Sixth-ranked Texas A&M-Commerce battled back to rally past No. 4 Lubbock Christian as the Lions were one of five Lone Star Conference women's basketball programs to complete undefeated weeks. Texas A&M-Kingsville and Cameron remained unbeaten in league competition, while Angelo State and UAFS picked up their first conference wins during the week. The Javelinas and West Texas A&M are tied atop the LSC standings at 4-0, with CU just behind at 3-0.
LSC women's basketball teams are 125-111 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
Dyani Robinson, Texas A&M-Commerce, SO, General Studies, G, Cypress, Texas, Cypress HS
Robinson led the No. 6 Lions to a 2-0 week that included a second-straight win in Commerce over No. 4 Lubbock Christian. The Cypress, Texas native scored 18 points, grabbed six rebounds and dished out four assists against the Lady Chaps, leading TAMUC to a comeback win over the reigning national champions. Robinson capped the week scoring 19 points, handing out eight assists and pulling down three rebounds against Eastern New Mexico. The sophomore totaled 37 points, 12 assists, nine rebounds, and three steals last week and is fourth in the LSC with a scoring average of 16.1 points per game this season.
DEFENSIVE
Anastacia Mickens, Texas A&M-Kingsville, SR, Accounting, F, Beaumont, Texas, Beaumont Central HS
Mickens anchored the league's second-best defense once again in a home-and-home sweep of Texas A&M International. In Thursday's 60-56 win in Laredo, she picked up seven points, five rebounds and a pair of steals in the non-conference matchup. She followed that performance up with a double-double in Saturday's rematch for the LSC win at 67-39 with 17 points and 11 rebounds for her first double-double of the 2021-22 campaign, third of her career, and the first double-double by a Javelina since February 2020. Her efforts on the defensive end of the court held the third-highest scoring offense in the league to 47.5 points and a .337 shooting clip (35-104) from the field, .200 from long range (7-35). The Javelinas boast the best three-point defense in the league at .204 (55-269), which ranks fifth in the nation, holding opponents to five or fewer triples in 13-of-15 games and one or fewer in three of the last four contests.
WEEKLY AWARDS
Offensive
N-15 Maighan Hedge, Cameron
N-22 Allie Schulte, Lubbock Christian (2)
N-29 Emily Swiercz, Texas A&M International
D-6 Rai Brown, Texas A&M International
D-13 Madeline Stephens, Angelo State
D-21 Dyani Robinson, Texas A&M-Commerce
J-3 Maighan Hedge, Cameron (2)
J-10 Ashley Ingram, Texas Woman’s
J-17 Dyani Robinson, Texas A&M-Commerce (2)
Defensive
N-15 Allie Schulte, Lubbock Christian
N-22 Grace Foster, Lubbock Christian
N-29 Allie Schulte, Lubbock Christian (3)
D-6 Brielle Woods, Texas Woman’s
D-13 Juliana Robertson, Lubbock Christian
D-21 Eva Langton, Texas A&M International
J-3 Devon Williams, Texas A&M-Kingsville
J-10 Karley Motschenbacher, West Texas A&M
J-17 Anastacia Mickens, Texas A&M-Kingsville
SELECTED NOTABLE PERFORMANCES
Sawyer Lloyd, Angelo State, was instrumental in the Belles' offense this past week as they won two straight conference games for the first time since February 2020, doing so by outscoring their opponents by 21.5 points per game. Against Midwestern State, the Wall native was everywhere, scoring 16 points, assisting eight times and grabbing six steals on the defensive end. Against Texas Woman's, Lloyd scored 19 points in the first half; she finished the game with 21 points on 8-12 shooting, grabbing six rebounds and adding five assists.
Kryslyn Jones, Texas A&M-Kingsville, helped the Javelinas keep their quick start to the LSC schedule as she averaged 16 points in a home-and-home sweep of Texas A&M International last week. She gathered nine points and pocketed a pair of steals in Laredo as TAMUK used a last-second basket and defensive stop to secure a 60-56 win in the first game. She added 23 points in a 67-39 drubbing of the Dustdevils during Saturday's rematch in Kingsville for the LSC matchup, her first 20-point game in the Blue and Gold, to improve the Javelinas' league record to 4-0. It is the first 4-0 start to the conference schedule for TAMUK since 2000-01, and the five-game win streak is the longest since 2009-10 when the Javelinas wove together six straight wins.
Ashanti Eden, UAFS, scored 10 of her 20 points in the fourth quarter as UAFS scored 30 points in the fourth to defeat Western New Mexico, 64-55, for its first conference win of the year. Eden shot 6-for-9 from the floor and 8-for-10 from the charity stripe while dishing out a team-high three assists. She also added three rebounds and two steals in the win.
Lovisa Hevinder, UT Tyler, caught fire from the three-point line over the last two games. Against Eastern New Mexico, Hevinder knocked down six of her nine attempts and against Lubbock Christian, she knocked down four of her eight attempts. She shot 58.8% over the week and is now shooting 45.6% for the season from deep which is the top mark in the Lone Star Conference. Hevinder also added nine rebounds, four assists, and three steals over the two-game stretch.
Zyan Smith, Western New Mexico, made the most out of her opportunities, leading the Mustangs in scoring with 15 points against Oklahoma Christian. She also used her playmaking ability to distribute three assists and contributed defensively with three steals and one blocked shot. The junior also pulled down six rebounds in the contest.
Sadie Moyer, Texas Woman's, continues to lead TWU in the scoring department, topping the Pioneers in total points and points per game. In a week where the Pioneers went 1-1 in LSC play, Moyer led TWU with 14 and 15 points in games against UT Permian Basin and Angelo State. She also shot 75 percent from the free throw line on the week. On Thursday, in the Pioneers win over UTPB, Moyer shot a perfect 2-for-2 from the charity stripe.
Dorian Norris, Texas A&M-Commerce, had three blocks and three steals to go along with a scoring average of seven points this past weekend as the Lions picked up two LSC wins. Her biggest block of the weekend came against No. 4 Lubbock Christian on Thursday, blocking the Lady Chaps’ attempt to tie the game in the final minute of the game. Her rejection capped a fourth-quarter performance that included two blocks, a steal, a rebound and a pair of free throws that put the game away for TAMUC. She had six points against the Lady Chaps and eight on Saturday against Eastern New Mexico as well as three rebounds and two assists.
Juliana Robertson, Lubbock Christian, had a productive week for the nationally ranked Lady Chaps, culminating with a career-best 18-rebound performance at UT Tyler Saturday. Robertson's 18 rebounds were the most by a Lady Chaps member since Kellyn Schneider posted 18 rebounds on the exact date in 2015 against Rogers State. The rebound performance shared by Robertson and Schneider are the highest rebound marks by a Lady Chap since Candace Clenney had 19 against Science & Arts of Oklahoma on Feb. 23, 2006. Her rebounding efforts not only led to LCU's highest rebound margin of the season (14, with a team advantage of 39-25), but the Lady Chaps defense held the nation's eighth-best shooting team to a season-low 28.0% shooting effort. On the week, Robertson averaged a double-double with 12.0 rebounds and 10.0 points per game. She posted 11 points and six rebounds against No.6 Texas A&M-Commerce Thursday. Robertson also averaged 2.0 blocks and 2.5 assists per game on the week.
Ashley Ingram, Texas Woman's, had a complete week, as the Pioneers went 1-1 in LSC play. Ingram averaged 12 points and nine rebounds across both games. She grabbed 15 defensive rebounds in both games. She also grabbed five steals and averaged one block per game.
Tayjanna McGhee-Pleasant, Angelo State, was important for the Rambelles' defensive effort as they picked up two home conference wins. Against Midwestern State, she grabbed seven rebounds, blocked a shot and recorded two steals as the Rambelles forced the Mustangs into 25 turnovers. Against Texas Woman's, she recorded another block and three steals; the Rambelles held the Pioneers to 15.4 percent shooting from three and forced 20 turnovers.