CANYON, Texas – The #6 Lady Buffs wrap up the D2CCA Tipoff Classic on Sunday morning as they take on the Nebraska-Kearney Lopers with tipoff set for 11:30 a.m. at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri.
 
FHSU RECAP
The #6 Lady Buffs opened the season with a statement victory on Saturday afternoon as five different WT players scored in double-figures on the way to a 71-58 victory over #3 Fort Hays State during the D2CCA Tipoff Classic hosted by the MIAA.
 
Karley Motschenbacher led the way for the Lady Buffs as the sophomore guard finished the afternoon going 5-of-11 from the floor including 1-of-2 from deep and a perfect 6-of-6 from the free throw line for a game-high 17 points to go along with seven rebounds, two assists, a block and three steals. Zamorye Roberts ended the game with 14 points to go along with three rebounds and two assists.
 
A LOOK AT THE LOPERS
The Lopers picked up a 75-53 victory in their season opener on Saturday morning against the Southern Nazarene Crimson Storm at Municipal Auditorium. UNK outscored Southern Nazarene 22-5 in the fourth quarter to pull away for the win. Trinity Law and Elisa Beckes both finished the game with 15 points followed by Klaire Kirsch (14) and Sarah Schmidt (10) both in double-figures. 
 
Elisa Backes, a Second Team All-MIAA selection a year ago, returns for the Lopers as the senior from Salina, Kansas went 145-of-340 (42.6%) from the floor last season including 51-of-145 (35.2%) from deep and 55-of-78 (70.5%) from the free throw line to average 12.4 points per game to go along with 142 rebounds (18 offensive, 124 defensive), 57 assists, 28 blocks and 23 steals. 
 
The Tigers finished the 2021-22 campaign with an overall record of 24-8 with a 13-5 mark in MIAA action as they advanced to the MIAA Tournament Semifinals and made their second straight trip to the NCAA Postseason, topping Minnesota Duluth (77-70) in the quarterfinal round before losing to eventual Central Region Champion Missouri Western (72-59).
 
UNK HEAD COACH CARRIE EIGHMEY
Carrie Eighmey is now in her eighth season at the helm of the Nebraska-Kearney women's basketball program as she holds an overall record of 138-69 during her time in Kearney while holding a career record of 206-100.
 
Eighmey was named the seventh head women's basketball coach in Nebraska-Kearney history on March 31st, 2015. As a head coach, six of her teams have reached 20 wins with four advancing to the national tournament. Prior to UNK, Eighmey spent two seasons as the head coach at her alma mater Hastings College, reaching the NAIA Division II Tournament national quarterfinals in 2014 and the semifinals a year later.
 
As a collegiate player, Eighmey was one of the Broncos all-time greats, powering Hastings to four national tournament appearances and National Championships in 2002 and 2003. The guard set school records for career assists and career steals while earning first-team All-American honors.
 
THE SERIES
Sunday morning marks the third all-time meeting on the hardwood between the Lady Buffs and Lopers as WT is 2-0 in the series that dates back to 1992. The Lady Buffs took a 85-59 victory in Kearney on March 1, 1992 followed by a 74-72 win at the Amarillo Civic Center on February 27, 1994. Sunday marks the first-ever neutral site meeting between the two teams.
 
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 26-11 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.