Women’s Basketball 2/12/2020 3:32:00 PM Zac Alfers
Women’s Basketball Prepares for Postseason Push

With six games remaining in the 2019-20 regular season, Eastern New Mexico will host Texas Woman’s and Tarleton State this weekend with hopes to improve its seeding for the Lone Star Conference Tournament.

LAST WEEK

Eastern experienced mixed results last week with a win over Angelo State and a tough defeat to #22 Lubbock Christian.

The Hounds secured the largest margin of victory on the road against Angelo State in school history with an 84-60 win on Thursday night inside the Junell Center. The 24-point defeat of the Rams marked the fifth straight win for the Green and Silver. Senior Natalie DeLonge put together her best performance to date and notched 21 points for the night, going 10-for-17 from the field on an evening in which Eastern New Mexico dominated the Rambelles in the paint from start to finish. The Greyhounds won the rebounding battle by a final total of 51-to-34 and scored 56 points in the paint, while Angelo State was able to notch just 18 points in the paint for the entire contest. The Hounds limited Angelo State to a 28.6 shooting percentage (18-of-63) for the game and hauled in 13 offensive rebounds to total 18 second chance points. Senior Jasmine Williams notched her seventh double-double of the season with 12 points to go along with her 16 rebounds

After handing Lubbock Christian its first loss of the season earlier this year, the Greyhounds were unable to get the best of the Lady Chaps in the rematch falling by a 77-53 final. Redshirt freshman Natalie Stice led the Hounds with ten points and also corralled a career-high six rebounds to go along with a pair of assists, two steals and a blocked shot. Junior Alivia Lewis added eight points while Williams led the Greyhound rebounding effort with seven boards. The Greyhounds defense has been remarkable and has terrorized opposing offenses all season long but had a difficult time trying to slow down Lubbock Christian as the Lady Chaps finished with a 53.7 team shooting percentage which included a 45 percent clip from beyond the arch. Eastern shot just 29.8 percent from the field and left seven points on the line as the High Plains squad went 14-for-21 from the charity stripe.

SCOUTING THE PIONEERS

The Pioneers suffered their fourth consecutive loss following a 74-69 defeat to Cameron last week before snapping their losing streak with a 68-59 victory over Midwestern State. The Pioneers are 2-8 in their last ten games.

TWU owns a -3.8 scoring margin while averaging 59.6 points per game despite shooting 39.9 percent from the field as a team. The Pioneers have shown they can effectively defend the three-point shot and own the fifth-lowest defensive three-point shooting percentage as teams have only connected on 28.6 percent of their long-range attempts when facing TWU.

Senior guard Carissa Moody is the Pioneers most well-rounded player as she leads the team with 11 points and 9.7 rebounds per game. Moody has also dished out 26 assists and recorded 13 steals to go along with seven blocks.

The Pioneers second scoring option is junior forward Ma’K’La Woods who joins Moody as the only two Texas Woman’s players to average double-digit scoring figures as she registers 10.3 points per contest. Freshman guard Brielle Woods is also an important piece of the Pioneer offense as she contributes 9.7 points per game. Woods is also the team’s best facilitator and has tallied 38 assists.

The Pioneers are led by 13th year Head Coach Beth Jillson who is the all-time winningest basketball coach in team history. Jillson has led the Pioneers to the program’s only NCAA National Tournament appearances, 2010-11 and 2015-16, as well as the basketball’s first LSC Championship in 2010-11.

SCOUTING THE TEXANS

The Texans pushed their winning streak to five straight games with victories over Midwestern State and Cameron last week. Tarleton State have only dropped one game in the last 12 times they have taken the court.

Tarleton has proven itself as an extremely hard team to score against as they allow just 54.4 points per contest, the third-lowest mark in the LSC. The Texans take high percentage shots and convert at a 44.8 percent clip as a team from the field while holding opposing offenses to a 37.8 team shooting percentage. TSU has shown the ability to force turnovers at a high rate while also taking great care of the ball as they rank fourth in the league in both turnover margin (3.00) and assist/turnover ratio (.87).

Leading the Texans offensive charge is senior forward Mackenzie Hailey who is averaging 16 points and is converting on 51.4 percent of her field goal attempts. Hailey is also the team’s best defender as she leads Tarleton with 154 rebounds, 39 steals and 22 blocks.

Helping create open looks for Hailey and the rest of the TSU offense is the back court pairing of Kylie Collins and Kandyn Faurie. Collins has recorded a team-high 57 assists while Faurie is right behind her with 56 assists. Collins has established herself as the team’s best three-point shooter as she leads the team with 33 field goals from beyond the arch.

Misty Wilson enters her sixth season at the helm of the TSU women’s basketball program following her four-year Hall of Fame playing career as a member of the Texans from 1998-2002.

A DEFENSIVE FORCE

The backbone of the 2019-20 women’s basketball team has been its tenacious defense and it ranks in the top five of most defensive categories amongst Lone Star Conference competitors. The Green and Silver have limited their opposition to 59.4 points per game and own an 8.5 scoring margin with both statistics ranking fifth in the league. Eastern does a fantastic job of closing out on long-range shooters and taking away the three-point shot as evidenced by its 28.2 defensive three-point shooting percentage, tied for the third-lowest mark in the LSC. Inside the arch teams have not fared much better when facing the stout Greyhound defense as they rank fourth in the league with a 37.2 defensive shooting percentage from the field.

The Hounds boast some of the best individual defenders in the league as well. Point guard Zamorye Cox has proven herself to be one of the elite defenders along the perimeter in her sophomore season and has shown an aptitude for picking people’s pockets. Cox paces the league with 61 total steals while averaging 2.8 per game. Post player Alivia Lewis is also a capable defender from the low block and has rejected 27 shots so far in her junior campaign. Lewis averages 1.4 blocks per game which ranks tenth in the conference.

PLAYOFF PUSH

With just six games remaining in the regular season the playoff hunt is heating up as teams battle for position with the LSC Tournament approaching. The tournament will feature the top 12 schools in the conference with the No. 1 through No. 4 seeds receiving first round byes. Round one will be held on-campus while the final eight teams will advance to the Comerica Center in Frisco, Texas. Currently, the Hounds own a 10-6 league record and own the No. 5 spot in the conference standings. Eastern will have ample opportunities to climb the rankings and secure a first-round bye starting this weekend against Tarleton State who ranks fourth in the league. Next week the Hounds will get a shot at the conference leader #4 Texas A&M-Commerce who own a 22-0 record.

REGIONAL POWERHOUSE

The Hounds have been ranked in all 12 additions of the D2SIDA South Central Regional Poll. The Hounds are tied for the No. 6 spot in the Week 11 Regional Rankings with the opportunity to climb even further with some quality wins down the stretch. The Hounds have already defeated three teams in the current rankings with their wins over Fort Lewis, Lubbock Christian and Angelo State.

WEEKDAY WARRIORS

Most people can’t wait for the weekend but the Hounds have suffered all of their losses on Saturday, posting a 5-6 record in weekend games. When playing during the week, the Green and Silver are 11-0 including a flawless 8-0 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.

THE RECIPE

When the Hounds get off to fast starts they are virtually unbeatable and are 13-0 when leading at halftime. Only three of the Greyhounds wins have come when trailing after the first 20 minutes of regulation. Another common statistic in Eastern victories this season has been its ability to efficiently shoot the basketball. When the High Plains squad shoot 40 percent or better from the field they have posted an impressive 9-1 record.