Women’s Basketball 1/22/2020 11:27:00 AM Zac Alfers
Women’s Basketball Heads to Texas A&M International; Texas A&M-Kingsville this Weekend
The 11-5 Eastern New Mexico women’s basketball team will pack its bags for a pair of road contests against Texas A&M International and Texas A&M-Kingsville this weekend.
The Hounds will take the hardwood against the Dustdevils on Thursday with a 4:30 p.m. tipoff before facing the Javelinas on Saturday at 1 p.m.
LAST WEEK
Eastern experienced mixed results last week, tipping off its two-game homestand with a thrilling overtime win over #1 Lubbock Christian before falling to Angelo State.
The Hounds snapped Lubbock Christian’s 25-game winning streak and handed the reigning NCAA DII National Champions their first loss of the 2019-20 season. Sophomore Zamorye Cox shined with a career-high 29 point performance which included the game-winning shot with less than eight second remaining in the game. Junior Alivia Lewis added a monster double-double with 16 points and 18 rebounds as she took over the number two spot in the program record book for rebounds in a single game. Not only did the Green and Silver dominant on the offensive glass, hauling in 18 of their 46 rebounds on that side of the floor, they made them count as they recorded 17 second chance points. The Hounds executed down the stretch and their gritty defense got them stops during the most crucial moments of the game as they held on for the 69-68 victory.
The Hounds were plagued with the shooting bug and struggled to create consistent offense in their 70-60 loss to Angelo State. Despite the teams shooting woes senior Jasmine Williams and Lewis each recorded double-doubles. Williams finished with 15 points and 11 rebounds while Lewis totaled 12 points and ten rebounds. Cox filled up the stat sheet herself in multiple categories and added 11 points, five rebounds, two steals and a block to go along with a game-high seven assists. The Greyhounds once again showed why they are one of the best defensive teams in the Lone Star Conference, forcing 22 turnovers and converting those into 21 points. On the other hand, the Hounds took great care of the ball and only committed five turnovers without allowing a score following a change of possession for their second straight game.
SCOUTING THE DUSTDEVILS
The Dustdevils had their losing streak stretched to six consecutive games after falling to St. Mary’s and St. Edward’s on the road last weekend.
Head Coach Nate Vogel begins his first year at the helm of the Texas A&M International women’s basketball team after being named the fifth head coach of the program in April 2019. Vogel comes to the Dustdevils after two successful seasons as the head coach at Miles Community College in Miles City, Mont.
TAMIU continues to shoot the basketball at an efficient 40.6 percent clip, but have struggled defensively and own the worst defensive shooting percentage in the league, allowing opponents to shoot 44.5 percent on the season. The Dustdevils have also been lacking in the rebounding department, averaging a LSC-low 30.5 boards per game.
The Dustdevils offense is led by their formidable backcourt pairing of juniors Patrycja Jaworska and Nicole Heyn. Jaworska leads the team with 12.7 points per game while Heyn ranks second on the team in scoring with 11.8. The pair have combined for 127 rebounds and 89 assists while each ranking in the top five in the conference for steals. Heyn paces the league with 2.9 steals per game and Jaworska is tied for fourth with 2.4 steals per contest
Senior wing Christine Ortega leads the Dustdevils rebounding effort with 79 total boards and averages 9.8 points per game. Ortega has totaled 27 assists, 22 steals and eight blocked shots in the first 17 games of the season.
SCOUTING THE JAVELINAS
The Javelinas dropped back-to-back road games to St. Edward’s and St. Mary’s last weekend and are now in the midst of a three-game losing skid.
Kingsville averages a league-low 50.8 points per game to go along with the third-worst scoring margin at -9.9. The Javelinas also rank towards the bottom of the conference in rebounding as they have corralled 436 total rebounds and average 33.5 per game.
Junior guard Ravae Payne is the Javelinas most potent offensive weapon and has shown the ability to score as well as create opportunities for her teammates. Payne leads the squad with 11.9 points per game and is averaging four assists per game, the fifth-best mark in the LSC.
Sophomore forward Jalyn Johnson has proven to be a capable all-around player, averaging 8.2 points and 4.6 rebounds per game. Johnson shines on the defensive side of the floor and has swiped 15 steals and recorded a team-high 12 blocked shots.
Junior forward Anastacia Mickens leads the team with 89 total rebounds, nearly 30 more than the next closet member of the team. Mickens also averages 7.6 points per game and has recorded 11 steals to go along with seven blocks.
Leading the Javelinas into battle is first year Head Coach Michael Madrid. Madrid joins the Kingsville program after spending the last two seasons at UTEP where he was hired as the assistant coach prior to the 2017-18 season before being promoted to associate head coach the following year.
I’LL TAKE A DOUBLE-DOUBLE
Alivia Lewis is a dominant presence on the low post and is averaging 12.5 points and an LSC-high 9.3 rebounds per game. Last week she recorded her fifth and sixth double-double of the season and now leads the conference in that regard.
Fellow post player Jasmine Williams is also a double-double machine and recorded her fifth of the year against Angelo State where she posted 15 points and 11 rebounds on a seven for ten shooting night. Williams is now tied for second in the conference with five double-doubles and ranks third with 8.5 rebounds per game.
CAREER COACHING MILESTONE
Josh Prock enters his 12th season as a head coach, his seventh as the leader of the ENMU women’s basketball program and owns an NCAA record of 198-126. Prock now needs just two wins to enter the 200-win threshold and could reach that milestone with some successful performances on the road this weekend. Prock was a two-time American Southwest Conference Coach of the Year (2010-11, 2012-13) and the 2016-17 Lone Star Conference Coach of the Year. During his time at ENMU, Prock has led Eastern to its first two NCAA Tournament berths in the program’s 45-year history as well as setting a new record with a 12-1 home record last season.
REGIONAL POWERHOUSE
The Hounds now own an 11-5 overall record (5-5 LSC) and have been ranked in all nine additions of the D2SIDA South Central Regional Poll. The Hounds moved up two spots from last week to No. 6 on the Week 8 Poll and will have the opportunity to climb even further with some quality wins in the second half of the season. Eastern will face four more regionally ranked opponents before the LSC Tournament including rematches with Angelo State and Lubbock Christian as well as a home game against Tarleton State followed by the #3 team in the nation, Texas A&M-Commerce.
WEEKDAY WARRIORS
Most people can’t wait for the weekend but the Hounds have suffered all of their losses on Saturday, posting a 3-5 record in weekend games. When playing during the week, the Green and Silver are 8-0 including a flawless 5-0 record when playing on Thursdays. With the remainder of the season being played on either Thursday or Saturday, the Hounds will have to snap their sluggish play on the weekends in order to get themselves back on track.
A DEFENSIVE FORCE
The High Plains squad has relied on its aggressive defense to keep them in games all season long and ranks towards the top of the LSC in a handful of key defensive categories. Eastern surrenders just 60.6 points per game while averaging 67.4 points on offense for the fifth-best scoring margin in the LSC (6.9). Opponents have struggled shooting the basketball against Eastern’s defense as the Hounds rank sixth in defensive field goal percentage (37.4%) and seventh in defensive three-point percentage (29.0%). The Hounds are also an extremely capable rebounding team and have used their size and athleticism to limit second chances. Eastern averages a LSC-high 44.1 rebounds per game and owns the third-best rebounding margin at 8.1.
Point guard Zamorye Cox has proven herself to be one of the elite defenders along the perimeter in her sophomore season. Cox ranks second in the league with 45 total steals, averaging 2.8 per game.
