CANYON, Texas – The #15 Lady Buffs of West Texas A&M conclude their five-game homestand on Monday and Tuesday at the First United Bank Center as the St. Edward's Hilltoppers make their way to Canyon for Lone Star Conference crossover action starting on Monday with tipoff set for 5:30 p.m.
 
ST. EDWARD'S
The Hilltoppers enter the weekend with an overall record of 3-5 following a Lone Star Conference crossover split with UT Permian Basin on Thursday and Friday in Austin. The Falcons took a 59-51 win on Thursday night at the Recreation and Athletics Center before the Hilltoppers responded with a 74-57 victory on Friday afternoon.
 
J.J. Riehl is in her ninth season at the helm of the St. Edward's women's basketball program, holding an overall record of 127-108 during her time in Austin. Under Riehl, SEU appeared in its first NCAA Tournament in program history in the 2013-14 season, and she led St. Edward's to a second NCAA Tournament in the 2016-17 season.
 
SEU was tabbed sixth in the 2020-21 LSC Preseason Poll as they return seven letterwinners and four starters. Christina Mason leads the way offensively for the Hilltoppers as the junior from Frisco has gone 32-of-91 (35.2%) from the floor including 8-of-38 (21.1%) from behind the arc and 25-of-25 (71.4%) from the charity stripe to average 12.1 points per game so far this season to go along with 16 rebounds, 32 assists and 20 steals.
 
WT HEAD COACH KRISTEN MATTIO
Kristen Mattio has continued the storied tradition of Lady Buff Basketball as she is now in her sixth season at the helm of West Texas A&M. She has registering an overall record of 147-30 during her time in Canyon for a winning percentage of 83.1% as the Nashville native is the fastest head coach in program history to reach the 125-win plateau.
 
WINNING TRADITION
The 2019-20 season marked the eighth-straight year of 20 or more wins for the Lady Buffs. WT won 30 or more games in 2013-14 and 2014-15 and have had atleast 30 wins in six different seasons since 1980-81. The Lady Buffs have not had a losing season since 1980-81 and have won 20 or more games in 29 seasons during that span with a string of nine-straight from 1983-1992.
 
LSC PRESEASON PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Lexy Hightower was named the LSC Preseason Player of the Year for the second straight season announced on November 24th. She redshirted for the Lady Buffs during the 2019-20 campaign following a junior season where the Amarillo product became one of the top players in all of NCAA Division II women's basketball. The 2019 LSC Player of the Year went 205-of-400 (51.3%) from the floor including 83-of-179 (46.4%) from behind the arc and 42-of-56 (75%) from the free throw line to lead the Lady Buffs in scoring with 16.2 points per contest to go along with 62 assists, three blocks and 36 steals while averaging 30.5 minutes per game.
 
HOME SWEET HOME
West Texas A&M is home to one of the finest multi-purpose facilities in the country as the First United Bank Center has served as the home of the Lady Buffs since January 26, 2002. The Lady Buffs are a staggering 236-33 inside of the FUBC during that time for a winning clip of 87.7%. WT has averaged 1,065 fans per contest since the facility opened its doors with the largest crowd coming on Opening Night with 4,941 members of Buff Nation seeing the Lady Buffs take on rival Abilene Christian.
 
LSC DIGITAL NETWORK HYBRID PRICING MODEL
Fans will be able to purchase a $10 daily pass that will give them access to all football, volleyball and basketball contests on the network that day as well as access to previously aired games from the current season for 24 hours. In addition to live and archived streaming options, viewers will have the option to purchase and download games from the 2020-21 season for $10 each.
 
Fans can watch games and purchase passes online at www.lonestarconferencenetwork.com on computer and mobile devices. Viewers can also tune in to games on the LSC Digital Network via OTT apps available on Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Android TV and Roku by searching for "LSC Digital Network".
 
QUICK HITS
- This season marked the latest calendar date that WT has ever started the season. The previous latest was November 28, 1987 when Bob Schneider led then West Texas State to a 75-52 victory over MSU-Denver at "The Box". WTSU would go on to finish the season 33-1 overall with an appearance in the NCAA Division II National Championship Game.
- WT's 16 blocked shots on January 12th against Oklahoma Baptist tied a single-game program record (vs. East Central / January 14, 2006). It also ties WT's single-game Lone Star Conference record.
- Hightower jumped two spots to eighth on WT's all-time scoring list, passing Devin Griffin (2011-14 / 1,450) and Von Tucker (1984-88 /1,452). She is 142 points shy of Teresa Tinner (1986-90) in seventh with 1,598
- Hightower connected once from behind the arc on Saturday afternoon to tie Carlee Massie (2000-04 / 214) for second place on WT's made three pointers list
- The Amarillo native has now scored atleast 20 points in six of WT's nine games this season, she has reached the 20-point mark 24 times in her career