KINGSVILLE, Texas — The Texas A&M-Kingsville women's basketball team is set to match up with Lubbock Christian in the 2023 Lone Star Conference Women's Basketball Championship tournament quarterfinals at 8:30 p.m. on Thursday at the Comerica Center in Frisco, Texas.
 
The championships span March 2-5, with eight teams vying for the crown and an automatic bid to the 2023 NCAA Division II Women's Basketball South Central Regional tournament. Additionally, the LSC tournament is single-elimination, with the semifinals set for Saturday, ahead of the championship game on Sunday. 
 
Tickets are available as single-session passes for purchase through ticketmaster.com, with prices set at $18 for adults and $12 for students. Each ticket is redeemable for the specified session only, with each session including two tournament games. Tickets are also available on-site at the Comerica Center Box Office. 
 
All seven games of the tournament will be broadcast exclusively on the LSC Digital Network, where fans can purchase an all-access day pass for $10.
 
The No. 5 seed Javelinas (18-10, 15-7 LSC) look to keep on rolling as they carry a four-game winning streak into the tournament, last falling on Feb. 11th against regular-season champion Texas Woman's.
 
TAMUK enters after taking two from Texas A&M-International in a week that saw sophomore Janessa Payne log a career-high 27 points, going 9-for-11 from beyond the arc en route to a 72-70 victory, while classmate Mia Rivers logged 15 points, eight rebounds, and eight assists in a 65-60 win that closed out the regular season. 
 
The victory allowed the team to tie the 1999-00 team for the most conference wins in program history at 15 and produced back-to-back winning seasons after going 17-11 in 2021-22 for the first time since 2010. The Javs have also received their highest seeding in the LSC tournament since 2001 and have matched the 2009-10 team for the fifth-most wins in program history.
 
Rivers enters the tournament after rewriting the Javelina record books, leading the LSC with 137 assists for the fourth-best season in TAMUK history. She also has climbed into third on the school's all-time assist leader board with 312 across three seasons with the program. 
 
As a team, the Javelinas maintain the top assist/turnover ratio in the league at 0.97, and sit second in three-point percentage, sinking 34.1% of their shots from beyond the arc. Defensively they have been one of the conference's best, allowing 59.0 PPG and limiting opponents to a 26.2% shooting figure from three-point range.
 
The No. 4 seed Lady Chaps (21-9, 16-6) split the final weekend of the regular season, first besting West Texas A&M 71-60 on the road before falling 88-79 in overtime at the Rip Griffin Center. 
 
LCU has been a powerhouse winning the championship in 2020 and 2021 and boasting the league's best tournament winning percentage at 88.9%, going 8-1 since joining from the Heartland Conference, with the lone loss coming in last year's championship game against WT.
 
The Javelinas stellar defense will meet an incredibly efficient Lady Chaps offense that sinks shots at a conference-best 43.3%, including 34.4% from beyond the arc. They rank third in scoring offense at 68.2 PPG and hold the top scoring margin, winning games by an average of 10.2 points. 
 
The battle will likely be decided at the permitter, as LCU represents the only squad in the LSC that boasts a higher three-point percentage and lower defensive three-point percentage than the Javelinas, with the Lady Chaps keeping the opposition to 25.2% shooting from deep. 
 
Individually, Grace Foster leads the league in double-doubles with 13 on the year and represents the LSC's best rebounder snagging 273 for an average of 9.3 RPG. She scores 15.8 PPG and is lethal from the charity stripe, sinking 90.6% of the free throws she takes. 
 
Reese Schuman, meanwhile, paces the squad in blocks with 37 and 1.23 BPG, while Maci Maddox tops the team in assists with 4.4 APG. 
 
Follow the Javelinas all season long by visiting javelinaathletics.com to find links to live stats and streaming information as well as a recap at the end of each contest. To keep up-to-date with Javelina Women's Basketball, follow the program on Facebook /JavelinaWBB or Twitter @Javelina_WBB. Watch your Javelinas live today on the Javelina Sports Network.