Kingsville - After splitting a Lone Star Conference road trip last weekend, the Texas A&M-Kingsville women's basketball team will look to get back in the win column at home on Thursday night against St. Edward's, with tipoff set for 5:30 p.m..

Youth has led the way for TAMUK lately, including freshman guard Jadeyn Perez, who has averaged 10.5 points per game on 50.0 - 47.5 - 75.0 in conference play (12 games). She has led a score-by-committee offense that sees four different Javelinas average at least 7.4 points per game. Kingsville work on the glass, which has been a strong suite of the team, has also been a team affair, with six different individuals averaging at least 3.4 rebounds per game - led by sophomore forward Thalia Daniels' 6.1 per game. That crew will look to respond to a 1-1 road trip as they take on St. Edward's and St. Mary's this weekend - Thursday's game against the Hilltoppers will be Pack the House night, following by a 1:00 p.m. tilt against the Rattlers on Saturday, which will be the Javelinas' Play4Kay game.

"Our focus is to go 1-0," Head Coach Michael Madrid said. "We don't spend a lot of time looking in the rear-view mirror. We will concentrate on the uniform in front of us and play to the best of our ability that night."

Kingsville has owned the head-to-head matchup with the Hilltoppers as of late, with TAMUK having won five straight contests against SEU dating back to January of 2023. Most recently, the Javelinas swept their two matchups with the Hilltoppers last season, taking them down in both the SPEC and in Austin.

Scouting the Competition: St. Edward's Hilltoppers (10-9, 4-7 LSC)

After beginning the season strong with a 6-2 record in non-conference play, the Hilltoppers have struggled in the Lone Star gauntlet. They enter Thursday's matchup with the Javelinas having lost five other their last six games, though their one win in that stretch came last Thursday with a 60-56 win over Cameron. After this roadtrip to play TAMUK and TAMIU, SEU will return home to play three straight LSC home matchups, the last home games of its season.

Much like the Javelinas, the Hilltoppers' offense has been well-balanced, with three different players averaging double figures in the scoring department, led by 13.1 per game from junior guard Suni Davis. She will attempt to lead SEU to its first win over the Javelinas in Kingsville since February of 2020.

"We try to defend everyone the same way regardless of who they are and what they score," Madrid said. "Continuig to work on playing defense and helping each other. We have gotten better but still have a ways to go."

Javelina Quick Hitters

• Redshirt junior forward Kaylee Howell is coming off of an excellent, 15-point performance against Western New Mexico, already her fourth time scoring 14-plus in the new year
• Freshman guard Jadeyn Parez has been impactful in her early starts, highlighted by a 24-point explosion against Oklahoma Christian; She is shooting 48.9% from the field and 45.2% 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 31.3 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 +6.8 (second in the LSC), and leading the conference in fewest total opponent rebounds (30.3)
• In that same span, redshirt junior guard Kaycee Groves had led the team in rebounding (6.5, 13th in the LSC), assists (2.9, 10th in the LSC), steals (2.1, 11th in the LSC), and blocks (9, 13th in the LSC))
• Kingsville's offense has improved as the year has gone along, now averaging 12.9 assists per game (seventh in the LSC); Parker (2.9 apg, ninth in the LSC), and Groves (2.7 apg, 11th 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 7.0 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 seven LSC wins from passing Jill Wilson for the most conference wins in program history