CANYON, Texas – The Lady Buffs conclude the 2023 D2CCA Tipoff Classic on Sunday afternoon as they take on the #12 Cougars of Azusa Pacific with tipoff set for Noon at the Rip Griffin Center in Lubbock, Texas.
ADAMS STATE RECAP
The Lady Buffs trailed by just one entering the fourth quarter but a 19-3 run in the final period was enough for the Adams State Grizzlies to pick up a 77-64 victory in the season opener at the D2CCA Tipoff Classic at the Rip Griffin Center in Lubbock.
Grace Alvarez led the way for the Lady Buffs as the Houston product went 6-of-13 from the floor including 2-of-8 from deep and 1-of-1 from the charity stripe for a team-high 15 points to go along with four rebounds and four assists followed by
Kyla Kane and
Gloria Fornah with nine points each.
A LOOK AT THE COUGARS
Azusa Pacific enters Sunday afternoon with an overall record of 1-0 following a 66-53 victory over Colorado State-Pueblo on Friday afternoon at the Rip Griffin Center. Kelly Heimburger led the way for the Cougars as the junior forward from San Jose went 8-of-20 from the floor for a team-high 20 points to go along with four rebounds, two steals and two blocks.
The #12 Cougars are coming off of a 2022-23 campaign in which they were the PacWest regular season and tournament champions for the second consecutive year, finishing with a 26-5 overall and a sixth-straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament.
APU returns all but one starters from last year's squad led by PacWest Preseason Player of the Year Paige Uyehara who started all 31 contest during her junior season, going 140-of-349 (40.1%) from the floor including 62-of-175 (35.4%) from deep and 94-of-120 (78.3%) from the free throw line to average 14.1 points per game to go along with 94 rebounds, 149 assists, nine blocks and 48 steals for the San Jose product.
AZUSA PACIFIC HEAD COACH T.J. HARDEMAN
T.J. Hardeman is now in his 17th season at the helm of the Azusa Pacific women's basketball program, holding an overall record of 379-118 (.762).
Hardeman led the Cougars to back-to-back PacWest regular season and tournament championships in 2021-22 and 2022-23, and the program made its sixth and seventh appearances in the NCAA Tournament, advancing to the West Region semifinal in both seasons.
Prior to his arrival, Azusa Pacific had won just three games in nine NAIA Tournament appearances, but, under Hardeman, the Cougars posted 12 national-tournament victories including the run to the 2011 National Championship.
THE SERIES
Sunday afternoon marks the first ever meeting on the hardwood between the Lady Buffs and Cougars.
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.
