Kingsville - Coming off of a five-point win over St. Edward's on Thursday night, the Texas A&M-Kingsville women's basketball team will be looking for back-to-back Lone Star Conference wins when it hosts the Rattlers from St. Mary's at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday.

The game will be the Javelinas' Play4Kay contest, as they raise money for cancer research and support the global fight against Cancer. Javelina women's basketball joins all of Javelina athletics and Javelina Nation in being united in the fight against all cancers affecting women. Donations to Play4Kay will be collected in between the third and fourth quarters of Saturday's game. 

Kingsville will look to get its third straight win and the seventh in its last eight contests against the Rattlers, and will be riding a fantastic fourth quarter that fueled the Javelinas to the fifth LSC win of their season. Redshirt junior guard Kaycee Groves was a huge part of that win, scoring 13 of her career-high 25 points in the final frame as Kingsville pulled away.

Scouting the Competition: St. Mary's Rattlers (11-7, 6-6 LSC)

The Rattlers began their season red hot, winning seven of their first eight games, including the first two LSC games on their schedule. The recent stretch of the squad's schedule has been tougher, however, as it has lost five of its last seven games, including a two-point loss to the Dustdevils in Laredo on Thursday night.

Saturday's contest is the second of three straight road games for STM, who currently sit just a half game out of an LSC Tournament spot, with each game holding significant weight for a potential postseason trip. 

St. Mary's has proved itself a strong shooting team so far this year, both from the field and three. They enter the contest with the seventh best team field goal percentage in the LSC (40.9), and the fourth best mark from distance (31.8). The team is led by Junior guard Allie Garcia and sophomore wing Christin Callens, who are each coming off of double-figure scoring nights in Thursday's loss.

Javelina Quick Hitters

• Redshirt junior guard Kaycee Groves had a spectacular performance in Thursday night'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 13 LSC games, Groves had led the team in scoring (11.2) rebounding (6.2, 15th in the LSC), assists (2.9, 9th in the LSC), steals (2.1, 11th in the LSC), and blocks (0.8, 12th in the LSC))
• Redshirt junior forward Kaylee Howell is coming off of an excellent, 10-point performance in Thursday night's win over St. Edward's, already her fifth time scoring in double figures 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 48.0% from the field and 44.2% 3PT (leads team) on the season
• TAMUK has been excellent on the boards so far this year, ranking fourth in the LSC with +4.8 per game in rebound margin; the Javelinas limit opponents to 31.0 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 +6.9 (second in the LSC), and leading the conference in fewest total opponent rebounds (30.0)
• Kingsville's offense has improved as the year has gone along, now averaging 13 assists per game (seventh in the LSC); Parker (2.9 apg, ninth in the LSC), and Groves (2.7 apg, 12th 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 - five different Javelinas average 3.6-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