Kingsville - Coming off of a close road win over St. Mary's, the Texas A&M - Kingsville women's basketball team is headed to Austin to play the Hilltoppers of St. Edwards in a Sunday Lone Star Conference matchup that will tip off at 1 p.m..

The team is looking for its second straight win and its third in the last four games stretching back into 2024. 

"St. Eds is a battle-tested team," Head Coach Michael Madrid said. "They have played a very difficult non-conference schedule and have a tremendous lineup as well as excellent coaches. Our focus will always be to do what we do. Do it to our best and look at the scoreboard at the end of the game."

St. Edward's is 6-8 on the season and sits at 2-3 in LSC play. That record may be deceiving, however, as the squad's early-season matchups featured some difficult foes. The Hilltoppers' season started with three straight losses, two of which came at the hands of top-11 ranked teams Tampa and Gannon. In fact, four of the team's eight total losses were dealt by top-25 ranked teams.

Lately, St. Edwards's has lost two of its last three games. Both losses were extremely tight, with the team coming up just four points short of Midwestern St. and three shy of Texas A&M - International. Despite the recent losses, sophomore guard Janiah Perkins has continued to show out in her second collegiate season. She averages the eight-most points in the conference at 14.0 and dishes out 4.5 dimes a game - the most in the LSC by more than an assist per game. She also boasts the eight-best assist-to-turnover ratio and grabs the ninth-most steals in the conference. 

"Defensively, we need to be aware of shooters and drivers as well as block out," Madrid said. "Offensively, be consistent and take great team shots. Your best defense is always to have a good offense." 

While the team's offense hasn't always been there for Kingsville, its defense certainly has. They hold teams to just 54.3 points per game, the third-fewest in the LSC. Total offense has definitely not been the team's forte, but its efficiency has allowed it to play great complementary basketball. The Javelinas commit the 33rd-fewest turnovers per game in the nation while shooting the third-best field goal percentage in the conference.

Balanced scoring has fueled TAMUK so far this season, with three different players averaging at least nine points per game. Junior forward Shelby Ray leads the team with 11.8, while seniors, Janessa Payne and Abby Bala, add 9.7 and 9.1 respectively. 

Last game, however, it was redshirt sophomore forward Kaycee Groves who provided the team's scoring punch. In a Friday-night win over the Rattlers, she dropped a career-high 18 points in her first ever collegiate start. She provided key buckets for Kingsville from start to finish, and, as she's done all year, stuffed the stat sheet. Aside from her scoring, which was the highest mark in the game, Groves added eight rebounds (tied for a career high), two assists, two blocks, and three steals. It is Groves' fourth-straight game with multiple steals, and her third in the last four with three.

The team will be looking for its fourth-straight win over St. Edward's on Sunday, and will attempt to get back above .500 in LSC play for the first time since it was 1-0 following a win over TAMIU.