Kingsville - Fresh off of a battle with the No.2 team in the nation, the Texas A&M - Kingsville women's basketball team will look to get back in the win column against the No.10/13 UT-Tyler Patriots on Saturday at 1 p.m..

The Javelinas had won four straight games, and five of their last six, before Thursday's loss to Texas Woman's. Their upcoming opponent, however, remains the only team to hand TWU a loss this year - the Patriots bring a six game win streak into Saturday's matinee.

Much like in the TWU contest, Kingsville will have another defensive juggernaut to match up with tomorrow. Tyler brings the No.4 scoring defense in the nation into the SPEC. It is one of four teams in the country to hold opponents to below 50 points on average. It also forces opponents to shoot the second-worst FG% in the nation at 32.4 and the eighth-worst three-point percentage at 23.5.

Even after giving up 66 points to TWU, TAMUK boasts quite the defense itself, keeping teams to 54.4 points per game. The Javelinas have played that stellar defense while also keeping teams away from the foul line - they have allowed opponents to shoot the second fewest free throws per game in the Lone Star Conference.

Kingsville is led in scoring by junior forward Shelby Ray, who returned from injury on Thursday to score 15 points on three made threes off the bench. She also leads the team in rebounding, as is one of five different Javelinas that bring in at least three boards a game. Seniors Janessa Payne and Abby Bala add 9.1 and 8.4 points per game respectively, each among the nation's best at their respective roles of shooter and ball handler. Payne makes 44.4% of her attempts from distance, the 14th-best percentage in the country, while Bala's 1.8 assist-to-turnover ratio is good for 40th in the nation.

In fact, as a team, the Javelinas have done a great job taking care of the ball. They commit the 28th-fewest turns in the nation and maintain the fourth-best assist-to-turnover ratio in the conference. They'll have to be at their best against a Patriot squad that forces opponents into 18.5 turns per contest (fifth in the LSC). Six different players on UTT's team average at least 1.0 steals per game.

While Tyler has a number of talented offensive weapons at its disposal, Junior guard Meagan Mendazona carries much of the scoring load for her team. She averages 15.6 points (fourth in the LSC), while shooting 47.6% from the field (eighth in the LSC) while playing the 11th-most minutes of any single player in the conference. 

Similar to Kingsville, UTT has been very safe with the basketball, leading the conference in assist-to-turnover ratio and holding the second-best turnover margin.

This will be the second top-10 team that TAMUK will clash with across a three day span, and could prove key in the battle for the East Division title, as Tyler remains the only undefeated team in East divisional play, with TWU and Kingsville one game behind.