Kingsville - In the final game of its season, the Texas A&M-Kingsville women's basketball team will face off with the new No.1-ranked team in the nation, the Texas Woman's Pioneers, at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday.

With no graduating seniors on the roster, the Javelinas will look to lean on its underclassmen-heavy roster full of talented youth and build momentum heading into next season. They will have an opportunity to both avenge an early-season home loss to the Pioneers and hand them the first Lone Star Conference loss of their season.

"Our focus is to play better than we did Thursday," Head Coach Michael Madrid said. "Concentrate on the things that have given us success this season and compete each possession."

Among a number of young Javelinas playing well, are freshman guard Landri Richey and sophomore forward Thalia Daniels. Richey has started just four games in her young collegiate career, and posted a career-high 10 points in Thursday's game against UT-Tyler to go along with three assists, which ties a career high. Daniels led the team in scoring on Thursday with 12 points, marking the first time in her career she's put up double-figure scoring days in back-to-back games.

Scouting the Competition: The No.1 Texas Woman's Pioneers (25-1, 19-0 LSC)

The Pioneers have been fantastic this season, with just one loss on the year, which came back in November to (now No.14-ranked) Harding. Since then, the team has rattled off 24 straight wins, including every one of its LSC matchups, and brings a 19-0 in-conference record into Saturday's regular season finale.

Strong on both ends, the Pioneers average the second-best scoring offense (70.6), and the second-best scoring defense (54.7), in the LSC. They've reached those stellar numbers on great efficiency, leading the LSC in team field goal percentage (45.1) and as well as opponent field goal percentage (34.3).

This contest will be the second time that the Javelinas and Pioneers face off this season, with TWU taking a close game-one win back in December. TAMUK played the then-No.5-ranked team well, taking a lead over TWU into halftime of the matchup.

"Saturday will be a completely different game for so many reasons," Madrid said. "Both teams are different. December fourth was so long ago it's hard to compare. We just simply will focus on winning possessions."

Javelina Quick Hitters

• Kingsville put up a spectacular defensive performance against No.23 Lubbock Christian last 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
• In just the fourth start of her young collegiate career on Thursday against UT-Tyler, freshman guard Landri Richey had her best scoring day ever, reaching double figures for the first time ever with a career-high 10 points to go along with three assists (T-career high)
• Sophomore forward Thalia Daniels had a breakout scoring performance on Saturday against Eastern New Mexico, putting up 21 points on four made threes with six assists (all career highs) - she has now put up 10-plus points in back-to-back games for the first time in her career
• In her first season in the blue and gold, Daniels leads the team in rebounding (5.7 per game) to go along with 7.4 points per game, the second-most on the squad 
• 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 seven straight games (21-plus in three of them), the longest such streak in her career
• In the team's 19 LSC games, Groves had led the team in scoring (12.7, 10th in the LSC) rebounding (6.2, 14th in the LSC), assists (2.7, 13th in the LSC) steals (2.2, 8th in the LSC), and blocks (14, 11th in the LSC), while making 1.9 threes per game (8th in the LSC)
• Freshman guard Jadeyn Parez has been impactful since taking over the starting point-guard role, 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 +4.1 per game in rebound margin; the Javelinas limit opponents to 31.2 rebounds per game (T-best in the LSC)
• In the 19 in-conference games that the Javelinas have played, they've been even better, posting a rebound margin of +5.3 (fourth in the LSC), and leading the conference in fewest total opponent rebounds (30.6)
• While Daniels leads a team effort on the glass, the Javelinas' success on the boards has been a group project - five different Javelinas average 3.7-plus rebounds per game this season (three at 4.6-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