The No. 25 Mustangs have their first game of 2013 with the middle contest of a five-game road swing as they face the improved Abilene Christian Wildcats in Lone Star Conference play.
Midwestern State (7-3, 2-2) is coming off a 70-62 loss at Eastern New Mexico that handed the Mustangs their first back-to-back losses of the year. Abilene Christian (7-2, 3-1) picked up a non-conference win last Saturday at St. Edward's with a 67-58 triumph.
Tipoff is set for 5:30 p.m. Thursday at Moody Coliseum in Abilene.
WHERE TO FIND THE GAME
100.9 BOB-FM - The broadcast features the play-by-play voice of two-time Lone Star Conference Broadcaster of the Year Bill Powers. The Taco Casa Pregame Show begins at 2:45 pm.
On the Web - BOB-FM's audio broadcast simulcasts on bobradio.fm. LINK
Live Stats - Live stats are available courtesy of the Abilene Christian Media Relations office. LINK
ABOUT THE MUSTANGS
Midwestern State is facing game three of a five-game road swing, having dropped consecutive contests for the first time in over a year.
The Mustangs have their first-ever national ranking as a Division II program when MSU was tabbed No. 25 in the Dec. 18 WBCA's USA Today Sports Division II Coaches Poll, with the next to be issued on Tuesday, Jan. 8.
The Mustangs are paced by the powerful duo of junior Kirsti Degelia and sophomore Andrea Carter.
Degelia leads the Mustangs offensively. The honorable mention All-Lone Star Conference performer a season ago is a junior from Denton, Texas/Krum who's third in the LSC in scoring with 15.1 points a game, and averages 3.1 assists a contest while grabbing 4.8 rebounds a game.
Carter, who has won the LSC Defensive Player of the Week award twice this year and the LSC Offensive Player of the Week award once, has posted five double-doubles in 10 games this season. The sophomore from Angleton is second on the team and 10th in the LSC with a 12.7 scoring average. She leads the squad, is second in the LSC and fifth nationally with 10.9 rebounds and is second in the conference with 2.4 steals a contest.
Sophomore Shatoia Gober of Waco, Texas/Midway contributes 10.6 points a contest to go with her 5.4 rebounds and 1.3 steals an outing. She is also shooting 51.2 percent from the floor (44-of-86).
Sophomore Diana Jones of Hewitt, Texas/Midway is averaging 8.1 points a game, adds 3.6 assists an outing, second in the LSC. She has nailed 11-of-31 3-point attempts (.355) to go with her 2.1 steals a contest.
MSU is averaging 71.3 points with 40.2 rebounds a game. The Mustangs allow opponents 63.4 points a contest.
ABOUT THE WILDCATS
Abilene Christian is riding a second three-game winning streak of the season and has taken six of its last seven games.
The Wildcats of new coach Julie Goodenough are 7-2 overall, with losses at Tarleton State and to Texas-Permian Basin.
ACU is paced by sophomore forward Sadie Dickenson of Graham who is averaging 12.3 points a game to go with 5.0 rebounds. She's fourth in the league in 3-pointers per game with 2.1 and is fourth in 3-point field goal shooting at 43.2 percent (19-of-44).
Junior forward Renata Marquez of Conroe/Willis adds 11.9 points an outing, while grabbing 6.0 boards a game and dishing out 2.4 assists.
Senior center Kelsey Smith of Coppell, who stands 6-2, averages 11.3 points a game and leads the team with 7.8 rebounds and 1.6 blocked shots an outing.
All-American junior guard Mack Langford, also a two-time first-team All-LSC selection, adds 10.7 points a game.
The Cats average 74.7 points a game, while allowing 66.8 points and lead the Lone Star Conference with 8.4 3-pointers per game.
ABOUT THE SERIES
Midwestern State takes on the Abilene Christian Wildcats for the 56th time when they meet Thursday.
Abilene Christian leads the series 35-20 and has a commanding 24-4 advantage in Abilene, with two of the wins coming in Midwestern's last two visits to Moody Coliseum.
Midwestern is 16-9 against the Wildcats at Ligon Coliseum, with ACU holding a 2-1 record in games where the site is unknown.
MSU has won the last three games in the series and four of the last five.
The Mustangs claimed a 90-82 win at Moody Coliseum on Jan. 31, 2012 after beating the Wildcats 64-57 at Ligon Coliseum on Dec. 19, 2011.
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-- MSUMustangs.com --
