CANYON, Texas – The #6 Lady Buffs hit the road this weekend to take part in a South Central Regional Challenge at the King Center in Rapid City, South Dakota as they take on the Colorado Mesa Mavericks with tipoff set for 6 p.m. CT.
 
UNK RECAP
The #6 Lady Buffs overcame a 14-point first half deficit on Sunday afternoon as they picked up a thrilling 59-53 victory over the Nebraska-Kearney Lopers to conclude the D2CCA Tipoff Classic at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri. 
 
Karley Motschenbacher led the way for the Lady Buffs as the sophomore guard finished the afternoon going 9-of-14 from the floor including 1-of-1 from behind the arc and 2-of-3 from the free throw line for a game-high 21 points to go along with 10 rebounds, one assist and two steals. Zamorye Roberts finished in double-figures as she went 3-of-8 from the field for 10 points with four boards, four assists and a steal.
 
A LOOK AT THE MAVERICKS
Colorado Mesa opens up their season this weekend in Grand Rapids as they were selected fifth in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) Preseason Poll announced on October 20th. The Mavericks lose their top three scorers from a year ago as they return seven letterwinners from last year's NCAA Tournament team.
 
Monica Brooks is the top returner for the Mavericks as the senior guard from Shawnee, Oklahoma went 91-of-175 (52%) from the floor last season including 11-of-42 (26.2%) from deep and 27-of-39 (69.2%) from the free throw line to average 7.3 points per game to go along with 130 rebounds (21 offensive, 109 defensive), 33 assists, 13 steals and 12 blocks.
 
The Mavericks finished the 2021-22 campaign with an overall record of 23-7 with a 17-5 mark in RMAC action as they advanced to the NCAA South Central Regional Tournament for the sixth time. CMU fell to the host Lady Buffs, 70-64 in the quarterfinal round at the FUBC in Canyon.
 
CMU HEAD COACH TAYLOR WAGNER
Taylor Wagner is now in his 11th season at the helm of the Colorado Mesa women's basketball program. He holds an overall mark of 231-61 during his time in Grand Junction as he has led the Mavericks to six NCAA Tournament Trips (2013, 2014, 2015, 2019, 2020, 2022) and four RMAC Tournament Titles. 
 
Currently, Wagner has helped the women's basketball program achieve a 3.2 or higher team GPA in 20 straight semesters. Wagner spent eight seasons at Otero Junior College in La Junta, CO where he posted a 187-63 overall record. He is Otero's career win leader and is coming off the best overall record for a season going 33-3 in 2012. During his tenure the team posted an 88-12 home record and were crowned Region IX Champions in 2012.
 
He registered a standout playing career at Otero Junior College and Alaska-Anchorage where he was a two-time Defensive Player of the Year for the Seawolves.
 
THE SERIES
Friday marks the eighth all-time meeting between West Texas A&M and Colorado Mesa on the hardwood, WT is 6-1 in the series that dates back to 1994. The two teams split a pair of contests last season as the Mavericks topped WT 46-43 on November 13th in Canyon before the Lady Buffs responded in the NCAA Regional Quarterfinals with a 70-64 victory to end CMU's season at the First United Bank Center. 
 
WT HEAD COACH JOSH PROCK
Josh Prock enters his second season at the helm of the Lady Buff Basketball program after guiding WT to the NCAA Division II Elite Eight during his first season in Maroon & White, finishing the campaign with an overall record of 28-11 as WT claimed the LSC Regular Season and Tournament Titles followed by a run to the South Central Regional Championship.
 
Prock was introduced as West Texas A&M's head women's basketball coach on June, 2, 2021. Prock is no stranger to the Lone Star Conference as he spent eight seasons as the head coach at Eastern New Mexico leading the Greyhounds to their only three NCAA Tournament appearances in program history.
 
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 260-37 inside of the FUBC during that time for a winning clip of 87.5%. WT has averaged 1,032 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 BASKETBALL PRESEASON POLL
The Lady Buffs picked up 31 of the possible 39 first place votes for a total of 612 points to sit atop of the poll followed by Lubbock Christian (four first place, 557), Texas Woman's (four first place, 538), Angelo State (519), UT Tyler (479), Texas A&M-Kingsville (408), Texas A&M International (371), Cameron (347), Midwestern State (314), Eastern New Mexico (233), St. Edward's (219), UAFS (216), UT Permian Basin (172), Oklahoma Christian (154), St. Mary's (94) and Western New Mexico (71).
 
The 2022-23 LSC basketball schedule will feature 16 women's teams in two divisions. Each team will play a double round-robin schedule within their division. Additionally, teams will play eight crossover competitions against teams from the opposite division for a total of 22 conference games.
 
The LSC Basketball Championships will feature an 8-team field in 2023 with seeding based on the 22 conference games. The divisional winners will receive the top two seeds in the tournament. The championships are set to take place March 2-3-4-5, 2023, at the Comerica Center in Frisco, Texas.
 
HOME OF CHAMPIONS
West Texas A&M is home to one of the most successful athletic programs in all of NCAA Division II.
 
The 2021-22 campaign saw WT claimed six Lone Star Conference Championships, three LSC Tournament crowns, two Regional Championships and four Top-5 track and field finishes including the NCAA Division II Outdoor Track & Field Women's National Championship.