Midwestern State (7-2) vs. Southern Nazarene (3-5)
Saturday, Dec. 30, 2017 | 2 p.m.
D.L. Ligon Coliseum | Wichita Falls, Texas
Live Stats: MSUMustangs.com |
Radio: None |
Video: Mustangs Digital Network
MUSTANGS NOTES
- Midwestern State's Noel Johnson became the program's all-time leader claiming her 133rd career coaching victory with a 72-66 win at Texas A&M-Kingsville on Dec. 19th.
- The Mustangs (7-2) are off to their best start since going 13-1 at the beginning of the 2014-15 season.
- Midwestern State is receiving votes in the D2SIDA Women's Basketball Poll ranking fourth in the South Central Region behind Lubbock Christian, West Texas A&M and Fort Lewis (Colo.).
- The Mustangs current four-game winning streak is the longest since the 2014-15 squad claimed four straight victories from Feb. 21st through March 6th. The 14-15 squad also reeled off streaks of 12 wins (11/8/14-1/11/15) and five wins (1/21/15-2/7/15).
- Midwestern State has won four consecutive games at D.L. Ligon Coliseum after suffering its lone home loss in the season opener against Colorado Mesa (71-64) on Nov. 10th.
- MSU leads the Lone Star Conference grabbing 16 offensive rebounds per game resulting in 12.4 second chance points per game.
- The Mustangs are third in the league in rebound margin at +3.3 and have won the rebound battle in six of their nine games this season.
- Midwestern posts assists on 63.7 percent of its made field goals (128-of-201) ranking third in the LSC with 14.2 assists per game.
- The Mustangs are third in the LSC in 3-point field goal defense allowing the opposition to 27.9 percent from the arc.
- Senior guard Whitney Taylor leads MSU and ranks ninth in the LSC in scoring at 12.0 points per game. The Melissa, Texas native shoots 33.7 percent from the field ranking fourth in the LSC with 2.33 made triples per game.
- Taylor is third on MSU's all-time 3-point makes list with 130 career 3s. She needs three 3-pointers to move past Andrea Buben (132 3s/2006-10) into second place. Former teammate Lisa Hampton (154 3s/2011-15) remains at the top of the chart.
- Taylor has scored in double figures in each of her last four games averaging 14.5 points during the stretch shooting 40 percent (10-of-25) from beyond the arc.
- Taylor earned LSC Offensive Player of the Week honors after pouring in a season-high 18 points with four triples while going 6-of-8 from the line in a 73-64 win at Angelo State on Dec. 7th.
- Senior forward Micheline Mercelita is second on the team scoring 8.6 points a game with leading the club with 6.6 boards a game ranking 11th in the LSC. She boasts a pair of double-doubles this season going for 15 points and 10 rebounds against Oklahoma Christian (11/11) and 13 points and 10 rebounds at Texas A&M-Kingsville (12/19).
- Senior guard Kristin Rydell has come alive over the last three games pouring in 11.7 points on 14-of-29 shooting from the field (48.3 percent) with five 3-pointers. The run includes a season-high 16-point effort at Texas A&M-Kingsville (12/19) which followed a 9-point, 8-board performance against Texas A&M-Commerce (12/2) and a 10-point showing at Angelo State (12/7).
- Rydell is third on the team scoring 7.3 points per game while pulling down 3.2 boards in 21.4 minutes per game.
- Senior guard Jasmine Richardson has scored at least five points in each of her last six games including a campaign-high of 11 points at Angelo State (12/7). She is fourth on the team scoring 6.4 points per game to go along with 2.9 assists and 2.8 rebounds in 21.5 minutes per game.
- Sophomore Liz Cathcart scored eight points and pulled down seven rebounds in 24 minutes last time out at Angelo State. She is averaging 5.9 points and 4.8 rebounds in 17 minutes a game this season. She has missed the last three games due to injury.
- Freshman forward Hannah Reynolds claimed Ashbrook Classic all-tournament team honors after averaging 11 points and 3.5 rebounds in her first two collegiate games. She is sixth on the team in scoring at 5.6 points while also pulling down 4.4 rebounds per game.
- Reynolds is the first MSU freshman since Shatoia Gober (to score in double figures in her first two collegiate games. Gober scored 10-or-more points in the first three games of the 2011-12 season.
- Junior forward Chelsea Adams is seventh on the team in scoring with 5.6 points to go along with 3.9 rebounds per game. She scored a season-high 16 points on 7-of-8 shooting with a 3-poitners in MSU's win over Tarleton State on Dec. 2nd.
- Eight players carry averages of 5.0 points or better through the season's first nine games including Taylor (12.0), Mercelita (8.6), Rydell (7.3), Richardson (6.4), Cathcart (5.9), freshman Hannah Reynolds (5.6), junior Chelsea Adams (5.6) and sophomore Mica Schneider (5.0).
- Richardson remains MSU's top +/- performer with a +11.15 per 40 minutes average followed by Adams (+7.22), Taylor (+6.88), Queen (+6.74), Schneider (+6.43) and Rydell (+5.15).
- Noel Johnson is in her 10th season at the helm of the MSU women's basketball program with an overall record of 133-126 (.514). Under Johnson's guidance, the Mustangs claimed the 2013 Lone Star Conference Championship advancing to the NCAA postseason three consecutive seasons from 2013-15.
- MSU was picked to finish ninth in the Lone Star Conference Preseason Poll of coaches, sports information directors and selected media.
VERSUS SOUTHERN NAZARENE
- Midwestern State and Southern Nazarene meet for the 19th time on the hardwood Saturday afternoon at D.L. Ligon Coliseum.
- Both teams have claimed nine wins in the series which dates back to the 1976-77 season.
- The Mustangs and Crimson Storm meet for the fifth consecutive season with the Mustangs claiming victories in 2013-14 (89-80 in Wichita Falls) and 2014-15 (75-60 in Bethany), while SNU won the last two – 68-56 in 2015-16 and 89-82 in 2016-17.
- Midwestern State is 5-3 all-time against Southern Nazarene in games played at Ligon Coliseum.
- Southern Nazarene is 3-0 on its home floor at Sawyer Center this season and 0-5 on the road. Each of the Crimson Storm's last five games have been on the road.
- Junior forward Adrienne Berry leads SNU in scoring at 13.6 points per game. She boasts a pair of 20-point outbursts going for 26 at Henderson State (11/30) and 24 against Southern Arkansas (11/16).
- Freshman point guard Alexus Jones gives the Crimson Storm a solid all-around performer averaging 10.3 points, 5.8 rebounds and 5.0 assists per game.
