MIDWESTERN STATE (10-5, 10-5 LSC)
vs UT PERMIAN BASIN (5-11, 4-11 LSC)
Game 1: Thursday, Feb. 25 – 5:30 p.m.
D.L. Ligon Coliseum (Wichita Falls, Texas)
Game 2: Saturday, Feb. 27 – 2 p.m.
Falcon Dome (Odessa, Texas)
All-Time Series: MSU leads 9-3
 
WICHITA FALLS, Texas – Midwestern State competes in the last regular season games this week with a home-away series battle with UT Permian Basin. Thursday's game is at D.L. Ligon Coliseum at 5:30 p.m. while Saturday's game goes to Falcon Dome at 2 p.m.
 
FIVE STORY LINES
 
1 |  In this week's Lone Star Conference match-ups, the Mustangs look to keep second place in the point rankings. As of Feb. 21, the team sits behind Lubbock Christian with a 4.0 rating. On the other hand, UTPB fights to climb higher than 12th with their 2.367 rate. The top eight teams advance to the LSC Postseason Tournament set for campus sites from March 2-7. The rating system is an average of points earned per game in a graduated system considering your opponent's record ranging from three points for a home win against a sub-.250 team to seven points for a win against a team with better than a .750 record on the road. A team receives 0-2.5 points in a loss. After last week's loss to Commerce, the best the Mustangs can finish is third with 3.941 rate and that is if they win both games against UT Permian Basin. With the two wins, the Mustangs could grab four points on Thursday and 4.5 points on Saturday.
 
2 |  Midwestern State currently sits at third in the Lone Star Conference West Division with a 2-2 record. West Texas A&M is right above on the table, going 5-1 in West Division play. However, the Lady Buffs play number one Lubbock Christian in their final regular season games. If they lose both games and the Mustangs pull the sweep against UT Permian Basin, the Mustangs will move into second with a .667 percentage over WT's .625.
 
At 10-5, MSU is going for an unbeaten home record for this season. The team put away six straight home wins this year and adds three from last season for a 9-0 win streak. The streak started against UT Tyler on Feb. 15, 2020, with a 64-60 victory. The last game added to the mark was on Feb. 20, 2021, in the team's 81-62 win over Angelo State. On the road, the squad is 4-5 for the season, dropping points at Cameron (52-75), West Texas A&M (60-78), Lubbock Christian (54-84), Oklahoma Christian (49-65), and Texas A&M-Commerce (110-81).
 
3 |  Rebounds are a key successor for the Mustangs with the team sitting third in the LSC thanks to their +3.8 rebound margin. The margin ranks 54th in NCAA Division II of the 217 teams ranked. When out-rebounding the opponents, the team is 8-1 for the season and totaled ten games with a positive margin. However, Midwestern State is 1-4 when they have a negative margin. Per game, MSU has 39.80 rebounds (597 total), which is second best in the conference and 68th in the nation. UT Permian Basin ranks 8th in the LSC with a +1.1 rebound margin, but sits third with 582 season total rebounds. Alexus Quaadman leads them with 6.4 boards per game and her 2.7 offensive boards per game is fifth best in the Lone Star.

Senior guard Haevyn Risley leads the team in total rebounds and rebounds per game with 95 and 6.3. With these numbers, she ranks at eighth in the LSC for total rebounds and 11th for rebounds per game. Senior Hannah Reynolds led the team in rebounds last time out against Commerce. The forward registered nine rebounds (2 offensive, seven defensive) in the game. She also recently received the accolade of most career-blocked shots in Mustang history. In her 91 games, Reynolds totals 148 blocks, good for 1.6 blocks per game.
4 |  The offensive duo of Frances King and Morgan Lenahan are a force. Lenahan averages 14.6 points per game and tallied double figures in 12 of 15 games this season. Collectively they have scored 387 of the team's 1038 points this season. King has gone for 11.2 points per game with eight double figure games. The guard continues to lead the Mustangs in assists for the season (62) which earns her third best in the conference. She also ranks 62nd in NCAA Division II. King goes for 4.1 assists per game, which is fourth in the LSC and 57th nationally. Last season, she averaged 3.1 assists per game for the whole season.
 
5 |  The series against Permian Basin will be one of free throws galore. MSU ranks third in the Lone Star in both free throw attempts (306) and made throws (212). Lenahan tops the Mustangs with an 80 percent free throw percentage (42/52) and is seventh in the LSC. UTPB is fifth in team attempts and makes with 277 and 195. Midwestern State is 5-2 when making more FTs than their opponents, while the record is 5-3 when at a higher percentage.

HEAD COACH CHRISTOPHER REAY is almost to the end of his first full season at the helm of his alma mater. He guided the Mustangs to a 4-6 mark over the final 10 games in 2019-20 serving in an interim role following Noel Johnson's leave of absence to continue her fight against ovarian cancer.  His career coaching record stands at 14-11 (.560) heading into this week's games. Reay served as the top assistant for the previous 10 campaigns playing a hand in guiding MSU to three consecutive NCAA Division II South Central Regionals from 2012-15 as MSU claimed a Lone Star Conference regular and postseason tournament titles in 2012-13. Reay competed two seasons at Midwestern State in 2006-07 and 2007-08 after transferring from SMU helping MSU to an LSC postseason tournament championship and a regional semifinal appearance in 2007.

 
THE SERIES WITH THE FALCONS
  
Midwestern State and UT Permian Basin meet for only the 13thhtime, with the first match starting the series in 2006. The Mustangs grabbed five straight from '06 to 2013. The last competition between the two teams was Dec. 5, 2019 at the Falcon's nest. MSU dropped points in the 62-74 downer. Midwestern State is 6-1 at home against UTPB, but sits at 3-2 when on the road. The team leads the conference series 4-3, beginning in 2017. As the last regular season games, the two teams battle to finish the 2020-21 season strong.
  

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