The Eastern New Mexico women’s basketball team is preparing to compete in its second NCAA South Central Regional Tournament in three years as the Hounds will travel to Canyon, Texas this weekend to face top-seeded West Texas A&M.
The Greyhounds will take on the Lady Buffs in the 1:30 p.m. MST game and if the Hounds pull off the upset, they would face the winner of the Angelo State/Westminster game in the South Central Semifinal at 4 p.m. MST on Saturday. The regional championship game will be held on Tuesday, March 19 at the venue of the highest remaining seed.
LAST TIME OUT
The Hounds will enter the regional as the No. 8 seed after wrapping up the regular season and Lone Star Conference Tournament with a 19-10 overall record and an 18-9 mark in NCAA Division II games, all in-region. Eastern had a tough finish to the season as the Greyhounds fell to Texas A&M-Commerce 77-70 in the first round of the LSC Tournament at the Comerica Center in Frisco, Texas last Friday.
The Greyhounds trailed by 17 at the start of the fourth quarter, but were able to put together a big 12-0 run through the first 2:30 of the fourth quarter to close the gap to five at 59-54. The Lions were able to push their advantage back to nine at 68-59 with 3:33 left, but the Hounds responded with another 9-2 run to make it a 70-68 game with 57 seconds remaining. Texas A&M-Commerce was able to hold off the Hounds in the final minute, closing out the game with a 7-2 run by converting 5-of-5 from the foul line to seal the victory.
SCOUTING THE LADY BUFFS
The top seeded and regional host West Texas A&M enters the tournament with a 28-3 overall record with a 25-3 mark against South Central Region teams. The Lady Buffs finished the regular season as the LSC Regular Season and Tournament Champion after defeating Angelo State 71-55 in the LSC Championship game. Not only are the Lady Buffs the top shooting team in the Lone Star Conference, but they are also the best shooting team in all of NCAA Division II (49.6 percent). The Lady Buffs also possess the nation’s 32nd best scoring offense (75.3 points per game) and 42nd best scoring defense (59.5 ppg), for Division II’s 19th best scoring margin (15.8 ppg).
Offensively, WTAMU is led by LSC Player of the Year Lexy Hightower (15.9 ppg, 3rd in LSC), shooting 51.8 percent (4th in LSC) from the field. Forward Tyesha Taylor is the squad’s second-best scorer at 13.9 ppg (9th in LSC) with the third-best shooting percentage in Division II (62.5 percent, 1st in LSC). Leading the Lady Buffs rebounding efforts is Deleyah Harris (8.1 rpg, 4th in LSC) while Megan Gamble ranks as both the team’s and Lone Star’s assist leader (160, 5.7 apg, 17th in NCAA Division II).
FAMILIAR FACE, FAMILIAR PLACE
The Greyhounds will have a familiar opponent in the first round of the NCAA South Central Regional Tournament as the Hounds and Lady Buffs will be playing each other for the 91st time since the 1974-75 season. Eastern has played well at the First United Bank Center the past three seasons, as the Hounds have won six of the last seven games played at the venue and two of the last three against the Lady Buffs. The Hounds’ lone loss came in a 67-60 overtime thriller on Feb. 26 as Eastern nearly upset the Lady Buffs when Chelsea Hunter’s potential game-winning shot at the end of regulation bounced just off the back iron.
TOURNEY TRENDING
After never competing in an NCAA Tournament prior to the 2016-17 season, the Greyhounds have developed into a regional power as Eastern is competing in its second NCAA South Central Regional in the past three seasons under Head Coach Josh Prock. The last time the Hounds were selected in 2017, ENMU ended the regular season with a 20-8 record and were the LSC regular season champions with a 16-4 conference record. The sixth-seeded Hounds faced No. 3 seed UC-Colorado Springs, falling 89-73 at Massari Arena in Pueblo, Colorado.
CLAY MOLDING THE ENMU RECORD BOOKS
In her lone season as a member of the Greyhounds, senior forward Treyanna Clay has made a strong imprint in the ENMU record books. Clay set the program record for most free throws made in a game when she converted 17-of-20 in a 62-55 loss at Texas A&M-Commerce on Feb. 21, breaking Jennifer Goble’s record of 15 against Angelo State set during the 1990-91 season. Clay has made 164-of-216 free throws this season and is just 10 makes shy of tying Goble’s season record. With 471 points, Clay holds the second-best scoring mark in the last 20 years, only behind Tiana Bryant’s 517 set during the 2005-06 campaign while her 171 rebounds ranks as the 10th best during that stretch. Her 59 steals is also the second-most in the last 20 seasons, only behind Bryant’s 73 set during the 2005-06 season.
POINT AND POST PRESCENCE
Clay isn’t the only one making marks in the ENMU record books this season. Sophomore forward Alivia Lewis is putting together one of the best defensive performances in the last 20 years for the Greyhounds. Lewis currently has the second-best rebounding mark since 2000 with 262 boards, just nine shy of tying Elizabeth Richards’ 2006-07 mark while also tallying the second-most blocks in that stretch with 51. Freshman point guard Zamorye Cox has also made her presence felt in the books as her 102 assists ranks as the sixth-most during that stretch and is just four back of Lakeeyscia Griffin’s 2013-14 mark for the fifth-best in one season.