WICHITA FALLS, Texas -- Four of the top-seven leading scorers in the Lone Star Conference will be on the floor Thursday night as Angelo State visits Midwestern State. Tip-off at D.L. Ligon Coliseum is scheduled for 5:30 p.m.

Zarria Carter (17.1 ppg) and Kertisa Amos (15.9 ppg), who are the fourth and fifth leading scorers in the conference, lead Midwestern State. Tayjanna McGhee-Pleasant (15.9 ppg) of Angelo State is tied with Amos, and Sawyer Lloyd (15.5 ppg) of the Rambelles is the seventh-leading scorer in the league.

Midwestern State (4-11, 4-5) is coming off a 65-61 loss at Eastern New Mexico on Saturday afternoon. Carter scored 14 of her game-high 27 points in the second half and led a spirted comeback for MSU, which overcame a 15-point deficit to take a 59-58 lead with 1:25 remaining. Deja Adrian hit seven free throws in the final 51 seconds to secure the victory for the Greyhounds.

Carter is seventh in the LSC with a shooting percentage of 47.7, and Amos is shooting 40.8 percent from the field, which is 11th in the conference.

Nikki Green, who is averaging 8.8 points per game, is 11 of 23 (47.8 %) from 3-point range over her last five outings. The Mustangs are 23 of 64 (36%) from beyond the arc in their last five games as a team.

The Mustangs, who have won four of their last six games, are averaging 65.1 points per game and allowing opponents to score 74.1 points per game.

Carter is the leading rebounder in the LSC and seventh in the nation with 11.2 rebounds per game. The 6-1 junior from Mansfield, Texas, has posted seven double-doubles this season. Only Ashley Ingram of Texas Woman's has more in the LSC with eight. Alisha Little of Colorado State – Pueblo leads NCAA Division II with 13 double-doubles this season.

Makayla Coy, who is averaging 9.6 points per game, is the second-leading rebounder for the Mustangs with 8.3 boards per game. Amos is grabbing 6.7 caroms per contest.

Midwestern State is second in the conference with 39.73 rebounds per game and leads the league with 16.3 offensive rebounds per game, which is 14th among NCAA Division II programs.

Carter, Coy and Amos are among the top-six offensive rebounders in the conference. Carter leads the league with 4.9 offensive rebounds per game. Coy is third in the conference with 3.5, and Amos is sixth with 2.7 offensive boards per game.

Catalina Cortez is 10th in the LSC with 3.3 assists per game and boasts the second-best assist-to-turnover ratio in the league at 2.33.

The Mustangs are averaging 14.1 turnovers per game, which places them second in the conference, and they are fifth in the league with a plus-2.1 turnover margin.

The Rambelles lead the all-time series with Midwestern State, 41-32, and have won 12 of the last 15 meetings.

Angelo State scored a 76-61 victory at D.L. Ligon Coliseum last season. MSU held a 50-40 lead with 21 seconds remaining in the third period, but the Mustangs were outscored in the fourth period, 33-11. McGhee-Pleasant played 40 minutes and finished with 24 points and 17 rebounds for the Rambelles. The 6-3 forward also had five steals in the victory. Lloyd finished with 20 points, eight rebounds and six assists for the Rambelles.

Angelo State (12-5, 6-2) saw a six-game winning streak halted with a 67-54 loss at Lubbock Christian on Saturday. McGhee-Pleasant recorded her sixth double-double of the year, scoring 10 points and grabbing 14 rebounds for the Rambelles. Madeline Stephens led Angelo State with 16 points, nine rebounds, three assists, two blocks, and one steal.

The Rambelles are the fourth-highest scoring team in the conference with 71.1 points per game, and opponents are scoring 65.6 points per game against Angelo State.

Lloyd leads the conference with 5.2 assists per game, and Landry Morrow is fourth in the league with 3.9 assists per game.

Lloyd, a 5-9 senior from Wall, Texas, owns the best assist-to-turnover ratio in the conference at 2.34, and Morrow is fifth at 1.97.

McGhee-Pleasant, a 6-3 senior from Amarillo, Texas, is the leading rebounder for the Rambelles with 8.8 boards per game, and Stephens is pulling down 7.1 rebounds per game. Lloyd grabs 6.5 caroms per game for Angelo State, which leads the league with 41.76 rebounds per game.

Keniah Williams, a 6-4 sophomore from Georgetown, Texas, leads the LSC with 33 total blocks this season and 1.94 blocks per game. Angelo State is the best shot-blocking team in the conference with 4.5 blocks per game.

Lloyd is third in the conference with 45 total steals and 2.65 steals per game. The Rambelles force 18.2 turnovers per game, which is seventh-most in the LSC.

Lloyd had a triple-double earlier this season with 18 points, 10 rebounds and 13 assists in an 83-68 victory over Minot State in Billings, Montana, on Nov. 5.

Last year, Lloyd was named the LSC Academic and Defensive Player of the Year. Lloyd and McGhee-Pleasant were both first-team All-South Central Region.

Alesha Ellis is in her third season as the head coach at Angelo State, where she is 53-25 (.679). Ellis arrived in San Angelo after eight seasons at Wayland Baptist, where her record was 189-52 (.784). In 11 seasons as a head coach, Ellis is 242-77 (.759).

Ellis played for Hall of Fame coach Marsha Sharp at Texas Tech and is eighth all-time on the Texas Tech career scoring list with 1,571 points. She is married to Andy Ellis, assistant coach for the Rambelles and a former Texas Tech men's basketball player.

Brenita Jackson is in her first season leading Midwestern State and has a career record of 56-24 (.700) after two highly successful campaigns at Texas Wesleyan, where she won 80 percent of her games (52-13).

Jackson played collegiate basketball at Southeastern Louisiana helping the Lions to Southland Conference East Division title in 2006-07 earning all-conference and all-academic honors as a senior. She is married to Kevin Jackson, assistant coach for the Mustangs.

Midwestern State hosts UT Permian Basin at D.L. Ligon Coliseum on Saturday. Tip-off is scheduled for 1 p.m.

--MSUMustangs.com--