Date	Time	Opponent	Location	Venue	Links
Saturday, November 18	1:00 p.m.	Colorado School of Mines	Canyon, Texas	First United Bank Center	LSC Network | Live Stats | Game Notes

CANYON, Texas – The Lady Buffs open up their 2023-24 home schedule on Saturday afternoon as they welcome the Orediggers of Colorado School of Mines to the First United Bank Center for a regional showdown with tipoff set for 1:00 p.m. in Canyon.
 
SOUTH DAKOTA MINES RECAP
West Texas A&M trailed by four heading into the locker room before outscoring the Hardrockers of South Dakota Mines by 12 points in the final quarter on their way to a 76-63 victory to close out the South Central Regional Challenge at Brownson Arena in Grand Junction, Colorado.
 
Hollie Stalder led the way for the Lady Buffs as the sophomore went 6-of-10 from the floor including 4-of-6 from the charity stripe for a team-high 17 points to go along with two rebounds and three assists. Nyalam Thabach and Karley Motschenbacher scored 12 points each followed by Grace Alvarez with 11.
 
A LOOK AT THE OREDIGGERS
Colorado School of Mines enters the weekend with an overall record of 2-1 following an unbeaten opening weekend in Golden, Colorado as they picked up regional victories over St. Mary's (81-68) and St. Edward's (76-68) before falling to #24 Texas Woman's, 72-66 on Thursday night in Denton.
 
The Orediggers finished the 2022-23 campaign with an overall record of 24-7 as they went 18-4 in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference action. They advanced to the RMAC Title Game before falling to the top-seeded Regis Rangers, 65-61. CSM advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the fifth time, suffering a 73-63 loss to eventual Regional Champion UT Tyler in the quarterfinal round.
 
Ashley Steffeck leads the way offensively for the Orediggers as the senior from Fort Collins, Colorado has gone 20-of-49 (40.8%) from the floor including 12-of-26 (46.2%) from behind the arc and 11-of-12 (91.7%) from the free throw line to average 21.0 points per game this season to go along with 22 rebounds, 11 assists, eight steals and three blocks. She scored 24 points against St. Mary's in the season opener followed by a 31-point performance against St. Edward's where she also grabbed 13 rebounds.
 
CSM HEAD COACH BRITTANY SIMPSON
Brittany Simpson is now in her 12th season at the helm of the Colorado School of Mines women's basketball program, she holds an overall record of 200-115 during her time in Golden. The winningest head coach in CSM history has led the Orediggers to three RMAC Championships (2015-16, 2020-21, 2021-22).
 
She has registered atleast 17-victories in eight consecutive seasons as well as back-to-back 20-win campaigns. The Orediggers have qualified for nine RMAC Tournaments and three trips to the NCAA Tournament.
 
THE SERIES
Saturday marks the third all-time meeting on the hardwood between West Texas A&M and Colorado School of Mines in a series that dates back to 2015. The Lady Buffs are a perfect 2-0 in the series with both meetings taking place at Lockridge Arena in Golden. The last meeting in 2018 saw Lucy Burke (17), Tyesha Taylor (16) and Megan Gamble (11) all finish in double-figures in an 84-73 victory.
 
WT HEAD COACH JOSH PROCK
Josh Prock is now in his third season at the helm of the Lady Buff Basketball program. The Lady Buffs made the program's 28th appearance in the NCAA Division II Postseason during the 2022-23 campaign as they went 21-11 overall including a 14-8 mark in Lone Star Conference action. 
 
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 272-37 inside of the FUBC during that time for a winning clip of 87.7%. WT has averaged 1,025 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
Defending LSC Tournament Champion Angelo State picked up 15 of the possible 44 first place votes for a total of 652 points to sit atop of the poll followed by Texas Woman's (17 first place, 633), UT Tyler (nine first place, 627), Lubbock Christian (three first place, 606) and West Texas A&M (524) to round out the top five.
 
Texas A&M-Kingsville was tabbed sixth with 492 points followed by St. Edward's (379), Cameron (311), Oklahoma Christian (270), UT Permian Basin (270), Eastern New Mexico (248), Western New Mexico (233), Texas A&M International (225), UAFS (202), Midwestern State (172) and St. Mary's (140).
 
Grace Foster of Lubbock Christian and Sawyer Lloyd of Angelo State were named the 2023-24 Co-Preseason Players of the Year. Foster and Lloyd headline a list of 16 LSC Players to Watch in the 2023-24 season.
 
LSC women's basketball teams open their 2023-24 schedules in tournament or single-game play during early November weekends. Nine teams start seasons at D2CCA or Canadian Tipoff Classics beginning November 3, three teams play in South Central Region Challenges November 10, and another hosts a tournament November 10. The new season for three remaining LSC women's teams starts with single games in one of the two weekends. The 42nd Lone Star Conference women's basketball championship tournament is scheduled March 7-10, 2024, played at the Comerica Center.
 
HOME OF CHAMPIONS
West Texas A&M is home to one of the most successful athletic programs in all of Division II.
 
For just second consecutive season, the Buffs and Lady Buffs finished second in the Division II LEARFIELD Director's Cup standings. It marked the fifth straight and seventh overall time that WT has finished inside of the Top-10 including the fourth straight inside of the Top-5.