ODESSA, Texas -- Midwestern State continues to pursue a berth in the LSC Postseason Tournament but faces a tough test on the road at UT Permian Basin on Thursday night. Tipoff at UTPB Gym Complex is set for 5:30 p.m.

With five games remaining, Midwestern State (6-17, 6-11) is tied for ninth with Arkansas-Fort Smith, and both teams are one game behind Cameron and Texas A&M-Kingsville. The Mustangs lost their only meeting with UAFS, 96-84, but defeated Cameron in the first of two encounters, 68-56. TAMUK visits the Mustangs on Feb. 22, and MSU travels to Cameron for the season finale on Feb. 29.

UT Permian Basin earned its first-ever win over Lubbock Christian on Saturday as Andreea Mancha scored 18 points in a 57-52 victory at UTPB Gym Complex. The Falcons extended their winning streak to nine games and have won their last 12 home games, dating back to last season.

Midwestern State is coming off a 67-57 win over Western New Mexico as Kertisa Amos scored 20 points on 7-of-10 shooting from the field. Zarria Carter had her 11th double-double of the season with 17 points and 17 rebounds, and Makayla Coy had her sixth double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds in the victory, which ended a three-game slide for the Mustangs.

UTPB (19-3, 14-2) defeated Midwestern State, 90-62, at D.L. Ligon Coliseum on Jan. 20. The Falcons were 18-of-38 from 3-point range and outrebounded MSU, 52-31. Morgan Helgesen was 6 of 10 from 3-point range and scored 22 points for UTPB, while Mancha finished with 17 points and hit 4-of-11 shots from beyond the arc. Kamryn Lemon came off the bench to score 12 points, and Holly Hemmeline, who was 4 of 9 from long range, also scored 12 points for UTPB.

Midwestern State is scoring 65.4 points per game this season, and opponents are scoring 75.9 points per game against the Mustangs.

Carter is leading Midwestern State and is third in the Lone Star Conference with 16.5 points per game, and she is the leading rebounder in the conference with 11 rebounds per game, which is 10th in the nation among NCAA Division II players. The 6-1 junior from Mansfield, Texas, was held to four points and seven rebounds in the first meeting with UTPB.

Amos is the eighth-leading scorer in the LSC with 14.8 points per game, and she sits 17th in the conference with 6.2 rebounds per game. The 5-9 swingman is ninth in the conference with two steals per game. Amos was 6 of 10 from the field and finished with 19 points and 10 rebounds against the Falcons last month.

Coy, who is scoring 9.5 points per game for the Mustangs, is the eighth-leading rebounder in the conference with 7.5 boards per game. Coy scored a career-high 33 points against Tampa earlier this season. Coy hit the game-winning shot in a 76-74 victory at Oklahoma Christian with 15 seconds remaining. The 5-11 senior from Jarrell, Texas, was limited to four points and five rebounds in her first encounter with UTPB.

Catalina Cortez has the best assist-to-turnover ratio in the LSC at 2.52 and leads the Mustangs with three assists per game. Cortez is playing 31.1 minutes a game. Cortez had one assists but scored 12 points against UTPB in the first meeting. The 5-2 sophomore from Lubbock, Texas, did not have a turnover against the Falcons, who scored 20 points off 11 MSU turnovers in the clash at D.L. Ligon Coliseum.

Nikki Green is the third-leading scorer for Midwestern State with 9.9 points per game. Green is 35 of 115 from 3-point range (.304) this season. The 5-6 junior from Dallas (Richardson HS) hit five 3-pointers in a game for the second time this season and scored 29 points against Eastern New Mexico last week. She has scored 20 or more points three times during the campaign. Green played a season-high 33 minutes against Eastern New Mexico and shot 60 percent from the field. Against UTPB earlier this season, Green had three points and three assists.

Midwestern State is the second-best rebounding team in the LSC with 38.9 rebounds per game. The Mustangs lead the conference and are 27th among NCAA Division II programs with 14.8 offensive rebounds per game.

Carter is hitting 82.1 percent of her free throws, which ranks third in the league, and she has attempted the fouth-most free throws in the LSC with 123. As a team, MSU is shooting 20 free throws per game, which is fifth-most in the conference, and has the seventh-best free-throw percentage at 73 percent.

The Mustangs have the second-fewest turnovers in the LSC with 13.7 per game and are eighth in the league with a 0.76 assists-to-turnover ratio. MSU forces 14.6 turnovers and the plus-0.87 turnover margin is eighth-best in the conference.

Midwestern State leads the all-time series with UTPB, 11-7, but has lost five of the last seven meetings, and the Mustangs have a three-game losing streak in the series. MSU is 4-4 all-time when visiting the Falcons, but suffered an 80-70 loss in Odessa last season.

Avalon Munoz scored a career-high 31 points and finished with eight assists and six steals in the Falcons win at the UTPB Gym Complex last season. Hemmeline hit five 3-pointers en route to 17 points and Alexus Quadmann posted a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.

Mancha is the leading scorer for UTPB this season with 13.2 points per game, and she is third in the conference with a 36.8 shooting percentage from 3-point range (56 of 152). She leads the conference with 2.55 3-pointers per game.

Quadmann is averaging 10.8 points and 10.2 rebounds for the Falcons this season. The 6-1 senior from Las Vegas, is the second-leading rebounder in the conference behind Carter of MSU. Quadmann battled foul trouble against the Mustangs in January and finished with four points and eight rebounds. She had a career-high 18 rebounds in a 73-36 win over St. Mary's on Jan. 27. She is fifth in the conference with 1.14 blocks per game and 25 total blocks this season. Quadmann has played in a school record 111 games for UTPB.

Quadmann was named the LSC Defensive Player of the Week after the Falcons defeated both West Texas A&M and Lubbock Christian. Quaadman opened the week with a 13-point, eight-rebound effort against WT, which included the first two three-point field goals of her career. She came back to lead UTPB to its first-ever win vs. LCU with seven points, 12 rebounds and two blocked two shots. The 20-rebound week put Quaadman as the first UTPB player to record 900 rebounds.

Kamryn Lemon is scoring 10.8 points per game. The 5-8 graduate student played briefly with Oklahoma and Long Beach State before landing with the Falcons. At Odessa College, she averaged 15.7 points, 5.2 rebounds and 3.8 assists. Lemon has started 13 of the 19 games in which she has appeared this season. She has not started any of the last three games for UTPB and has one start in her last five appearances.

Helgesen is averaging 9.1 points and 5.2 rebounds per game, and she is ninth in the conference with 1.68 3-pointers per game. The 6-1 junior from Denton, Texas, is shooting 32.5 percent from beyond the arc (37 of 114). The 22 points she scored against the Mustangs is a career high, so are the six 3-point field goals she netted at Midwestern State last month.

Makala Bingley is averaging 8.4 points and 2.2 rebounds for UTPB this season. She scored eight points and matched her career high with six rebounds against the Mustangs. Bingley has started 12 of the 21 games in which she has appeared, and the 5-10 sophomore from Tasmania, Australia, has started the last five games for the Falcons. She is 13th in the conference with 1.57 3-pointers per game, and she is shooting 39.3 percent from beyond the arc (33 of 84).

Munoz, who is averaging 8.3 points per game, leads the team and is fifth in the LSC with 3.8 assists per game. She dished out a season-high seven assists in the win at Midwestern State in January. Mancha and Lemon are both averaging 3.1 assists per game.

UTPB is the third-highest scoring team in the league with 71.4 points per game, and the Falcons have the fifth-best scoring defense in the LSC, allowing opponents to score just 60 points per game. UTPB has the third-best field-goal percentage defense in the conference, holding opponents to 37.8 percent shooting from the floor.

UTPB leads the conference with 8.5 3-pointers per game and has the second-best 3-point percentage at 33.8 percent from beyond the arc. The Falcons also have the second-best 3-point percentage defense, holding opponents to 28.1 percent shooting from long range.

The Falcons are fourth in the conference with 37.23 rebounds per game but lead the league in rebounding margin at plus- 5.3.

UTPB is sixth-best in the league with just 15 turnovers per game, and fifth-best at forcing turnovers (18.36). The 3.36 turnover margin is third-best in the LSC. The Falcons average 10.2 steals per game, which is fourth-best in the LSC this season.

Rae Boothe is in her seventh season with the Falcons and is enjoying her best campaign as the head coach. Last season, UTPB finished with a 13-15 record, and Boothe is 68-112 (.378) during her time in Odessa.

Brenita Jackson is in her first season leading Midwestern State and boasts a career record of 58-30 (.659) after two highly successful campaigns at Texas Wesleyan, where she won 80 percent of her games (52-13). Jackson coached junior college basketball for five seasons. She was 69-78 at Lon Morris, Cisco and San Jacinto combined. Jackson led the Ravens to a 23-7 record in her second season at San Jacinto after the team went 3-25 in the 2013-14 campaign.

Jackson played collegiate basketball at Southeastern Louisiana helping the Lions to the 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, and they are proud parents of their daughter, Kylee.
 

--MSUMustangs.com--