Angelo State, continues to show her offensive prowess on the court as the Belles defeated both the St. Edward’s Hilltoppers and the St. Mary's Rattlers over the weekend, scoring 32 points total, 16 in each game. Samuel shot 9-of-15 from the field, shooting 60 percent from the floor including 5-of-7 from the three point line. She also hit 9-of-10 from the free throw line, shooting 90 percent from the line. Samuel registered six assists and four blocks over the weekend.
Zamorye Cox, Eastern New Mexico, led the team to a perfect 2-0 week with road wins over Texas A&M International and Texas A&M-Kingsville. Cox averaged 15.5 points on 47.8 percent shooting and five assists last week. She knocked down 5-of12 three-point attempts for an efficient 41.7 percent mark. Cox ranks 13th in league with 12.6 points per game this season.
Ngozi Obineke, Texas Woman’s, scored nearly a third of TWU's total points in a loss to Tarleton. The true freshman has been as consistent as any Pioneer for the month of January. She added six rebounds two steals and a block in the game.
Bridget Upton, Texas A&M-Kingsville, was the go-to option on the offensive end of the floor as she matched her career-high with 16 points in the loss to Eastern New Mexico on Saturday after putting away 12 from the field two days earlier against West Texas A&M. The game against the Greyhounds was the third straight where she scored in double digits, her sixth such game of the year, and pushed her season average to 7.5 through 15 games.
Maddison Collyer, Oklahoma Christian, had 18 assists as OC split a pair of games against Midwestern State and Cameron. In an 89-73 win over Midwestern State, she had 12 points to go with six assists and hit both of her 3-point attempts as her team went 11-of-17 from behind the arc, a 64.7 percent clip that was the highest in the LSC this season. She recorded her second double-double of the season (and the fourth of her career) in a 79-71 loss to Cameron with a team-high 13 points and 12 assists, the most by a LSC player in a game this season. She committed only one turnover in 39 minutes.
Amaka Nwakamma, Cameron, was a driving force in the Aggies' 2-0 week as they came away with road wins over UAFS and Oklahoma Christian. The senior from Abuja, Nigeria returned to action against the Lady Lions after missing the previous three games. She single-handedly led the Aggies to a comeback win by outscoring UAFS 11-1in the final two minutes of play to secure the 73-68 win. During that span, Nwakamma had a key steal and recorded the game securing rebound for the Black and Gold; she finished with 18 points, seven rebounds, four assists, and a pair of steals. The senior guard followed that performance up with seven points, seven rebounds, two more steals, and a block against OC. Nwakamma helped the Aggies hold their opponents to just a .372 shooting percentage and under 70 points per game.
Natalie DeLonge, Eastern New Mexico, led the Greyhounds to a perfect 2-0 week with road wins over Texas A&M International and Texas A&M-Kingsville. She recorded her first double-double of the season with 14 points and 15 rebounds against TAMIU. DeLonge averaged a double-double last week, scoring 13 points and 10 rebounds per game. She helped hold the Dustdevils to 60 points and TAMUK to 45 points.
Marissa Escamilla, Tarleton, helped lead Tarleton to a dominant win over Texas Woman's on Saturday. The Texans defeated the Pioneers by 22 points, 69-47, in Denton. Escamilla tallied 12 points and nine rebounds off the bench. The sophomore was 4-of-9 from the field and 1-of-2 from behind the arc. Escamilla also added an assist and a block in the win. The Texans held the Pioneers to under 40 percent shooting from the field and forced 21 turnovers.
Katie Mayo, Oklahoma Christian, was a fiend on the boards and on defense as OC split a pair of games against Midwestern State and Cameron. In an 89-73 win over Midwestern State, she just missed a double-double with nine points and 10 rebounds to go with five assists, two steals and a blocked shot, helping limit the Mustangs to only three second-chance points. Mayo added 11 points and nine rebounds with two blocks and three steals in a 79-71 loss to Cameron, with the Aggies managing only five second-chance points while shooting 34.4 percent.
Alexus Quaadman, UT Permian Basin, continues to use her length to be a force in the paint, swatting away eight shots last weekend. The freshman now has 23 on the season, just shy of the UTPB program record of 29. The Las Vegas native is also chasing down the program single-season rebounding record. With nine games to go, Quaadman already holds program freshman record for rebounds with 137 and is on pace to finish within 10 of the program record.