Kingsville - Fresh off of back-to-back wins, the Texas A&M - Kingsville women's basketball team is set to host the St. Mary's Rattlers in an important Lone Star Conference matchup at 1 p.m. on Saturday.

The Javelinas took down St. Edward's at home on Thursday, the second straight game that they've held their opponent to 50 points. In fact they've leaned on their stellar play on that side of  the ball all season, holding teams to, on average, the 17th-fewest points in the nation. On Saturday, they will test their mettle, and their win streak, against a Rattler team that has won four of its last five ballgames.

"We want to continue to improve as a group," Madrid said. "We are a long way from where we want to be and our players understand that. Everyday is an opportunity to improve and we are thankful for that."

The game will also have significant implications on the conference standings as TAMUK sits in the seventh spot with an 8-6 record in LSC play, while St. Mary's is just a half game back at 7-6. The top eight teams in the conference make the LSC Tournament. This will be the second time Kingsville and St. Mary's have faced off this year, with the Javelinas coming away a 50-44 win that saw TAMUK pull out its first of four straight wins courtesy of 18 points from Kaycee Groves and a clutch Ray-to-Bala connection for a game-sealing layup.

"Their chemistry is solid," Head Coach Michael Madrid said. "The more reps you get together the more you grow and they are a prime example of that. I don't know that we can slow them down. They are well-coached with really good players. We will have our hands full Saturday."

While its offense hasn't always been there, the team's defense has won it a number of games this year - the Rattlers hold opponents to 57.9 points per game (fifth), and hold opponents to the fourth-lowest percentage shooting from both the field and behind the long line. Not only that, but they're also stellar on the boards, leading the conference in defensive rebounds per game and ranking second in combined opponent rebounds (Kingsville is third with a 0.1 rebound-per-game difference).

Leading the charge for them have been a pair of freshman who are having amazing starts to their collegiate careers. Freshman forward Raynne Malik has had quite the impact for St. Mary's, pulling down the eighth-most board in the LSC (7.5) and already posting three double-doubles in her young career - she also leads the conference in blocked shots with 2.2bpg. The other freshman, forward Christin Callens leads the squad in scoring with 12.7 points per game while shooting 47.4% from the field, the seventh-best mark in the LSC.

Kingsville leas on its defense as well, holding opponents to 54.7 points per game, the 17th-fewest in the nation. That defense has come while committing virtually no fouls - Kingsville allows opponents to shoot the second-fewest number of free throws in the LSC.

On the other side of the floor, the Javelinas' offense has been uber efficient, averaging the third-best field goal and three-point percentage in the conference. They've also been safe with the basketball all season long, committing the third-fewest turnovers in the conference and holding the fourth-best assist-to-turnover ratio - the team's 14.0 turnover-per-game average is also the 33rd-best in the nation.

Senior forward Janessa Payne has been blazing hot from beyond the long line this year, shooting an LSC third-best 42.6% from three (the 15th-best percentage in the nation) while making 2.2 per game - the sixth-most in the conference. The point guard duo of senior Abby Bala and junior Aina Maynou has been excellent sharing the basketball for Kingsville this season. Bala averages the seventh-most assists in the conference while holding the third-best assist-to-turnover ratio, while Maynou dishes out the eighth-most assists and has the fifth-best a/to in the LSC.

This will be the last home game for Kingsville before four straight on the road, after which the Javelinas will return home for their final three games of the regular season.