SAN ANGELO, Texas - 11th seeded Midwestern State opens the Lone Star Conference Postseason Tournament on Tuesday night against sixth seeded Angelo State. Tipoff is slated for 6:30 p.m.

LAST TIME OUT
Mica Schneider continued her late season surge, pouring in 25 points for visiting Midwestern State on Saturday afternoon at Greyhound Arena. It wasn't enough to hold off the Greyhounds, who claimed the regular season finale with a 77-60 win. Schneider connected on six 3-pointers on 7-of-17 shooting, shouldering the offensive load for Midwestern State. The rest of the team managed to shoot a mere 27.2 percent -- 12-of-55 with one 3-pointer. It was Schneider's sixth performance of at least 20 points this season with four of them coming in her final six games. Senior forward Hannah Reynolds did most of her damage early, finishing with 11 points and five rebounds, while freshman Mandy Withey added seven points and four rebounds. Senior guard Courtney Kerr knocked down a triple and closed with five points off the bench.

PLAYOFF PICTURE
Tuesday, March 3, 2020 (women's first round games on-campus)
No. 12 Oklahoma Christian at No. 5 Eastern New Mexico (Portales, N.M.), 7 pm
No. 11 Midwestern State at No. 6 Angelo State (San Angelo, Texas), 6:30 p.m.
No. 10 UAFS at No. 7 St. Edward's (Austin, Texas), 5:30 p.m.
No. 9 Cameron at No. 8 St. Mary's (San Antonio, Texas), 5:30 p.m.
 
Thursday, March 5, 2020 (at Frisco, Texas)
SESSION ONE
Game 1: Noon, No. 3 Lubbock Christian vs. Women 6-11 winner
Game 2: 2:30 p.m., No. 2 West Texas A&M vs. Women 7-10 winner
SESSION TWO
Game 3: 6:00 p.m., No. 1 Texas A&M-Commerce vs. Women 8-9 winner
Game 4: 8:30 p.m., No. 4 Tarleton State vs. Women 5-12 winner

POSTSEASON BOUND AGAIN
Midwestern State punched their ticket to the postseason on Thursday night for the third straight season and for the eighth time in the last nine years. The Mustangs' last playoff win came during the 2014-2015 season, when the Mustangs won two games at the LSC Tournament (lost in Finals) before losing in the First Round of the South Central Regional.

SERIES HISTORY
Despite Midwestern State's 12-point win earlier this season, Angelo State holds a 37-31 lead in the all-time series. The win by the Mustangs on December 19 broke a three-game losing streak. 

PLAYOFF HISTORY
This is the first playoff meeting between the two sides since the 2013-2014 season, when fourth seeded Midwestern State defeated the fifth seeded Belles, 70-66 in overtime in the LSC quarterfinals. Current MSU Texas graduate assistant coach Shatoia Gober scored 15 points. Overall, the two teams have met three times in the playoffs, with Midwestern State winning twice. In addition to the 2013-2014 season, the Mustangs defeated ASU 94-76 in the 2001 LSC Semifinals while Angelo State came away with an 82-67 win in the 2002 LSC Finals.

ABOUT THE FIRST MEETING
Frances King scored 12 points and handed out a career-high nine assists, as Midwestern State downed Angelo State 76-64 on December 19 in Wichita Falls. The redshirt freshman went 3-of-7 from the floor and 6-of-8 from the free throw line in a season-high 29 minutes of action. King's fast break layup with 2:17 remaining in the opening quarter gave MSU a 21-7 advantage, their largest lead of the frame. The Mustangs outscored Angelo State 18-7 over the final 6:51 to take an 11-point edge into the second quarter. Midwestern State excelled in the transition game, outscoring Angelo State 29-16. Elizabeth's Cathcart's fast break bucket helped MSU Texas to a 44-30 lead with 3:20 remaining in the first half. Cathcart led all players with 21 points. The senior shot 9-of-18 from the floor and grabbed eight rebounds. The Belles cut the deficit to 44-38 early in the third quarter, but the Maroon and Gold quickly pushed the lead back to 10. It would remain in double digits the rest of the way.

20/20 VISION
Mica Schneider scored 25 points last Saturday, the senior's sixth performance of at least 20 points this season, with four of them coming in her final six games. Schneider drilled six three-pointers against the Greyhounds and finished the season with 25 three-pointers over the last six games. The Boerne, Texas native made just 25 three-pointers through the season's first 20 games. 

LSC TOP 10
Midwestern State is well represented on the Lone Star Conference leaderboards. Elizabeth Cathcart sits sixth in the league in field goal percentage (.433) while Mica Schneider is sixth in assists per game at 3.8 and tied second in assist/turnover ratio at 2.1 (98/47). Frances King ranks ninth in the conference with 3.1 APG. Defensively, Hannah Reynolds is ninth in the LSC with 1.4 blocks per game and 10th in the conference with 36 rejections.

SCOUTING THE BELLES
Angelo State closed out the regular season on a high note, downing UT Permian Basin 86-79. The Belles enter the playoffs winners of two straight and five of their last six. De'Anira Moore, who logged a double-double against the Mustangs during the regular season (15 points, 11 rebounds), averages a team best 17.4 points per game and has reached double figures in all but two games this season. Moore's 17.4 PPG ranks third in the Lone Star Conference while her 8.4 rebounds per game is also the third most in the league. Moore also finished the season with the second highest field goal percentage in the conference at 52.0%. Catara Samuel (13.3 PPG), Sawyer Lloyd (11.0 PPG), and Asia Davis (10.9 PPG) also average in double figures for an ASU team that ended the regular season as the Lone Star Conference's second highest scoring club, at 72.7 points per game. As a team, the Belles committed the fewest turnovers in the league (355), a total that places them 15th in Division II.