Kingsville - One game after clinching a spot in the Lone Star Conference Tournament, the Texas A&M - Kingsville women's basketball team will honor its graduating seniors on Senior Day after a matchup with No.12 Lubbock Christian at 1 p.m..
The team sits at 16-10 after a 72-56 win over Midwestern St. in the SPEC on Thursday Night, which solidified the team's spot in the tournament. There are still two teams remaining on Kingsville's schedule, a regular-season-closing matchup with Texas A&M - International on Thursday, and the face off with Lubbock on Saturday, TAMUK's third top-12 matchup in its last five games.
"LCU is as talented a team as there is in the country and this time of year, they are generally playing very well," Head Coach
Michael Madrid said. "We will certainly have to execute at a high level on both ends of the floor."
The Javelinas had four players in double figures and five with at least nine in Thursday's win, indicative of the balanced scoring attack that the team has produced all season. Four different Javelinas average at least eight points per game on the year.
Kingsville's defense, however, has been its calling card all season. The Javelinas boast the 18th-best scoring defense in the nation, and force opponents to shoot the sixth-worst field goal percentage in the conference. Sophomore
Kaycee Groves' active hands have been a force on that end of the court, grabbing 1.8 steals per game, the seventh-most in the conference, while junior
Shelby Ray has had a similar impact swatting balls - she blocks the ninth-most shots in the LSC.
They'll have their work cut out for them against a team bringing a 15-game win streak into Saturday's matchup. The Lady Chaps have lost just one game in conference play all season, and have won 10 in a row by double digits. Their offense is just about as efficient as it gets, as they lead the LSC in team field goal percentage, three-point percentage, and assist-to-turnover ratio.
Senior forward Grace Foster leads the team in scoring, averaging 20.0 points per game - the second-best in the conference. Incredibly, she shoots the fourth-best field goal percentage in the conference while also bringing down the eighth-most boards. Forster is one of three different Chaps who average double figures in the scoring department, all three of them shoot efficient percentages and each averages at least two assists per game. Guard Madi Maddox leads the team, and the LSC, in that category, dishing out 4.1 assists per game.
"We simply need to do what we have done all season and force contested shots while executing on the offensive end," Madrid said. "Making the right reads and playing within ourselves. Looking forward to tipoff."
Kingsville will be looking to beat Lubbock for the first time since 2021 and break what is currently a three-game losing streak against the Chaps. Seniors Lake and Bala will be honored at halftime of the men's game, which will tip off 30 minutes after the end of the women's contest.
