West Texas A&M (11-5, 5-4) vs. Western New Mexico (0-13, 0-9 LSC)
Date & Time	Thursday, January 16th at 5:30 p.m.
Location	Canyon, Texas | First United Bank Center
Live Statistics	StatBroadcast
Live Video (Pay Per View)	FloCollege
Other Links	Game Notes

CANYON, Texas – The Lady Buffs return to Lone Star Conference divisional action on Thursday night as they host the Mustangs of Western New Mexico at the First United Bank Center with tipoff set for 5:30 p.m. in Canyon.
 
UT PERMIAN BASIN RECAP
The Lady Buffs snapped a two-game losing skid on Saturday afternoon as they picked up a 77-72 LSC divisional victory over the UT Permian Basin Falcons. Kyla Kane led the way for the Lady Buffs as the junior guard from Wellington went 7-of-12 from the floor including 5-of-9 from behind the arc and 4-of-4 from the free throw line for a game-high 23 points to go along with three rebounds, three assists and a block.
 
A LOOK AT THE MUSTANGS
Western New Mexico enters the week with an overall record of 0-13 with a 0-9 mark in Lone Star Conference action. WNMU is 0-7 on the road so far this season following LSC divisional road defeats at Midwestern State (82-44) and Lubbock Christian (68-42) last weekend.
 
Saturday's contests in Lubbock saw the Mustangs struggle from the floor as they shot just 38.3% (18-of-47) in a 68-42 loss to the Lady Chaps at the Rip Griffin Center. Eliza Joynes led the way for the Mustangs as she went 7-of-10 from the field for a team-best 14 points to go along with 11 rebounds for a double-double.
 
The Mustangs, picked 15th in the LSC preseason coaches' poll, finished the 2023-24 campaign with an overall mark of 9-18 with a 4-18 record in league action to miss out on the LSC Tournament in Frisco.
 
Alina Martin leads the way offensively for the Mustangs as the freshman guard from Flower Mound has gone 37-of-94 (39.4%) from the field including 7-of-22 (31.8%) from deep and 37-of-54 (68.5%) from the charity stripe to average 9.8 points per game to go along with 34 rebounds, 17 assists, 12 steals and six blocks.
 
WNMU HEAD COACH BRENDA NICHOLS
Veteran head coach Brenda Nichols is in her first season at the helm of the Western New Mexico women's basketball program. The 2024-25 campaign is the 17th season of collegiate basketball for Nichols who served as the head coach at Sam Houston State from 2006-2018.
 
Nichols claimed 116 victories during her time in Huntsville, leading the Bearkats to the program's first Southland Conference Championship to earn Southland Conference Coach of the Year accolades in 2013. Sam Houston made postseason appearances in the Women's Basketball Invitational (WBI) and Women's National Invitational (WNIT).
 
THE SERIES
Thursday night marks the 19th all-time meeting on the hardwood between West Texas A&M and Western New Mexico as the Lady Buffs hold a 16-2 advantage in the series. The Mustangs are 0-9 all-time at the First United Bank Center with their last trip coming in February of 2024.
 
The last meeting saw Karley Motschenbacher go 4-of-7 from the floor and 9-of-10 from the free throw line to finish with a game-high 18 points to go along with four rebounds in a 68-43 victory by the Lady Buffs at the First United Bank Center in Canyon. WT out-rebounded the Mustangs 42-33 in the victory.
 
WT HEAD COACH JOSH PROCK
Josh Prock is now in his fourth 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 286-45 inside of the FUBC during that time for a winning clip of 86.6%. WT has averaged 1,035 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.
 
LIVE COVERAGE
The contest will be broadcasted on FloCollege. The LSC and FloSports reached a historic agreement in August for the largest streaming rights deal in NCAA Division II history.
 
HOME OF CHAMPIONS
West Texas A&M is home to one of the most successful athletic programs in all of NCAA Division II. The Buffs and Lady Buffs finished third in the 2023-24 Division II LEARFIELD Director's Cup standings. It marked the sixth straight and eighth overall time that WT finished inside of the Top-10 including the fifth straight inside of the Top-5.
 
LSC NEWS & NOTES (JAN. 13)
Lone Star Conference women's basketball has the third weekend of a three-weekend stretch of in-Division games on the upcoming week's schedule (Jan. 16, 18) before spending January 23 and 25 playing cross-division opponents.
 
Seven players, led by Midwestern State's Zarria Carter, scored 22 or more points in games over weekend. Carter scored a combined 63 points in MSU wins vs. Western New Mexico (26 pts.) and Sul Ross State (37 pts.). Other weekend bests included 17 rebounds by Ingram against St. Edward's; WNMU's Eliza Joynes with four blocks at Lubbock Christian; and MSU's Carisa Cortez – 10 assists – and Kerbie Cash – six steals – both coming against SRSU.
 
Six teams posted clean 2-0 weekend records with Angelo State and Texas Woman's each extending their respective season win streaks. ASU wins over West Texas A&M and Eastern New Mexico were its ninth and 10th consecutive victories. TWU recorded a pair of nine-point wins against St. Mary's and St. Edward's pushing its win streak to nine games.