KINGSVILLE, Texas – After spending nearly all of December at home, the Texas A&M-Kingsville women's basketball team will begin 2018 on the road with a matchup against the Texas A&M-Commerce Lions on Thursday night at The Field House in Commerce, Texas at 5:30 p.m.
For the second consecutive season, the Javelinas (3-9, 0-4) will begin the new year by taking on the Lions. One year ago, Commerce visited Kingsville and defeated their hosts 78-71. This road contest ends a string of three straight home games for the Javelinas, who last played away from the Steinke Physical Education Center on December 2nd against Texas Woman's. Coach Wade Scott and his team will be attempting to pick up their third road win of the season and even their record as visitors at .500. They'll also be trying for their first Lone Star Conference victory of the season.
TAMUK is coming off a 54-45 loss to St. Edwards, which represented the sixth time this season the Hoggies have held an opponent under 60 points. Their average of 59.3 points-per-game allowed is the LSC's fourth best.
On the offensive end, Angelica Wilson continues to be a force in the frontcourt. She's led the team in scoring in three straight games and her average of 8.5 ppg stands as the best mark on the roster. Wilson also averaged 9.3 rebounds per game in December and put up a pair of double-doubles during the last month. She has moved into fourth place in the conference with an average of 8.6 rpg.
Commerce currently sits at 6-5 on the season and their record of 3-1 in the LSC places them in a tie for third. Their most recent contest was an exhibition against UT San Antonio that saw the Lions earn a 69-60 victory but their last game that counted was a 59-57 overtime loss to St. Mary's on Dec. 19th. That loss came after consecutive wins over conference foes Western New Mexico and Eastern New Mexico and continued a trend where the Lions have yet to put together a streak of more than two consecutive wins this season.
Coach Jason Burton can lay claim to what is currently the LSC's third-ranked offense, a unit that is led by senior forward Brianna Wise. The native of DeSoto, Texas stands as the conference's second-leading scorer with an average of 16.0 ppg, trailing only the 17.2 ppg put up by Cameron's Jamie Bonnarens. Wise has topped 20 points five times, including a 30-point performance against Eastern New Mexico on Dec. 7th during an overtime win by TAMUC. She enters Thursday's clash following her first double-double of the year, as she collected 15 points and 10 rebounds against St. Mary's.
Fellow forward Artaejah Gay is not far behind her teammate, with a mark of 13.4 ppg, the LSC's sixth-best. Gay has scored in double figures eight times with 20 points representing her season-high.
When Commerce and Kingsville take the floor on Thursday evening, it will be the 65th time the two programs have met. The Lions hold a slight, 33-31 advantage. While Commerce did take the first matchup between the two teams a season ago, the Javelinas got the last laugh, stealing 67-65 victory at The Field House in February. The biggest reason for TAMUK's win was Shaq Debose, who set a career-high with 28 points. The Hoggies are attempting to take consecutive games in Commerce for the first time since 1999-01, when they won three-in-a-row on TAMUC's home court.
Links to live stats and video of Thursday's game are available on javelinaathletics.com, which is also where a recap of the game will be published after the final buzzer. To receive content for Texas A&M-Kingsville women's basketball, you can follow @TAMUKWBB on Twitter and Instagram, like the official Facebook page of Javelina athletics (/JavelinaSports) and subscribe to the Javelina Athletics YouTube channel.
