Kingsville - After splitting its weekend competitions against St. Edward's and St. Mary's last weekend, the Texas A&M-Kingsville women's basketball team is hitting the road to take on the No.23 Lubbock Christian Lady Chaps on Thursday at 5:30 p.m..

With six games left on their schedule, the Javelinas have a gauntlet left to battle. The Lady Chaps represent one of three remaining top-25 ranked teams (Women's Basketball Coaches Association Nationals Poll) that TAMUK will play against in its final six regular season contests. 

"When we execute and don't turn the ball over, we have been efficient," Head Coach Michael Madrid said. "Our focus is always to value the ball and take quality team shots. That is what we stress daily. This time of year is about quality possessions and we have stressed that to the team."

The team will be looking for its third win in the last five games after splitting each of its last two weekends of Lone Star Conference competition. Kingsville will be be looking to break a five-game losing streak to LCU and get its first win over the Lady Chaps since December of 2021.

Scouting the Competition: No.20 Lubbock Christian Lady Chaps (18-5, 10-4 LSC)

The Lady Chaps suffered their fourth conference loss of the year and second in their last five games in Denton against No.3 (now No.2) Texas Woman's on Saturday. That snapped a three-game winnings streak for LCU and dropped it from last week's No.20 ranking. Now, each game carries heightened importance for the Lady Chaps, who are one game out of the second seed in the LSC standings, while also sitting just one game away from dropping as low as the seventh spot.

The squad will look to lean on its uber efficient offense, which commits the fewest turnovers per game in the conference (13.0), while also leading the LSC in three-point percentage (35.7), and rankings second in team field goal percentage (45.0). 

"You aren't going to force bad shots or turnovers against LCU," Madrid said. "We simply need to guard and force them to work for shots then rebound."

The team is led by a pair of double-digit scorers, including junior guard Kennedy Chappell, who paces the squad with 15.7 points per game, while adding 5.9 rebounds and 3.8 assists, and freshman guard Meg Meekins, who puts up 14.0 points per game on 38.5% shooting from distance. 

Javelina Quick Hitters

• Redshirt junior guard Kaycee Groves had a spectacular performance in last weekend's LSC win over the Hilltoppers, dropping 25 points on 9-of-13 shooting, the highest single-game scoring effort by a Javelina since February of 2023
• In the team's 14 LSC games, Groves had led the team in scoring (11.8, 18th in the LSC) rebounding (6.1, 14th in the LSC), assists (2.9, 10th in the LSC), steals (1.9, 14th in the LSC), and blocks (0.7, 123th in the LSC))
• Freshman guard Jadeyn Parez has been impactful in her early starts, highlighted by a 24-point explosion against Oklahoma Christian; She is shooting 47.6% from the field and 44.4% 3PT (leads team) on the season
• TAMUK has been excellent on the boards so far this year, ranking fourth in the LSC with +4.7 per game in rebound margin; the Javelinas limit opponents to 30.8 rebounds per game (second in the LSC)
• In the 12 in-conference games that the Javelinas have played, they've been even better, posting a rebound margin of +6.6 (third in the LSC), and leading the conference in fewest total opponent rebounds (29.7)
• Kingsville's offense has improved as the year has gone along, now averaging 12.8 assists per game (seventh in the LSC); Parker (3.1 apg, ninth in the LSC), and Groves (2.7 apg, 13th in the LSC) pace the team's distribution.
• Sophomore forward Thalia Daniels has had a strong start to her career in the blue and gold, leading the team on the glass at 6.1 rebounds per game (with 6.7 ppg).
• While she leads a team effort on the glass, the Javelinas' success on the boards has been a group project - six different Javelinas average 3.4-plus rebounds per game this season.
• The second-winningest Head Coach in program history, Michael Madrid is beginning his seventh year at the helm for the Javelinas just six LSC wins from passing Jill Wilson for the most conference wins in program history