Midwestern State (9-6, 6-3) vs. Texas Woman's (6-8, 3-5)
Lone Star Conference game
Thursday, Jan. 18, 2018 | 6 p.m.
D.L. Ligon Coleiseum | Wichita Falls, Texas
Live Stats: MSUMustangs.com |
Radio: ESPN 95.5 FM |
Audio: Mustangs Digital Network |
Video: Mustangs Digital Network
MUSTANGS NOTES
- Midwestern State returns to the friendly confines of D.L. Ligon Coliseum on Thursday for a matchup with Texas Woman's.
- 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 (9-6) are off to their best start since going 13-1 at the beginning of the 2014-15 season. MSU saw its two-game winning streak snapped on Tuesday, falling 73-56 at Cameron in the Red River Rivalry. The 17 point loss was the second-worst by the Mustangs and the 73 points by the Aggies were the most MSU has allowed in a game this season.
- The Mustangs are 6-2 at the confines of D.L. Ligon Coliseum this season and the six home wins are the most by MSU since the Maroon and Gold went 13-2 at home during the 2014-15 campaign.
- MSU is currently in third place in the Lone Star Conference standings with a 6-3 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 and ranked fifth-nationally with 424 free throw attempts, but the Mustangs are shooting just 60.8 percent from the charity stripe.
- The Mustangs are fifth in the Lone Star Conference, grabbing 15.0 offensive rebounds per game resulting in 10.6 second chance points per game. Against Cameron on Tuesday, MSU grabbed nine offensive boards, but failed to convert any into points. It was the first time this season the Mustangs failed to score a second chance bucket.
- Additionally, MSU is fourth in total rebounds, grabbing 42.4 caroms per game and have won the rebound battle in nine of their 15 games this season. The Maroon and Gold is 7-2 in games it collects more rebounds than the opposition.
- The Mustangs record assists on 60.3 percent of its made field goals (191-of-317) with 13.0 assists per game.
- Defensively, Midwestern State is fourth in the league, holding opponents to 35.7 percent from the field and limiting the opposition to 26.5 percent from deep, good for third in the league. In conference play alone, the Mustangs rank third defensively, allowing just 35.0 percent shooting and 61.3 points per game.
- In league play, MSU is averaging 4.89 blocked shots per game, the third-highest in the LSC and has done an outstanding job of forcing turnovers, ranking fourth in the league with 18.3 turnovers per game.
- Senior guard Whitney Taylor leads MSU and ranks 17th in the LSC in scoring at 10.6 points per game. The Melissa, Texas native shoots 33.6 percent from the field while ranking fourth in the LSC with 1.9 made triples per game.
- Taylor is second on MSU's all-time 3-point list with 138 career 3s, needing 17 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 15 games this season but has only eclipsed double-figures in two of the last six outings. Over that span, Taylor is shooting 33.3 percent from the field and only 30.8 percent 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 9.3 points per game and ranks eighth in the LSC with a team-leading 7.2 boards per game. Additionally, Mercelita grabs 3.0 offensive rebounds per game, the fourth-most in the league.
- Mercelita has scored in double digits in six of the last eight games, averaging 10.9 points per game and 8.0 rebounds per game over that span. The senior went 0-for-7 from the field against the Aggies and failed to score for just the second time this season.
- 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 nine of her last 12 games, including a campaign-high of 15 points against Eastern New Mexico on Jan. 13. She ranks third on the team, scoring 6.9 points per game to go along with 2.4 assists and 3.4 rebounds in 21.9 minutes per game.
- Richardson is 12th in the Lone Star Conference with 2.4 dimes per game. She has nine games this season in which she has distributed multiple assists.
- Senior guard Kristin Rydell ranks fourth on the team, scoring 6.6 points per game while grabbing 3.0 boards in 22.1 minutes.
- The Hutto native is averaging 7.5 points per game in her last nine games on 22-of-64 shooting from the field (34.4 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 over the past three games, scoring just nine points in 67 minutes of action against the Mustangs, Greyhounds and Aggies, going 1-for-13 from the field and 0-for-7 from deep. However, Rydell did a stellar job of running the offense against Cameron, dishing out seven assists, a new season-high for the team.
- 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 nine 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 5.7 points while also pulling down 3.9 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 1.3 blocked shots per game after adding a season-high four rejections against WNMU on Jan. 11.
- 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 a 78.1 percent clip from the charity stripe.
- Junior guard Chelcie Kizart is seventh on the team, scoring 5.5 points with 3.1 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game.
- The St. Paul native has come on strong in the last three games for the Mustangs. The St. Paul product is averaging 10.0 points per game over that stretch, shooting 47.4 percent from the field while also grabbing 11 rebounds.
- Junior forward Chelsea Adams is eighth on the team in scoring with 5.3 points to go along with 4.1 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 10 games and is averaging 4.5 rebounds per game over that stretch.
- Senior forward Avery Queen recorded a season-high six rebound, four block performance against WNMU on Jan. 11. 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 15 games including Taylor (10.6), Mercelita (9.3), Richardson (6.9), Rydell (6.6), Cathcart (5.9), Reynolds (5.7), Kizart (5.5) and Adams (5.3).
- Noel Johnson is in her 10th season at the helm of the MSU women's basketball program with an overall record of 135-130 (.509). 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 TEXAS WOMAN'S
- Midwestern State and Texas Woman's meet for the 60th-time overall and 35th-time as conference foes on the hardwood Thursday evening at D.L. Ligon Coliseum.
- MSU leads the overall series 35-24 which dates back to the 1975 season.
- Midwestern State has lost four of its last five head-to-head meetings with the Pioneers. Prior to that, the Mustangs took six of seven from TWU from 2010-14.
- The last win in the series by the Mustangs came on Jan. 19, 2017 in a 66-65 thriller in Denton last season.
- Midwestern State is 16-12 all-time against TWU in games played in Wichita Falls.
- The Pioneers enter the matchup with a 6-8 overall record and a 3-5 mark in league play. TWU is 2-3 on the road this season.
- Senior forward Alexis Nezianya leads the Pioneers with 12.3 points and 8.8 rebounds per game. She has the eighth-most points and third most rebounds per game in the LSC this season.
- Junior guard KJ Stastny is the top three-point threat for TWU, shooting 33.8 percent on 25 makes while averaging 9.5 points and 4.4 assists per game this season.
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