Midwestern State at Eastern New Mexico

Saturday, Feb. 5 – 3 p.m.
Greyhound Arena (Portales, N.M.)
All-Time Series: MSU leads 29-23

PORTALES, N.M. -- Midwestern State continues their run in the Lone Star Conference with this week's slate against Eastern New Mexico. The game is set for Saturday, Feb. 3 at the Greyhound Arena. Tip-off will begin at 3 p.m.

SCOUTING THE GREYHOUNDS

Eastern New Mexico is 8-8 on the season and 4-6 in LSC play. The Greyhounds lost 57-63 to Texas Woman's on Thursday and sit just behind MSU in the conference standings. ENM is on a two-game losing streak after dropping to Angelo State on Jan. 29 and a cancellation of the Jan. 31 Cameron match.
 
Natalie Stice leads Eastern New Mexico with 13.3 points per game. The guard shoots 31 percent from the field and 25 percent from behind the arc. She knocked down a season-high 21 points in the team's wins against UAFS and St. Edward's. Stice is 35-of-45 from the free-throw line. The redshirt sophomore averages 5.9 rebounds in 16 games. She leads the Greyhounds with 28 assists.
 
Iyanna McCurdy is the only other player to start all 16 games for ENM.  The guard records 12.3 points per game for the Greyhounds. She leads the team with 42 percent shooting from the floor and is 65 percent from the line. McCurdy also tops Eastern New Mexico with 7.6 rebounds per game. She ranks third in the Lone Star Conference with 4.1 offensive rebounds. The graduate senior has 27 steals and 19 assists.
 
Kamirah Decker leads ENM with 12 blocks in ten starts. The junior averages 7.8 points and 4.7 rebounds. Against Texas Woman's, she collected a season-high 12 points. Decker shoots 41 percent from the field and 48 percent from the line. The forward has 15 steals and eight assists.
 
Bella Stone made 12 starts in 15 appearances this season. The guard averages three points and three rebounds for Eastern New Mexico. She collected a season-best six points against Texas A&M International. Stone shoots 23 percent from the field and 23 percent from behind the arc. The freshman is 4-of-7 from the free-throw line. She has 27 assists and 25 steals.

BLOCKED

After Midwestern State collected three team blocks against Lubbock Christian, the team still stands at the top of the ranks with 96 blocks. Through 20 games, MSU leads the Lone Star Conference and ranks 12th in Division II in total blocks. Their 5.1 blocks per game also lead the LSC and sit 12th in the NCAA. Their opponents average just 2.7 blocks. Hannah Reynolds led the way against the Lady Chaps with two blocks. The team has at least one block in every game of the season thus far. The best performance was on Dec. 16 versus Texas A&M-Commerce when they picked up ten blocks.

TOP SIX

MSU ranks in the top six of the Lone Star Conference in three other categories. The team is sixth in the conference with 18.67 forced turnovers. Morgan Lenahan leads the Mustangs with 32 steals on the season. The team won seven of eight games when their opponents have 20 or more turnovers. Midwestern State also holds sixth place with a 31.8 three-point conversion percentage. Lenahan shoots 45 percent from behind the arc while Sheridan Bostic follows at 37 percent. MSU ranks fifth in the LSC with 26.7 defensive rebounds per game. Lenahan averages 5.3 per game while Reynolds records 5.0.

MUSTANG STARTING FIVE

Morgan Lenahan is the leading scorer for the Mustangs with a conference seventh-highest 14.8 points. The senior led with 16 points against Lubbock Christian on Thursday. Her best performance was 31 points at UT Permian Basin on Jan. 15. The guard shoots 40 percent from the field and 81 percent from the free-throw line. Lenahan averages six rebounds per game and totals six blocks. The Haddonfield, N.J., native holds 61 assists in 19 starts.

Frances King averages 12.5 points per game with a career-high 25 points posted against Texas Wesleyan (11/28). Against the Lady Chaps, she had her twelfth double-digit game of the season with 15 points. The sophomore recently set the single-game record for assists against St. Mary's on Jan. 8. With her 13 assists, King overtook Mindy Myers' 1994 record of 13. The guard's 86 total assists lead the league while sitting 27th in Division II. Her average of 4.7 assists also tops the Lone Star Conference and ranks 34th in the NCAA. King is 38 percent from the floor and 24 percent from behind the arc after knocking down three three-pointers on Thursday. Her 83 percent free throw shooting sits fourth in the LSC and her 76 free throws made leads the conference. The Rockdale, Texas, product averages 3.6 rebounds and holds 31 steals.

Hannah Reynolds leads Midwestern State in rebounding with 6.5 per game. The senior's 44 total blocks rank third in the LSC and 14th in Division II. She averages 2.47 blocks per game, which sits second in the league and 14th in the NCAA. Reynolds is the school's all-time leading blocker with 199 blocks. The forward recently joined MSU's 1,000-point club after inking ten points against LCU. She averages 9.7 points for the Mustangs.

Shawnisay Millar has started all 19 games for the Mustangs. The junior averages 7.9 points and 3.9 rebounds per game. Against Lubbock Christian, she notched nine points on 3-of-3 shooting from the field. Millar collected a season-high 15 points against Cameron on Nov. 16. The forward shoots 49 percent from the field and 26 percent from behind the arc. At the line, she is 38-of-57. Millar adds eight blocks and five steals on the year.

Markayla Johnson rounds out the starting five for MSU. The sophomore averages 4.7 points and 2.8 rebounds. She shoots 37 percent from the floor and 28 percent from behind the arc. The guard knocked down 8-of-16 attempts from the free throw line. The team's defensive guru completed a career-high ten points against Texas A&M-Commerce on Jan. 23. Johnson secured three points and a block against LCU. The Huntsville, Texas, native has 12 blocks and 23 steals on the season.

THE MAN IN CHARGE

Christopher Reay is in his second season at the helm of his alma mater. In the shortened COVID 2020-21 season, Reay guided the Mustangs to an 11-7 record. In his first year at the reins, the Mustangs went 11-5 in Lone Star Conference play. The team finished fifth in the standings and reached the quarterfinals in the postseason tournament. In addition, Reay led MSU 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 25-22 (.532). Reay served as the top assistant for 10 campaigns, guiding MSU to three consecutive NCAA Division II South Central Regionals from 2012-15. In that time, MSU claimed a Lone Star Conference regular and postseason tournament title in 2012-13. Reay competed two seasons at Midwestern State in 2006-07 and 2007-08. After transferring from SMU, he helped MSU to an LSC postseason tournament championship and a regional semifinal appearance in 2007.

ABOUT THE SERIES

Since 1986, Midwestern State and Eastern New Mexico have a 29-23 overall record. MSU owns the advantage and is 23-22 in conference play. The Mustangs struggle when playing in Portales, N.M., as they are 10-15 on the road. The last time Midwestern State took a win at ENM was in 2015 when current coaches Dianna Jones and Shatoia Gober collected ten points each. The Greyhounds hosted the Mustangs in 2020 and drew a 77-60 win. Mica Schneider totaled 25 points while Hannah Reynolds tallied 11.

UP NEXT

Midwestern State returns to D.L. Ligon Coliseum for a repeat game against Texas Woman's. The Mustangs and the Pioneers face-off on Tuesday, Feb. 8. The Lone Star Conference match tips-off at 5:30 p.m. Tickets and game information are available online.