CANYON, Texas – The #8 Lady Buffs of West Texas A&M return to the hardwood this weekend as they take on the rival Belles of Angelo State in Lone Star Conference divisional action starting on Thursday night at 5:30 p.m. inside of the First United Bank Center in Canyon.
 
ANGELO STATE
The Belles enter the weekend with an overall record of 1-7 following a 73-58 loss to Texas Woman's on Tuesday afternoon in Denton to run their losing streak to four games. ASU has had seven contest either postponed or cancelled so far this season, only playing one exhibition contest at Texas Tech (Dec. 9) prior to January 14th. 
 
Nate Harris is in his second season at the helm of the Angelo State women's basketball program as he enters the weekend with an overall record of 19-17 during his time in San Angelo. Harris spent the previous two seasons as an assistant at ASU, he came to San Angelo from Montana State where the Bobcats claimed two Big Sky Titles and made a trip to the NCAA Tournament in 2017.
 
Sawyer Lloyd leads the way offensively for the Belles as the sophomore guard from Wall, Texas has gone 46-of-109 (42.2%) from the floor this season including 17-of-44 (38.6%) from behind the arc and 8-of-11 (72.7%) from the free throw line to average 14.6 points per contest to go along with 39 rebounds, 28 assists, 23 steals and two blocks. Madeline Stephens (13.1) and Lana Marov (10.6) also average in double-digites for the Belles while Stephens ranks second in the Lone Star Conference with 9.3 rebounds per contest.
 
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 149-30 during her time in Canyon for a winning percentage of 83.2% 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 238-33 inside of the FUBC during that time for a winning clip of 87.8%. 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 117 points shy of Teresa Tinner (1986-90) in seventh with 1,598
- Hightower connected twice from behind the arc on Tuesday night to pass 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 seven of WT's 11 games this season, she has reached the 20-point mark 25 times in her career