PORTALES, N.M. – Eastern New Mexico women’s basketball will welcome West Texas A&M to Greyhound Arena tomorrow afternoon to kick off the 2020 slate of games for the Greyhounds.

Presented by Roosevelt General Hospital, Saturday afternoon’s match-up will tip-off at 2:00 and serve as yet another meeting between the two arch-rivals. The Hounds enter the game 9-2 on the year and will look to remain undefeated in 2019-20 inside Greyhound Arena

A GREAT END TO 2019
Eastern New Mexico closed out the 2019 portion of the schedule with two dominant wins over UAFS and Oklahoma Christian inside Greyhound Arena to move to 9-2 on the regular season and 3-2 in Lone Star Conference play. The Hounds forced a combined 45 turnovers to secure a 60-49 win over UAFS and an 80-69 win over Oklahoma Christian.

Post Alivia Lewis recorded a double-double in each contest, finishing with 18 points and 11 rebounds against UAFS and 15 points and 12 rebounds against Oklahoma Christian. Lewis and company were particularly effective against Oklahoma Christian as they recorded their most points in a game against Lone Star Conference competition so far this season with 80. The Hounds did most of their damage at the free throw line, converting on 29-of-41 attempts from the charity stripe.

The Hounds continued to dominant the glass against UAFS and Oklahoma Christian and have now outrebounded every opponent except one throughout the regular season. Eastern New Mexico enters this weekend’s match-up with West Texas A&M ranked 20th in all of Division II basketball and second in the LSC with an average of 45.0 rebounds per game.

AND NOW LET’S KICK OF 2020
With the 2019 portion of the schedule complete head coach Josh Prock and company will now turn their attention to the final 17 games of the regular season beginning this Saturday inside Greyhound Arena. Saturday afternoon’s contest against West Texas A&M will kick start a stretch of five consecutive games against divisional foes over the course of the next few weeks. The Hounds enter the weekend with an in-divisional record of 0-1 after falling to West Texas A&M by a 61-47 final back on Nov. 23, and will need to pick up some wins against in-division opponents as the trio of West Texas A&M, Lubbock Christian and Angelo State will be a tough task as divisional opponents for the Hounds.

SCOUTING THE LADY BUFFS
West Texas A&M will enter the weekend in the receiving votes category of the latest WBCA Division II National Polls. The Lady Buffs were equally as impressive as Eastern New Mexico to close out the 2019 year with a 76-37 win over Oklahoma Christian and a 76-48 win over UAFS.

West Texas A&M’s two losses have come at the hands of previously no. 1 nationally-ranked Drury and on the road at St. Edward’s. The Lady Buffs were ranked fourth in the final D2CCA South Central Regional Poll back on Dec. 4 and enter the weekend with a divisional record of 1-0.

The Lady Buffs rank at the top of the Lone Star Conference in scoring defense (50.2 ppg) for the season and have the second best average winning margin in the league at 16.1. Forwards Abby Spurgin and Bralyn Dollar each average double-digit points for the Lady Buffs, but have been the lone two reliable offensive weapons thus far.

Sophomore Delaney Nix ranks seventh in the LSC with an average of 2.1 three point field goals made per game and proved to be the difference maker in the first match-up for the Lady Buffs against Eastern New Mexico as she went 5-of-10 from behind the arc and totaled 15 points.

The Lady Buffs rank second nationally with a total of 82 blocked shots for the year and eighth nationally in rebounding margin at 12.4. Senior post Tiana Parker ranks second in the LSC with an average of 2.8 blocked shots per contest.

A DEFENSIVE FORCE
It is safe to say that the defensive effort for the Hounds was clicking on all cylinders in the final weekend of basketball in 2019 as Eastern New Mexico was able to limit UAFS and Oklahoma Christian both under 40 percent shooting from the field and collected 17 steals between the two games. The Hounds rank fifth in the league in scoring defense for the year, surrendering just 59.6 points per contest.

Sophomore Zamorye Cox has continued to be a defensive threat all season and ranks second in the LSC with an average of 2.7 steals per contest. The Greyhounds as a whole rank fifth in the league with an average of 9.45 steals per contest.

NOW THE OFFENSE IS ROLLING
As good as the traditionally strong Hound defense was against UAFS and Oklahoma Christian, the Hound offense that figured to continue to evolve as the season progressed finally showed it’s teeth as well. The totals of 80 points and 60 points well exceeded the combined scoring efforts in the previous LSC weekend against St. Edward’s and St. Mary’s.

The Hounds rank fifth in the league in scoring offense (70.5 ppg) and have Lewis (12.8 ppg) and Cox (11.4 ppg) each averaging double-digit scoring. Post Natalie DeLonge was unavailable for the UAFS games and limited in the Oklahoma Christian game to just 13 minutes, but ranks third on the team with an average of 9.8 points per contest.

THE RISE OF DECKER
Sophomore Kamirah Decker has shown flashes all season of the potential she has displayed since arriving on campus last fall and finally seemed to put it all together against Oklahoma Christian to close out the 2019 slate. Decker went 5-of-8 from the field to finish with 15 points and recorded eight rebounds to help lead the Hounds past the Lady Eagles.

Decker alongside fellow post Jasmine Williams have provided valuable depth in the paint for Eastern New Mexico behind Lewis and Delonge. Williams herself had a nice weekend, scoring 10 or more points in both games and collecting a total of 13 rebounds.

A THORN IN THE SIDE
Saturday afternoon’s match-up between Eastern New Mexico and West Texas A&M will be the 93rd all-time meeting between the two program’s. The Lady Buffs have dominated the all-time series 76-16, and have won four straight over the Hounds.

The two rivals met three times last season with West Texas A&M narrowly escaping the last two games with a win, including a controversial last-second win over Eastern New Mexico in the first round of the NCAA Division II South Central Regional Tournament back on March 15. The Lady Buffs dominated the Hounds in the first meeting between the two teams this season on Nov. 23, setting the stage for revenge for the Hounds this Saturday.

SATURDAY’S HAVE ALWAYS BEEN FRIENDLY
Eastern New Mexico is a combined 11-4 when playing on a Saturday over the course of the last two season’s. The Hounds lone losses this year have each come on a Saturday at St. Edward’s and West Texas A&M, so hopefully last year’s Saturday magic will take effect this time around.