CANYON, Texas  – The No. 2 West Texas A&M women's basketball team opens its back-to-back Lone Star Conference regular season and tournament title defense Thursday at 2 p.m. versus Cameron in the First United Bank Center.  The Lady Buffs enter with a perfect 10-0 record, while Cameron is 6-3.  The Lady Buffs then will host University of the Southwest (N.M.) Saturday at 2 p.m. in the First United Bank Center.
 
Fans can access live stats, streaming links and ticket information for the games by logging on to www.gobuffsgo.com and clicking on the women's basketball schedule page.
 
The Lady Buffs are coming off a pair of wins in Puerto Rico before the Christmas break.  WT struggled offensively in Puerto Rico shooting .393 from the field, .216 from beyond the arc, but pulled down an average of 51.5 rebounds and held teams to just .317 shooting and .128 from beyond the arc.  The Lady Buffs averaged 65 points in the two wins and allowed just 42.
 
Junior Maddison Wild had a great two games in Puerto Rico as she averaged 9.0 points per game and 10.5 rebounds per game to lead the team.  Junior Lilley Vander Zee also had a strong two games on the boards averaging 8.0 rebounds and 8.5 points per game.  The Lady Buffs uncharacteristically turned the ball over 43 times in the two games, but forced 44 turnovers and had 25 steals in a 63-49 win over Puerto Rico-Mayaguez and a 67-35 win over Puerto Rico-Rio Piedras. 
 
Wild and senior Maddison McLain each led the team averaging 9.0 points, while junior Sasha Watson and Vander Zee each averaged 8.5.  Wild recorded her first double-double with 11 rebounds and 10 points against Puerto Rico-Mayaguez. 
 
The Lady Buffs are off to their best start since opening the 1995-96 season with 16-striaght wins.  The 10 wins to open 2015-16 ranks third-most in school history.  WT opened the 1987-88 campaign with 33-straight wins en route to a national championship runner-up finish and the most in school history.
 
Watson leads the team averaging 10.5 points per game for the season.  She is 35 of 65 from field (.538) and 31 of 50 from the line (.620), while recording 45 assists and 24 steals to lead the team.  Senior Michaela Neuhaus is second in scoring at 10.2 points per game.  She is 33 of 69 from the field (.478) and leads the team with 16 made triples on 16 of 39 (.410).  Neuhaus is 20 of 22 from the line and is second in assist with 34 and steals with 22.  Vander Zee is third in scoring at 8.4 points per game.  She is 31 of 61 from the field (.508) and 22 of 33 from the line (.667).  She is averaging 4.8 rebounds per game.  Wild leads the team averaging 6.1 rebounds and is scoring 7.5 points per game.
 
As a team, the Lady Buffs are shooting .446 from the field on 251 of 563.  They are 54 of 159 from beyond the arc (.340) and 146 of 213 from line for a .685 clip.  WT is averaging 41.9 rebounds per game and scoring 70.2 points per game.  Conversely, the opposition is shooting .345 on 191 of 554 and .273 from beyond the arc on 56 of 205.  The opponents are shooting 67 of 108 from the line (.620) and averaging 30 rebounds per game and 50.5 points per game.
 
Nationally speaking, the Lady Buffs rank 27^th in assists per game at 16.4.  They are 58^th in assists with 164, 39^th in blocked shots with 45 and 29^th in blocked shots per game at 4.5.  WT is 31^st in field goal percentage (.446), 28^th in field goal percentage defense (.345), fifth in rebounding margin (11.9), third in scoring defense (50.5), 12^th in scoring margin (19.7), 25^th in steals (116), 22^nd in steals per game (11.6), 49^th in 3-point field goal percentage defense (.273), and 34^th in turnovers forced (20.6).  WT is one of nine undefeated teams in NCAA Division II.
 
Individually, Neuhaus ranks 43^rd in assist/turnover ratio at 2.13 to lead the LSC, while Watson is 73^rd in assists (45) and 61^st in assists per game (4.5) also leads the conference.  Watson leads the league in steals and steals per game with 24 and 2.4, respectively, ranking 87^th and 67^th, respectively. 
 
The Lady Buffs are second in the latest D2 South Central Region Sports Information Directors Poll.  Lubbock Christian, also 10-0, took over the top spot in the final ranking before the Christmas break.  WT and LCU had been tied for first for the previous few weeks in the rankings. 
 
WT is fifth in the D2 SIDA poll nationally, while LCU is second.  The Lady Buffs are second in the USA Today Women's Division II Coaches' Poll and LCU is 12^th.  The rankings will continue following the games this weekend. 
 
Cameron is tied for 10^th in the latest D2SIDA Region Poll.  The Aggies snapped a two-game skid with wins over Southeastern Oklahoma State (83-77) and an 83-41 victory at Northwestern Oklahoma State prior to Christmas. 
 
The Aggies are making their second trip to Canyon this season as they were part of the 2015 PAK-A-SAK Lady Buff Thanksgiving Classic field and had a game cancelled in the tournament (like the Lady Buffs did) as Minnesota-Moorhead couldn't make it to Canyon due to travel issues.  Cameron defeated Texas A&M-International 77-58 in Canyon during the abbreviated tournament.  WT downed TAMIU 90-57 that weekend, too.
 
Cameron is led by senior Amarillo, native, Brandi Leal who is averaging a team-high 10.9 points per game.  She has played in all nine games and started three.  Leal is 34 of 74 from the field (.453) and is a team-best 29 of 64 (.453) from beyond the arc.  Leal is 36^th nationally in 3-point field goals made (29), 18^th in 3-point field goals per game (3.22) and 30^th in 3-poing field goal percentage (.453).  Dayla Threatt is second in scoring at 10.1 points per game.  She is 34 of 85 from the field (.400) and 15 of 48 from beyond the arc (.313) which is second on the team.  Charron Montgomery leads the team at 27 of 39 from the line (.692) and has a team-high 25 assists, while ranking second in steals with nine.  Montgomery is 29 of 69 from the field (.420).  Threatt leads the team in rebounding at 5.8 per game, while DJ Vallier is second at 5.3 per game.
 
As a team, the Aggies are shooting .413 from the field on 215 of 520.  They are 88 of 235 from beyond the arc (.374) and 102 of 147 from the line (.694).  Cameron is averaging 37.9 rebounds per game and scoring 68.9 points per contest. Conversely, the Aggies are holding teams to .366 from the field on 210 of 573 and 59 of 203 from beyond the arc (.291).  The opposition is shooting 100 of 155 from the line (.645) and averaging 40.7 rebounds per game and 64.3 points per game.
 
Cameron is 43^rd nationally in 3-point field goal attempts (235), 23^rd in made triples (88) and fifth in 3-point field goals per game at 9.8 which all lead the LSC.  They are 24^th in 3-point field goal percentage which is second in the conference (.374) behind Angelo State (.396).
 
WT leads the all-time series 37-3 versus Cameron.  The two teams last met on Mar. 13, 2015, in Canyon in the first round of the NCAA South Central Regional.  In that game, WT won 80-61 after opening the game with a commanding 42-22 lead in the first half.  Former Lady Buffs Chontiquah White had a game-high 29 points and nine rebounds, while former Lady Buff Ariel Robertson chipped in 14 points and Watson added 11 points with five assists and three steals.  Leal led the way for Cameron with a team-high 15 points and three triples. 
 
The Lady Buffs are 20-1 all-time in Canyon and 16-2 in Lawton, while going 1-0 in neutral site matchups.  WT has won nine-straight in the series.
 
University of the Southwest is 4-7 on the year in NAIA and 0-4 in the Red River Athletic Conference.  This will be an exhibition game for the Mustangs.  USW is coming off a 79-74 win over Sul Ross State on Dec. 16.  The Mustangs have played Wayland Baptist (L, 90-55) and at Western New Mexico (L, 51-32) this season, as well as Abilene Christian (L, 91-39) and McMurry (W, 74-68) this season.  The Abilene Christian game also was an exhibition.  This is the first meeting between WT and USW in women's basketball.