CANYON, Texas -Midwestern State opens the last road trip of the regular season on Friday against No. 25 West Texas A&M. Tipoff from First United Bank Center is set for 5:30 p.m.

LAST TIME OUT
Midwestern State rode the hot hand of Frances King to a 71-61 win over Oklahoma Christian on Saturday afternoon inside D.L. Ligon Coliseum. The redshirt freshman stole the show on senior day, hitting a career-high five three-pointers, including a half court heave to end the first half, on the way to a personal best 23 points. King's half court heave gave the Mustangs a 33-22 lead heading into the locker room. Midwestern State built up a 15-point lead early in the third quarter before Oklahoma Christian came roaring back, outscoring the Mustangs 25-7 to take a three-point lead into the final frame. Down 50-46 seconds into the final quarter, King hit one of her five triples to close the gap to a single point, then drilled another three to give the Mustangs the lead. Following a Megan Shelton three-pointer that briefly pushed OC back in front at 53-52, King hit yet another shot from deep, sparking an 18-6 run that put the game out of reach. Senior Mica Schneider flirted with a triple-double, finishing with 15 points, 11 rebounds, and seven assists. It was the second double-double of the season for the reigning Lone Star Conference Offensive Player of the Week. 

PLAYOFF RACE HEATING UP
Midwestern State is tied for 10th place with Arkansas-Fort Smith in the Lone Star Conference standings. The Mustangs will clinch a playoff spot on Friday night with a win or a loss by either UT Permian Basin or Texas Woman's. UT Tyler is ineligible for the playoffs as they transition from Division III to Division II. 
 

Lone Star Conference Women's Standings
Team (Overall Record)	LSC Record
Texas A&M-Commerce (25-1)	19-1
Lubbock Christian (23-3)	17-3
West Texas A&M (24-5)	17-3
Tarleton State (19-7)	13-7
Angelo State (15-9)	12-8
Eastern New Mexico (18-8)	12-8
Cameron (13-13)	12-8
St. Edward's (16-10)	12-9
St. Mary's (13-12)	12-9
Midwestern State (11-13)	9-11
Arkansas-Fort Smith (12-14)	9-11
Oklahoma Christian (7-17)	7-13
Texas A&M International (10-16)	7-13
Texas Woman's (9-15)	7-13
UT Permian Basin (10-16)	7-13
Western New Mexico (8-16)	5-15
Texas A&M-Kingsville (4-18)	3-17
Not eligible for postseason play
UT Tyler (3-21)	1-19

SERIES HISTORY
West Texas A&M has dominated the series, posting a 54-18 record. Last season, the Mustangs snapped an 11-game slide with a 66-61 win over the 14th ranked Lady Buffs. MSU Texas has lost six straight games in Canyon, with the last win coming in 2013. 

KING REIGNS SUPREME
Frances King scored a career-high 23 points and drilled a personal best five triples in last Saturday's win over Oklahoma Christian. The redshirt freshman hit a half court shot to end the second quarter and at one point in the fourth quarter, made three straight three-pointers.

LET'S GO STREAKING
Midwestern State is riding a season-high three-game winning streak. Ironically, the Mustangs' last three-game winning streak occurred last season at the same point on the schedule, with five games remaining. Last year's squad failed to push the streak to four, falling to No. 22 Angelo State, 81-62.

ME-KA THE MAGNIFICENT
Mica Schneider flirted with the first triple-double in program history, before settling for her second double-double of the season in the 10-point win over Oklahoma Christian. The Boerne, Texas native finished with 15 points, 11 rebounds, and seven assists. Schneider has reached double figures in each of the last five games and six of the last seven. The senior has not committed a turnover in each of the last two games.

LSC TOP 10
Midwestern State is well represented on the Lone Star Conference leaderboards. Elizabeth Cathcart (13.1 PPG) sits 10th in the LSC in scoring and fifth in field goal percentage (.442) while Mica Schneider sits sixth in assists per game at 3.9 and second in assist/turnover ratio at 2.1 (93/44). Frances King ranks ninth in the conference with 3.3 APG. 

SCOUTING THE LADY BUFFS
No. 25 West Texas A&M entered the top 25 following their third straight win, a 58-55 victory over previously unbeaten and then No. 3 Texas A&M-Commerce. Abby Spurgin scored 15 points and was named Lone Star Conference Offensive Player of the week after averaging 19.5 points per game and 7.5 rebounds per game last week. The Lady Buffs are 24-5 despite playing the entire season without Lexy Hightower, the reigning Lone Star Conference Player of the Year, who suffered an injury before the season. WT has also been without the services of senior Tiana Parker, who broke her foot earlier this month. Parker was leading the LSC with 2.9 blocks per game prior to her injury.  Delaney Nix averages 10.3 PPG and has drilled a team-high 76 triples. The Lady Buffs rank second in the country in blocked shots at 179 and fifth in the country in scoring defense, holding opponents to 50.7 points per game. 

UP NEXT
MSU Texas closes out the regular season on Saturday afternoon in Portales, New Mexico against Eastern New Mexico.