Kingsville - The final road trip of the season for the Texas A&M-Kingsville women's basketball team will tip off Thursday at 5:30 p.m. in Tyler as the Javelinas will look to avenge an early-season home loss to the UT-Tyler Patriots.

Back in early December, Tyler served as the second Lone Star Conference matchup of the season for TAMUK, and will now be the team's second to last, with a Saturday-afternoon contest against Texas Woman's, the new No.1-ranked team in the nation, set to be Kingsville's season finale.

"We hope to be playing our best basketball at the end of the season," Head Coach Michael Madrid said. "We have had a lot of growth this year and have a tremendous opportunity to get better Thursday evening."

Kingsville will hope to ride the hot hand of redshirt junior guard Kaycee Groves, who has averaged 18.5 points, 5.7 rebounds, and 2.0 steals per game over her last six games, a stretch that began with a 25-point outburst in an LSC win over St. Edward's earlier this month. She and the Javelinas have been a dominant force on the glass as well, posting a +5.7 average rebound margin in LSC play (third in the LSC), and a holding opponent to a conference-leading mark of 30.6 total rebounds per game in those 18 games.

While Tyler has dominated the programs' recent head-to-head matchups, having won six of the last seven meetings between the two squads, TAMUK's lone win in that stretch came last March, when the team upset the No.5-ranked Patriots in the LSC Tournament Quarterfinals.

Scouting the Competition: The UT-Tyler Patriots (18-9, 14-4 LSC)

The Patriots have had yet another very strong year, and bring the third-best record in LSC play (14-4) into the weekend. To help get there, an early-season nine-game winning streak in conference games gave UTT all kinds of momentum heading into the new year. Now, the team is jostling for position, with one game ahead of what is currently a three-way tie for fourth place in the LSC standings. 

UTT has rode, in large part, its stellar defense to a successful season, boasting one of the best scoring defenses in not only the conference but the nation. Tyler holds opponents, on average, to 51.3 points per game, the leading mark in the LSC and the fifth-best number in the nation. Not only that, but the 21.4 turnovers per game that the Patriot defense forces opponents to commit are the second-most in the conference and the 30th-most in the nation. 

Offensively, it's a balanced attack for Tyler, who has three different players who average between 9.4 and 12.0 points per game. The team's leading scorer, freshman wing Leila Davis, averages 12.0 points per game to go along with 5.7 rebounds, and a 50.4 FG percentage (sixth in the LSC). 

"Tyler is extremely well-coached and has been excellent defensively through the years," Madrid said. "Our games are always fun and I expect this one to be the same."

Javelina Quick Hitters

• Kingsville put up a spectacular defensive performance against No.23 Lubbock Christian on Thursday, holding the team to just 3-of-21 shooting from the field in the second half and 0-of-7 in the fourth quarter as they pushed LCU to the brink in Lubbock
• Redshirt junior guard Kaycee Groves had a spectacular performance in February 5'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
• That performance kicked off an excellent stretch of basketball for Groves, who has scored double-digits in six straight games (21-plus in three of them) - she is averaging 18.5 points, 5.7 rebounds, 2.2 assists, and 2.0 steals per game over this stretch
• In the team's 18 LSC games, Groves had led the team in scoring (12.9, 10th in the LSC) rebounding (6.2, 15th in the LSC), assists (2.7, 15th in the LSC) steals (2.1, 13th in the LSC), and blocks (14, 10th 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 45.5% from the field and 40.0% 3PT (leads team) on the season
• TAMUK has been excellent on the boards so far this year, ranking fourth in the LSC with +4.3 per game in rebound margin; the Javelinas limit opponents to 31.2 rebounds per game (T-best in the LSC)
• In the 18 in-conference games that the Javelinas have played, they've been even better, posting a rebound margin of +5.7 (third in the LSC), and leading the conference in fewest total opponent rebounds (30.6)
• Sophomore forward Thalia Daniels has had a strong start to her career in the blue and gold, leading the team on the glass at 5.7 rebounds per game (with 6.5 ppg).
• While she leads a team effort on the glass, the Javelinas' success on the boards has been a group project - five different Javelinas average 3.8-plus rebounds per game this season (three at 4.5-plus)
• 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