Midwestern State (9-5, 6-2) at Cameron (6-10, 4-4)
Lone Star Conference game
Tuesday, Jan. 16, 2018 | 5:30 p.m.
Aggie Gym | Lawton, Okla.
Live Stats: CameronAggies.com |
Radio: ESPN 95.5 FM |
Audio: Mustangs Digital Network
MUSTANGS NOTES
- Midwestern State travels across the Red River to take on Cameron Tuesday evening at Aggie Gym in Lawton.
- 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 (9-5) are off to their best start since going 13-1 at the beginning of the 2014-15 season.
- MSU won its second-straight on Saturday after handling Western New Mexico, 64-47, and Eastern New Mexico, 73-57, at D.L. Ligon Coliseum. The 17 point margin of victory against WNMU was the largest by the Mustangs this season, followed by the 16 point win on Saturday.
- The Mustangs improved to 6-2 at the friendly confines of D.L. Ligon Coliseum this season and the five home wins are the most by MSU since the Maroon and Gold went 13-2 at home during the 2014-15 campaign.
- MSU is 3-2 on the road this season after suffering a pair of setbacks to then second-ranked West Texas A&M, 64-46, and UT Permian Basin, 59-57, on the last road swing
- MSU is currently in third place in the Lone Star Conference standings with a 6-2 record in league play. West Texas A&M and Texas A&M-Commerce are tied atop the standings with a 7-1 record.
- Midwestern State has done an outstanding job of getting to the free throw line, leading the LSC with 407 free throw attempts, but the Mustangs are shooting just 60.0 percent from the charity stripe. The Mustangs shot a season-high 50 free throws in the win over the Greyhounds on Saturday.
- The Mustangs are second in the Lone Star Conference, grabbing 15.4 offensive rebounds per game resulting in 11.4 second chance points per game.
- Additionally, MSU is fourth in total rebounds, grabbing 43.2 caroms per game and have won the rebound battle in nine of their 14 games this season.
- The Mustangs record assists on 61.2 percent of its made field goals (182-of-297) with 13.0 assists per game.
- Defensively, Midwestern State is third in the league, holding opponents to 35.4 percent from the field and limiting the opposition to 26.4 percent from deep, good for third in the league. In conference play alone, the Mustangs rank second defensively, allowing just 34.2 percent shooting and 59.9 points per game.
- In league play, MSU is averaging 5.25 blocked shots per game, the third-highest in the LSC.
- Senior guard Whitney Taylor leads MSU and ranks 16th in the LSC in scoring at 10.9 points per game. The Melissa, Texas native shoots 32.9 percent from the field while ranking fourth in the LSC with 2.0 made triples per game.
- Taylor is second on MSU's all-time 3-point list with 137 career 3s, needing 18 to break the program record. She passed Andrea Buben (132 3s/2006-10) on Jan. 6 with a dagger at the 6:12 mark in the fourth quarter against UTPB. Former teammate Lisa Hampton (154 3s/2011-15) remains at the top of the chart.
- Taylor has scored at least 10 points in nine of the Mustangs 14 games this season and shot 47.1 percent from the field this past weekend, including going 3-for-6 from beyond the arc. Against the Greyhounds, Taylor drained her first three 3-point attempts.
- 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 10.0 points per game and ranks ninth in the LSC with a team-leading 7.1 boards per game. Additionally, Mercelita grabs 2.93 offensive rebounds per game, the fifth-most in the league.
- Mercelita has scored in double digits in six of the last seven games, averaging 12.4 points per game and 7.9 rebounds per game over that span.
- Mercelita earned her fourth double-double of the season against Western New Mexico on Thursday. The Edinburg product scored 14 points and grabbed 10 rebounds against the Mustangs. Her three other double-double performances came against Southern Nazarene (Dec. 30; 20 points/13 rebounds), Oklahoma Christian (Nov. 11; 15 points/10 rebounds) and Texas A&M-Kingsville (Dec. 19; 13 points/10 rebounds). She narrowly missed against ENMU, scoring 13 points and grabbing nine rebounds.
- Senior guard Jasmine Richardson has scored at least five points in eight of her last 11 games, including a campaign-high of 15 points against Eastern New Mexico on Saturday. She ranks third on the team, scoring 7.1 points per game to go along with 2.5 assists and 3.6 rebounds in 22.9 minutes per game.
- Against the Greyhounds, Richardson had a breakout performance on both ends of the court, grabbing nine rebounds to go along with 15 points.
- Richardson is ninth in the Lone Star Conference with 2.5 dimes per game.
- Senior guard Kristin Rydell ranks fourth on the team, scoring 6.8 points per game while grabbing 3.1 boards in 21.4 minutes.
- The Hutto native is averaging 8.0 points per game in her last eight games on 21-of-58 shooting from the field (36.2 percent) with 11 3-pointers, including a season-high three treys against UTPB (Jan. 6). 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 was held in check this past weekend, scoring just five points in 34 minutes of action against the Mustangs and Greyhounds, going 0-for-7 from the field and 0-for-3 from deep.
- Sophomore Liz Cathcart scored eight points and pulled down seven rebounds in 24 minutes her 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 eight 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 3.8 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.
- The Prosper product ranks fourth in the LSC with 1.29 blocked shots per game after adding a season-high four rejections against WNMU on Thursday.
- The freshman added a season-high 13 points against the Greyhounds on Saturday, connecting on 7-of-8 free throw attempts and all three shots from the field. On the season, she's shooting at an 80.0 percent clip from the charity stripe.
- Junior forward Chelsea Adams is seventh on the team in scoring with 5.4 points to go along with 4.4 rebounds per game. She's coming off a pair of six rebound performances this past weekend, both setting season-highs for the forward.
- The Dallas native has pulled down at least five boards in seven of the last nine games and is averaging 5.0 rebounds per game over that stretch.
- Junior guard Chelcie Kizart is coming off a breakout performance against WNMU where she recorded season highs in points (11), minutes (23), field goals (4), field goal attempts (10), rebounds (6) and steals (4).
- The St. Paul product followed that up with an eight point performance against ENMU, knocking down both her shots and going 4-of-6 from the free throw line.
- Senior forward Avery Queen is coming off a season-high six rebound, four block performance against WNMU. The six rebounds matched a previous season-high set against Texas A&M-Commerce on Dec. 2.
- With 11 blocks on the season, Queen is ninth in the LSC with 0.92 rejections per game.
- Eight players carry averages of 5.0 points or better through the season's first 14 games including Taylor (10.9), Mercelita (10.0), Richardson (7.1), Rydell (6.8), Cathcart (5.9), Reynolds (5.6), Adams (5.4) and Kizart (5.1).
- Noel Johnson is in her 10th season at the helm of the MSU women's basketball program with an overall record of 135-129 (.511). 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 CAMERON
- Midwestern State and Cameron meet for the 72ndt-time overall and 18th-time as conference foes on the hardwood Tuesday evening at Aggie Gym.
- MSU leads the overall series 45-26 which dates back to the 1975 season.
- Cameron has claimed the last four head-to-head meetings. Prior to that run by the Aggies, the Mustangs claimed eight-straight from 2012-15.
- The last win in the series by the Mustangs came on March 3, 2015 in an 83-71 contest in Wichita Falls.
- Midwestern State is 18-17 all-time against Cameron in games played in Lawton.
- The Aggies enter the matchup with a 6-10 overall record and a 4-4 mark in league play. Cameron is 3-4 at home on the season.
- Sophomore guard Jamie Bonnarens leads the Aggies and Lone Star Conference with 17.0 points per game and is averaging 7.6 rebounds for Cameron.
- Sophomore guard Ava Battese ranks second on the team in scoring, averaging 11.1 points per game. Battese is the top three-point threat for the Aggies, knocking down 44 triples on the season.
- Junior forward Lejha Smith is the top rebounder in the Lone Star Conference, averaging 10.6 boards per game to go along with 7.8 points.
-- MSUMustangs.com --
