LUBBOCK, Texas -- Midwestern State snapped a four-game losing streak on Saturday with an exciting 76-74 win at Oklahoma Christian, but the Mustangs are back on the road this week. Thursday night, MSU visits Lubbock Christian for the third outing of a four-game road trip. The Lady Chaps won in overtime at D.L. Ligon Coliseum, 68-61, when the two schools met on Jan. 6.

Lubbock Christian raced out to a 27-12 lead in the first quarter of the first meeting, but Kertisa Amos and Zarria Carter combined for 47 points and led the Mustangs rally over the final three quarters. Amos had 24 points and 10 rebounds, while Carter finished with 23 points and 14 boards for Midwestern State.

Midwestern State head coach Brenita Jackson said her team played well over the final three quarters of regulation but did not guard the Lady Chaps as well as they could have in the first quarter of that first encounter.

"We've got to be ready to guard the multiple action screens and talk. That's huge for us. We've got to talk and be on one accord if we want to stop them," Jackson said.

Midwestern State (5-14, 5-8) is scoring 66.8 points per game this season, and opponents are scoring 77.1 points per game against the Mustangs.

Carter is leading Midwestern State and is fifth in the Lone Star Conference with 16.5 points per game, and she is the second-leading rebounder in the conference with 10.8 rebounds per game. The 6-1 junior from Mansfield, Texas, has posted nine double-doubles this season, including a 12-point, 14-rebound performance at UAFS on Jan. 25. Carter has a double-double in seven of her last 10 outings for the Mustangs. Only Ashley Ingram of Texas Woman's has more in the LSC with 10 this season. Alisha Little of CSU-Pueblo leads NCAA Division II with 14 double-doubles this season.

Amos is the sixth-leading scorer in the LSC with 16.1 points per game, and she sits 16th in the conference with 6.5 rebounds per game. The 5-9 swingman is ninth in the conference with 2.1 steals per game.

Makayla Coy, who is scoring 9.2 points per game for the Mustangs, is the seventh-leading rebounder in the conference with 7.8 boards per game. Coy scored a career-high 33 points against Tampa earlier this season. The 5-11 senior has four double-doubles this season, including 13 points and 10 rebounds in the win over Oklahoma Christian. Coy hit the game-winning shot against the Eagles with 15 seconds remaining.

Catalina Cortez has the best assist-to-turnover ratio in the LSC at 2.48 and leads the Mustangs with three assists per game. Cortez is playing 31.3 minutes a game. The 5-2 sophomore has hit a 3-pointer in each of her last nine games and is coming off a 10-point, nine-rebound performance at Oklahoma Christian.

Nikki Green continued to shine in a reserve role, scoring 12 points on 5-of-10 shooting with a pair of 3-pointers at Oklahoma Christian. She has scored in double digits in four of her last five games coming off of the bench. Green is the third-leading scorer for Midwestern State with 9.9 points per game. Green is 29 of 97 from 3-point range (.299) this season. In her last nine games, Green is 19 of 43 from long distance (.441) and is averaging 12.3 points in that span.

Midwestern State is the second-best rebounding team in the LSC with 39.16 rebounds per game. The Mustangs lead the conference and are 16th among NCAA Division II programs with 15.7 offensive rebounds per game.

Carter is hitting 84.8 percent of her free throws, which ranks third in the league, and she has attempted the fourth-most free throws in the LSC with 99. As a team, MSU is shooting 20.2 free throws per game, which is fifth-most in the conference, and boasts the seventh-best free-throw percentage at 72.1.

The Mustangs have the second-fewest turnovers in the LSC with 13.9 per game and are eighth in the league with a 0.76 assists-to-turnover ratio. MSU forces 15.68 turnovers and the plus-1.79 turnover margin is sixth-best in the conference.

Midwestern State leads the all-time series with Lubbock Christian, 23-12, but the Lady Chaps have won the last eight meetings. MSU is 7-8 all-time when visiting Lubbock Christian, which handed the Mustangs a 74-63 loss in their most recent visit to the Rip Griffin Center.

On New Year's Day in 2023, Grace Foster scored 27 points and grabbed 14 rebounds in a 74-63 victory at home for the Lady Chaps. Foster also had our assists and three blocked shots in 38 minutes.

Foster scored 21 points, grabbed nine rebounds, and dished out six assists in the overtime victory at D.L. Ligon Coliseum earlier this season. Maci Maddox had 13 points, eight rebounds and seven assists in the triumph.

In four previous appearances against the Mustangs, Foster has averaged 17.5 points and eight rebounds per game.

Foster leads Lubbock Christian and is third in the conference this season with 17.4 points per game. She is 12th in the league and leading the Lady Chaps with 6.8 rebounds per game.

Lubbock Christian (14-5, 9-3) is ninth in the LSC with 65.7 points per game and has the second-best scoring defense in the league, allowing just 58.1 points per game, which ranks 34th among NCAA Division II programs.

Three players scored in double figure on Saturday, and Lubbock Christian rallied from a 14-point deficit to tie Texas Woman's in the fourth quarter, 60-60, but the Pioneers closed the game on a 16-4 run to score a 76-64 win at Rip Griffin Center. Foster played just 16 minutes and scored five points for the Lady Chaps. Audrey Robertson led LCU with 13 points and seven rebounds.

The Lady Chaps are deadly from 3-point range, shooting 39.8 percent from beyond the arc, which is tops among LSC schools and second in the nation. Foster is hitting 1.7 shots per game from long distance, which is eighth-most in the LSC.

Lubbock Christian is also the most accurate free-throw shooting team in the LSC and 14th in the nation with a free-throw percentage of 77.6. Foster is second in the league with a free-throw percentage of 88.8. Foster has made 87 of 98 free throws this season.

Audrey Robertson, who is shooting 50 percent from the field, is the second-leading scorer for the Lady Chaps with 13.3 points per game. Robertson is the fourth-most accurate shooter in the league, and Foster is sixth, shooting 49.5 percent from the field.

Maddox is third in the league with 4.6 assists per game and an assist-to-turnover ratio of 2.18. Maddox is playing more than 37.5 minutes per game for the Lady Chaps this season and averages two steals per game.

The Lady Chaps are 12th in the LSC with 7.4 steals per game and are forcing 16.26 turnovers per game, which is eighth-best in the conference. LCU is fourth in the league with 14.9 turnover committed per game. Kennedy Chappell had five steals in the lost to TWU on Saturday.

Steve Gomez has 514 wins and 148 losses in his 21st season as the head coach at Lubbock Christian, winning three NCAA Division II national championships.

Brenita Jackson is in her first season leading Midwestern State and boasts a career record of 57-27 (.679) after two highly successful campaigns at Texas Wesleyan, where she won 80 percent of her games (52-13).

Midwestern State visits West Texas A&M on Saturday. Tip-off at First Union Bank Center is scheduled for 1 p.m.

--MSUMustangs.com--