Kingsville - The Kingsville women's basketball team is back on the road, this time the Javelinas are headed to Laredo for their first in-conference game of the season as they take on Texas A&M International.

The 3-1 record Kingsville sits on entering the weekend is especially impressive given every one of the team's games has been away from home - three road matchups and a neutral-site win over Colorado Christian. It is the third time since the '99 -'00 season that the program has started 3-1 in its games away from Kingsville.

"We have done a solid job thus far of valuing the ball and giving ourselves an opportunity to score," Head Coach Michael Madrid said. "Defensively, we have improved game to game and we hope to continue that trend."

After allowing 63 points on 49 percent shooting from the field to Westminster in the team's season opener, the Javelinas have held their opponents to 33, 39, and 38% FG in their next three games respectively. 

Taking care of the basketball has also been key for TAMUK early in its season. The team's 1.33 assist-to-turnover ratio is the 12th-best in the country. Leading the Javelinas in that department is senior guard Abby Bala, whose 3.0 ratio (12 assists to four turnovers) is tied for the 27th-best mark in the nation. 

The matchup with the Dustdevils marks the fifth in a string of nine straight road games to open TAMUK's season. It is also the first of three games on the road trip against Lone Star Conference foes. 

"International is a very well-coached and talented team," Madrid said. "They play extremely hard and have been tested early in the year. We just have to focus on the details that have made us have some success and play one possession at a time. Focus on winning possessions."

TAMIU has lost each of the first five games of its season. While International has struggled to post results in the win column, the team seems to be one that's certainly better than its record. The Dustdevils' first two games of the year came against top-10 ranked teams in the nation, and their last two games were lost by a combined six points. In those two tight losses, to Arkansas Fort Smith and Missouri Southern St. - each of whom beat TAMIU by three points - International put multiple in double-figures in the scoring column and held their opponents to a combined 12-of-44 (27%) from behind the long line.

Freshman Janiya Murphy has emerged as the team's leading scorer, averaging 11.8 points per game while playing just over 20 minutes a contest - she also averages 82 percent from the free-throw line. Behind her, three other Dustdevils also average at least seven points per game. 


Though this game is the first of the season for the Javelinas that will count toward their conference record, their LSC slate won't start in earnest for another two weeks. Regardless, Kingvsille has a matchup of heightened importance early in its season.