Six Lone Star Conference women’s basketball teams went undefeated last week including No. 4 Texas A&M-Commerce who remained undefeated on the season with wins over No. 8 Lubbock Christian and Angelo State. No. 19 West Texas A&M remained with just one loss in conference at 13-1. Cameron, Eastern New Mexico, Tarleton and UAFS also went unbeaten last week.
LSC women’s basketball teams are 189-163 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
Maighan Hedge, Cameron, SO, Sports and Exercise Science, G, Melbourne, Australia, Rowville Secondary School
Hedge took over the top spot in the Lone Star Conference scoring title race last week with her sixth and seventh 25-plus point games in CU's last nine outings. The sophomore opened the squad's 2-0 week with a 27-point effort against Texas A&M International, where she was one assist short of recording her first career double-double. Hedge followed that up with 26 points and five boards in a dominating win over Texas A&M-Kingsville, stretching the Aggies' win streak to four games, their most since 2016. The Aussie guard averaged her 26.5 points on an efficient 61.3 field goal percentage and was 9-14 (64.3 percent) from three-point range and 6-6 from the charity stripe. Hedge now leads the LSC with 20.8 points per game is top-10 in six other categories.
DEFENSIVE
Alexus Jones, Texas A&M-Commerce, SR, Kinesiology & Sports Studies, G, Lewisville, Texas, Aledo HS
Jones was charged with shutting down the opponent's primary backcourt scorer, and the senior from Lewisville helped lead the Lions to a pair of quality victories last week. Against No. 8 Lubbock Christian, she had a steal and helped the Lions hold the Lady Chaps to 54 points, their lowest scoring output of the season. Jones disrupted LCU throughout the contest, forcing tough shots and playing hardnosed defense throughout, helping force 17 LCU turnovers. She then had four steals and a blocked shot in the Lions' win over Angelo State, as they were forced into 20 turnovers. Opponents shot just 40.2 percent against the Lions defense last week.
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)
F-3 Maighan Hedge, Cameron (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)
F-3 Alexus Jones, Texas A&M-Commerce
SELECTED NOTABLE PERFORMANCES
Megan Shelton, Oklahoma Christian, hit 10-of-15 shots (2-of-3 from 3-point range) and scored a career-high 26 points -- more than 17 above her season average -- and had OC on the verge of a key road win before the Eagles fell 91-89 in overtime at UAFS.
Soteria Banks, St. Mary's, Banks tied her career-high with 29 points in the 65-56 victory over Texas Woman's on Thursday. With her first basket at the 4:56 mark of the first quarter the junior scored the 1,000th point of her career. She backed up the game with a 19-point performance against Tarleton State on Saturday, giving her double figures in scoring for the fourth-straight game and the 16th time in 19 games. She also tied her season-high with three steals, four assists and seven rebounds against the Texans. For the week, Banks averaged 24.0 points, 6.0 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 2.0 steals, while shooting 46.9 percent from the floor, 60 percent from the three-point line and 80 percent from the free throw line.
Leiloni Culley, UAFS, led UAFS to a big overtime win in pursuit of a conference tournament berth as the Lady Lions defeated Oklahoma Christian by the score of 91-89. Culley scored season-high 22 points on 7-12 shooting from the field, including two three pointers to lead the Lady Lions offense in this game. She also added seven rebounds and shot perfect (6-6) from the free throw line.
De'Anira Moore, Angelo State, continues to be a major force down in the paint for the Angelo State Belles. Moore averaged 20.5 points and eight rebounds over the weekend, scoring 24 points against the University of Texas-Tyler Patriots and 17 points against the Texas A&M-Commerce Lions. Moore registered 16 total rebounds for the weekend, seven on offense and nine on defense, along with two assists, six blocks, and one steal.
Ma'K'la Woods, Texas Woman's, accounted for nearly half the total offensive production for the Pioneers in a 56-65 loss at St. Mary's. On the night she had 24 points, 7 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 block and 1 steal.
Mica Schneider, Midwestern State, erupted for a career-high 26 points and knocked down a career-high five three-pointers to lift Midwestern State to an 87-77 win over Texas A&M International on Saturday in a game that was broadcast on ESPN3 as part of the NCAA Division II Basketball Showcase. Schneider flirted with a triple-double, as the senior grabbed nine rebounds and dished out seven assists. Earlier in the week, the Boerne, Texas native narrowly missed a double-double against Texas A&M-Kingsville. Schneider scored nine points and dished out eight assists.
Abby Spurgin, West Texas A&M, continued to dominate for the No. 19 Lady Buffs this past weekend as WT ran their win streak to 12 games while reaching the 20-win plateau for the eighth straight season with wins over Western New Mexico at UT Permian Basin. The junior went 11-of-19 from the floor including 13-of-14 from the free throw line to average 17.5 points per game to go along with 10 rebounds (six offensive, four defensive), five assists, one steal and six blocks in the wins. The Fredericksburg product went 11-of-13 from the floor including 8-of-9 from the free throw line for a career-high 30 points to go along with 10 rebounds and three blocks for the double-double on Saturday afternoon against UTPB. It marked the first time in almost six years that a Lady Buff scored atleast 30 points in a game (32, Chon White vs. MSU, 3/7/14).
Maddi Chitsey, Lubbock Christian, split a pair of road games, falling at No. 4 Texas A&M-Commerce before rebounding for a win at UT Tyler. Chitsey averaged 16.5 points and 7.5 rebounds on the week, as she produced a double-double at TAMUC (14 points, 11 rebounds) in a game LCU came back from nearly a 20-point deficit to cut it to a one-point game late in the second half. She followed co-leading LCU Saturday with 19 points off 9-of-17 shooting at UTT. Opposing offenses were held to 35.3% shooting, including TAMUC, who was held below 30% from the field.
Anastacia Mickens, Texas A&M-Kingsville, was the offensive spark for the Javelinas last week as she led with a 13.5 scoring average on a blistering .706 shooting clip as TAMUK defeated Midwestern State 54-50 before falling to Cameron 68-50. Against the Mustangs, she put away 12 points on a 5-for-7 mark from the floor with eight rebounds and one steal, and followed up with 15 points at a 7-for-10 rate and seven rebounds against the Aggies.
Marissa Escamilla, Tarleton, averaged 12 points and six rebounds off the bench to help lead Tarleton to a 2-0 weekend on the road over divisional rivals St. Edward's and St. Mary's. On Thursday, Escamilla secured a career-high of 15 points in the game to help lift Tarleton over St. Edwards, 68-64. The native of Burnet, only an hour away from St. Edward's, went 6-12 from the field and tallied eight rebounds, two assists, a block, and a steal off the bench. The sophomore helped keep the Texans in the tight game multiple times during the match-up. Back-to-back three-point plays from Escamilla put the Texans up 22-14 with under two minutes left in the opening quarter. Another set of layups from Escamilla put the Texans up 11, 34-23, with five minutes left in the half. St. Edward's gained a four-point lead during the third quarter, but Escamilla cut the advantage to one with a trey to go into the fourth with a score of 51-50. On Saturday, Escamilla helped Tarleton defeat St. Mary's by 15, 70-55. With the win, the Texans moved to the top of their Lone Star Conference division with a 5-1 record. Tarleton's bench tallied 28 points, led by Escamilla with nine. The sophomore also recorded four rebounds, two steals, and an assist in the match-up.
Tiana Parker, West Texas A&M, and the Lady Buffs ran their win streak to 12 games this past weekend as they routed Western New Mexico and UT Permian Basin to remain unbeaten inside of the First United Bank Center, moving to 20-3 overall. The two-time reigning LSC Defensive Player of the Week went 8-of-17 from the floor including 2-of-5 from the free throw line to average 9.0 points per game to go along with 17 rebounds (five offensive, 12 defensive), one assist, one steal and nine blocks to hold opponents to 47.5 points per game and a shooting percentage of 30.6%.
Ava Battese, Cameron, put up strong numbers on both sides of the ball last week as the Aggies stretched their winning streak to four games with wins over Texas A&M International and Texas A&M-Kingsville. The senior helped CU lock down their two opponents to a scoring average of under 68 points and a field goal percentage below .400. Not only did Battese notch two steals in both games last week, but she also scored a career-high 31 points with nine made threes against the Dustdevils and then recorded her first career double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds against the Javelinas. The Elgin, Okla. native averaged 22.5 points, 6.5 rebounds, and 2.0 steals over the two-game span while shooting over 53 percent from the floor and 57 percent from long range.
Mar'Shalia Lollie, UAFS, led the Lady Lions on the defensive end as they defeated Oklahoma Christian in overtime. Lollie was extremely efficient, shooting .714 percent from the field and 100 percent from the free throw line. She added 11 rebounds (4-7) while also recording five steals and a block to drive the Lady Lions' defensive effort. Kilgore, Texas native recorded all of these in only 23 minutes of play to conclude an overall dominant and highly efficient game.
Callie Boyles, Tarleton, tallied seven blocks and eight points off the bench to help lead Tarleton to a 2-0 weekend on the road over divisional rivals St. Edward's and St. Mary's. On Saturday, the freshman totaled four steals, four points, and two rebounds to help lead Tarleton to a 68-64 win over St. Edward's. Boyles helped lead an 11-1 run at the end of the first quarter to put the Texans up by double-digits through the first 10 minutes, 24-14. The Texans held the Hilltoppers to 32.3% shooting. On Saturday, Boyles tallied four points, four rebounds, and three steals to help lead Tarleton to a 15-point win over St. Mary's, 70-55. The Texans forced 20 St. Mary turnovers and scored 20 points off them.