Six Lone Star Conference women’s basketball programs were unbeaten over the Thanksgiving week, led by No. 7 Texas A&M-Commerce and Texas A&M International, which continued their unblemished starts to the season. No. 2 Lubbock Christian, St. Edward’s, UT Tyler and West Texas A&M were the other teams to have perfect weeks.
LSC women’s basketball teams are 52-44 overall and 22-13 against the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, the other conference in the South Central Region.
LSC schedule and results are available here:
https://lonestarconference.org/calendar.aspx?path=wbball
PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
OFFENSIVE
Emily Swiercz, Texas A&M International, SO, Education, G, Carleton, Mich., Airport HS
Swiercz was exceptional offensively for the Dustdevils over the holiday weekend. In their Thanksgiving Day, 91-82 victory over undefeated Saint Martin's, she scored 16 points on 5-for-7 shooting from the floor, 2-for-3 from three and a perfect 4-for-4 from the free throw line. Swiercz followed that performance the next day, with 20 points in an 83-59 victory over Western Oregon. She tied the program record for three-pointers made in a half, knocking down five in the frame, ending the game 6-for-12 from behind the arc and 7-for-14 from the floor.
DEFENSIVE
Allie Schulte, Lubbock Christian, SR, Humanities, G, Nazareth, Texas, Nazareth HS
Schulte was a major contributor to the LCU’s 2-0 week at the Oahu Classic in Honolulu, Hawai'i averaging 17.0 points and 3.5 steals per game. The Nazareth, Texas native helped aid a unit that held Minnesota Crookston and Hawai’i Pacific to 32.0% shooting and 47.0 points on the week. Against UMC, she pulled down four rebounds and had two steals to go along with her 12 points and four assists. Schulte followed with 22 points (9-of-14 from the field), six assists, five steals, four rebounds against HPU. She helped LCU’s defense end HPU's 19-game home winning streak and hand them just their fifth home loss since the 2017 season. She also had a +40 on the weekend, with a +25 racked up against HPU.
WEEKLY AWARDS
Offensive
N-15 Maighan Hedge, Cameron
N-22 Allie Schulte, Lubbock Christian (2)
N-29 Emily Swiercz, Texas A&M International
Defensive
N-15 Allie Schulte, Lubbock Christian
N-22 Grace Foster, Lubbock Christian
N-29 Allie Schulte, Lubbock Christian (3)
SELECTED NOTABLE PERFORMANCES
Hannah Wilson, St. Mary’s, not only scored a career-high 37 points against Minnesota State, coming within one point of the St. Mary's single-game record of 38, but she also became the 17th player in StMU history to score 1,000 points in a career. She started the week with a then-season high 25 points against Saint Martin's, scored 10 points in limited minutes against East Central and then exploded for 37 against MSU despite being double and triple-teamed the entire game. She shot .620 from the floor for the week for an average of 24 per game and she tallied a pair of double-doubles in the three games, giving her 34 for her career and five on the year. The 37 points is also a new St. Mary's Thanksgiving Classic record, breaking the old mark of 35 done twice before in the eight years of the history of the tournament.
Maighan Hedge, Cameron, kept herself at the top of the Lone Star Conference scoring race with her play this past week against three Oklahoma rivals. The fourth-year guard scored 19 points and had four helpers to open the week against UCO and then followed that up with 17 points and three assists against a ranked SWOSU team. Hedge finished the week with a near career performance against OBU, scoring 30 points while adding five assists and six rebounds. The Aussie guard scored 16 of her points in the opening quarter and shot 67 percent from the field for the game.
Blakely Gerber, Angelo State, was the focal point of the Belles' offense this past week. Against Harding, Gerber scored 23 points, the most for a Belle this season, making all 11 of her free throw attempts. Against Arkansas Tech, she scored 17 points.
Lauren Catherman, St. Edward’s, was unstoppable in the Hilltoppers' win at Saint Leo this week, going perfect from the field and three-point range while also dishing out a team-high six assists. She added one steal and three assists in 31 minutes of action.
Zamorye Roberts, West Texas A&M, returned to the court for the Lady Buffs this past weekend as they picked up regional wins over Fort Lewis and Western Colorado during the Pak-A-Sak Thanksgiving Classic in Canyon. The Portales product went 10-of-28 (35.7%) from the floor including 5-of-13 (38.5%) from behind the arc and 4-of-5 (80%) from the free throw line to average 14.5 points per game to go along with one rebound, three assists and five steals.
Sadie Moyer, Texas Woman’s, continued her streak of double-digit points performances this week against two non-conference opponents. In all six games for the Pioneers, Moyer has scored in double digits in 2021. She also leads the Pioneers in points this season. With 18 points against Arkansas Tech, Moyer lead the Pioneers to their fourth win of the season. She went on to score 10 points against Harding. This week she shot 66% from the 3-point line.
Dyani Robinson, Texas A&M-Commerce, averaged 13 points in three wins for the Lions this past week. She also averaged over six rebounds and over three assists. In Saturday’s win over Arkansas-Monticello, she had 17 points and five rebounds.
Montse Gutierrez, UT Tyler, helped lead the charge for the Patriots as they produced a three-game winning streak over the last week. Gutierrez shot 44.8% from the field and added in 46% shooting from behind the arc. She continues to be a force on the boards, now averaging 6.6 per game on the season. Against Arkansas-Monticello, Gutierrez nailed five three-pointers and led the team with 20 points.
Anastacia Mickens, Texas A&M-Kingsville, put in work on both ends of the floor but saved her best performance on the offensive half in Wednesday's 66-56 win over Western Oregon. She set a new career-high with 24 points scored, all off the bench, as she shot 7-for-11 from the field, 3-for-4 from beyond the arc, and was 7-of-8 from the line. She picked up her 24th point at the charity stripe in the final minute of the fourth to put the game on ice as she also added eight rebounds and a team-best four steals along with a block. She added another five rebounds and two blocks in the contest against Minnesota State on day one of the St. Mary's Thanksgiving Classic and wrapped up her weekend with eight points and seven rebounds in the 73-68 win over East Central. On the year, Mickens is averaging 8.5 points and 5.5 rebounds per game while shooting .533 from the floor.
DesiRay Kernal, Texas A&M-Commerce, had 32 points, 25 rebounds, five steals, and four assists in three wins for the Lions this past week. Kernal recorded a double-double in Sunday’s win over Northeastern State with 11 points and a season-high 14 rebounds in the game.
Alivia Lewis, West Texas A&M, continued to lead the way in the paint for the Lady Buffs as they picked up wins over Fort Lewis and Western Colorado during the Pak-A-Sak Thanksgiving Classic at the First United Bank Center in Canyon. The Los Lunas, N.M. product went 8-of-14 (57.1%) from the floor including 7-of-8 (87.5%) from the charity stripe to average 11.5 points per game to go along with 12 rebounds (four offensive, eight defensive), three assists, one steal and three blocks. WT held their opponents to 48.5 points per contest this past weekend as they forced 50 combined turnovers in the two wins.
Ashley Ingram, Texas Woman’s, has made an immediate impact in her freshman campaign. In a 1-1 split weekend for TWU, Ingram provided a spark off the bench, scoring 14 points against Harding. In games against Arkansas Tech and Harding at the Angelo State Thanksgiving Tournament, Ingram led the team in blocks with 3 and in rebounds. She also shot 100% from the free throw line in her two appearances this week.
Taylor Cockerill, St. Edward’s, ed SEU in rebounds with seven in a win at Saint Leo over the break while also tying for a game-high 15 points in 30 minutes of action. She added one steal.
Enisa Kamerolli, UT Tyler, helped lead a Patriots defense that went 3-0 on the week and held opponents to just 65.3 points per game. The defense forced 12.6 turnovers per game and Kamerolli added in six steals of her own over three games. In the Lion Hoopgiving tournament, Kamerolli chipped in four steals and seven rebounds in the two games the Patriots played. Kamerolli is now tied for the team lead in steals for the year.
Stephanie Peterson, Cameron, did all she could to help the Aggies in their three in-state matchups last week. The third-year player nearly averaged a double-double with 13.7 points and 7.7 rebounds during the three-game span. Peterson opened the week with a 14-point, seven-rebound outing against UCO and then followed that up with a double-double (14 points, 11 rebounds) against a ranked SWOSU team. The Colorado native ended the week with 13 points and five rebounds against OBU. Peterson also totaled five blocks, 10 steals, and 10 assists during the week, showing off her all-around game.