KINGSVILLE, Texas – In a matchup between a pair of teams seeking their first Lone Star Conference win of the season, the Texas A&M-Kingsville women's basketball team (3-5, 0-1) will travel to Laredo, Texas to square off with the Texas Women's University Pioneers (3-3, 0-1) on Saturday at Kitty Magee Arena, with the opening tip scheduled for 2 p.m.
Both squads enter this matchup following losses to Angelo State, the school that currently sits atop the league standings, and each side is trying to snap a three-game skid. For the Javelinas, their last two games have come against teams with a combined record of 9-1. Coach Wade Scott and his crew will be attempting to return to the form that saw them win three straight in mid-November. During that stretch, TAMUK held two of its three opponents below 50 points and won the rebounding battle each time.
The Javelinas have forged one of the LSC's top defenses, borne out by the fact that they're in the top half of the conference in every defensive category. They rank third in the league in rebounding defense and two of the top six rebounders in the LSC are Javelinas. Angelica Wilson averages 8.1 rebounds per game, fifth-most in the league, and she's also leading the team in scoring. One spot behind Wilson on the conference leaderboard is Tatyana McFarland, who has pulled down 7.5 rpg, including a night against Texas A&M International during which she grabbed 15 boards to go with 13 points.
For the Pioneers, they've suffered three straight losses, two of them by single digits, after winning their first three games. Following an eight-point defeat to Central Oklahoma, they dropped an 88-81 decision to then No. 22 Emporia State before falling to ASU by 12. The Pioneers and coach Beth Jillson are attempting to avoid their first four-game losing streak since 2014-15. Jillson is in her 11th season at the helm of TWU's program and is adding to her total as the winningest coach in school history, a title she earned in 2011.
Alexis Nezianya's average of 13.8 points per game leads the Pioneers and places her fifth in the conference. She's hit double-figures in five of her six appearances. Nezianya set a new career-high against Emporia State by finishing with 21 points. The senior from Carrollton, Texas had one of the best performances of her junior year in Kingsville, going 6-for-10 from the floor for 15 points. With the forward Nezianya battling in the paint, guard KJ Stastny held led the offense from the outside. Against the Rams, she poured in 25 points, a career-high.
Through 58 meetings between these two schools, neither side can claim supremacy and the all-time series stands at 28-28. During the 2016-17 season, the home team won both contests. Last year's victory over TWU by TAMUK broke what had been a six-game win Pioneer win streak versus the Hogs. The Javs will be looking for their first win in Denton since a 59-49 road triumph in 2013.
Links to live video and stats from Saturday's game, as well as a postgame recap, can be found on Javelinaathletics.com. Receive content for Texas A&M-Kingsville women's basketball by following @TAMUKWBB on Twitter and Instagram, liking the official Facebook page of Javelina athletics (/JavelinaSports), and subscribing to the Javelina Athletics YouTube channel.
