Frisco - Fresh off of an improbable upset win over No.5 UT-Tyler in the Lone Star Conference Tournament Quarterfinals on Thursday, the Texas A&M - Kingsville women's basketball team has a chance to avenge a regular season loss when it takes on No.11 Lubbock Christian in the Semifinals on Saturday.
This will be the Javelinas' first time playing in the Conference Tournament Semis since 2016-17, the game will tip off at the Comerica Center in Frisco at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday and will be streamed live on FloHoops.
"We are excited about the opportunity to play in a fun environment," Head Coach
Michael Madrid said. "We have worked all season to be playing in March and we will take advantage of the opportunity."
To reach this point, TAMUK avenged a pair of regular season losses to the Patriots to open the Tournament with a six-over-three upset. Four Javelinas scored in double figures, led by junior forward
Shelby Ray and senior guard
Abby Bala, who each had 15. Their defense was impressive as well, holding a dangerous UTT team to 35.6% shooting from the field and 19.2% from three.
On Saturday, Kingsville will be playing for its first LSC Title game bid since '99-'00, when the team won its first and only Championship. The team will have its hands full with the No.2 seed in the tournament, who brings an 18 game win streak into Saturday's matchup. One of those wins came against the Javelinas, when they clashed in Kingsville earlier this season.
The Chaps took a 59-43 win in the SPEC in the second-to-last game of the regular season. Lubbock turned up its patented defense to get the win, holding TAMUK to single digit points in both the first and third quarters. That defense has held opponents to 52.3 points per game so far this year, the seventh-best scoring defense in the nation.
LCU's offense has led the conference in both field-goal and three-point percentage this year 44.7 and 37.8 respectively, while also committing the fewest turnovers in the LSC at 12.2. The team's 1.12 assist-to-turnover ratio also leads the conference. They are led by senior forward Grace Foster, who puts up 19.9 points, 7.4 rebounds, 2.2 assists, 1.7 blocks, and 1.0 steals per game. TAMUK will have to slow her and the two other Chaps who join her with a double-figures scoring average to reach the LSC Championship game.
"Execute. Make plays. Make shots," Madrid said. "As I mentioned a few days ago, there are no secrets this time of year. Every team is banged up and tired. We will have to play with a high level of intensity and mental concentration."
Kingsville's strong defense, paired with an efficient offense, has carried it to this point. The team holds opponents to just 55.2 points per game, the fourth-fewest in the conference and 19th-best in the nation. Meanwhile its offense has been strong all year, shooting the third-best field goal percentage and the second-best three-point percentage in the LSC - a feat they accomplish without having an individual scorer inside the top 20 of the conference.
