West Texas A&M at Arizona
Date	Thursday, October 23rd | 8:00 p.m. CT
Location	Tucson, Arizona | McKale Memorial Center
Additional Links	Game Notes

CANYON, Texas – The Lady Buffs continue their preseason exhibition schedule on Thursday night as they travel to Tucson, Arizona to take on the Arizona Wildcats with tipoff at the historic McKale Center set for 8:00 p.m. CT.
 
NEW LOOK LADY BUFFS
The Lady Buffs return nine letterwinners from last year's squad that advanced to the South Central Regional Semifinals. LSC Preseason Player of the Year Kyla Kane highlights a deep roster that features eight seniors. Canyon product Kenadee Winfrey joins the Lady Buffs following a stellar career at UNLV. Returning All-LSC selections Randi Harding and Claire Graham look to continue the storied tradition of Lady Buff Basketball in their final season in Maroon & White.
 
SCOUTING THE WILDCATS
The Wildcats finished the 2024-25 campaign with an overall record of 19-14 with a 10-8 mark in the Big 12 as they advanced to the opening round of the Big 12 Championships before falling to Colorado, 61-58. Arizona earned a bid to the WBIT Tournament as they fell to Northern Arizona in the opening round, 71-69.
 
Montaya Dew is the lone returning player on the Arizona roster as the Las Vegas product appeared in 29 games with four starts last season, averaging 2.5 points, 3.0 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game. The transfer group includes Achol Magot (Texas Tech) and Freddie Wallace (Kansas), both bringing Big 12 experience, as well as Mickayla Perdue, the Horizon League Player of the Year, and Sumayah Sugapong, the Big West Championship Most Outstanding Player. Sugapong, a transfer from UC San Diego, also represented the Philippines in the FIBA Women's Asia Cup in China, while freshman Mireia Jurado competed internationally for Spain in the FIBA U18 Women's Eurobasket.
 
Arizona was tabbed 14th in the 2025-26 Big 12 Preseason Coaches' Poll announced on October 9th. TCU claimed 10 first place votes and 219 total points to sit atop of the poll followed by Iowa State, Baylor, Oklahoma State, West Virginia, Kansas, Kansas State, Utah, Colorado and BYU to round out the top ten.
 
ARIZONA HEAD COACH BECKY BURKE
Becky Burke was named the 10th head coach in the history of Arizona Women's Basketball on April 9, 2025. Burke came to Tucson following three seasons as the head coach at the University of Buffalo, leading the Bulls to the WNIT Championship in 2024-25. Burke was 61-37 during her time in Buffalo with a pair of trips to the WNIT Tournament.
 
The Clarks Summit, Pennsylvania native was a four-year standout player for the University of Louisville from 2008-12. During her time with the Cardinal, Burke scored 1,288 career points as she led the program to three NCAA Tournament appearances including the championship game in 2009 and the Sweet Sixteen in 2011.
 
SMU REWIND
West Texas A&M put on an impressive performance during their first exhibition contest of the season on Tuesday night as they fell to the SMU Mustangs, 81-69 at Moody Coliseum in Dallas, Texas.
 
Claire Graham led the offensive charge with 17 points, converting six of eight field goals and making all four of her three-point attempts. Henley West contributed efficiently with 16 points, hitting eight of her ten shots from the floor.
 
THE SERIES
Friday night marks the fourth all-time meeting on the hardwood between the Lady Buffs and Wildcats. WT travel to the McKale Center the past three seasons for exhibition action as Arizona picked up a 86-63 victory 2022 followed by a 103-58 win in 2023, last season's matchup saw the Lady Buffs trailed by just five points at the half before faling 84-59.
 
WT HEAD COACH JOSH PROCK
Josh Prock is now in his fifth season at the helm of the Lady Buff Basketball program. The Lady Buffs made the program's 29th appearance in the NCAA Division II Postseason during the 2024-25 campaign as they went 19-13 overall with a 12-10 mark in the LSC. The Lady Buffs advanced to the South Central Regional Semifinals.
 
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 290-47 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.
 
LSC PRESEASON PLAYER OF THE YEAR
West Texas A&M senior guard Kyla Kane was tabbed the Lone Star Conference Preseason Player of the Year announced on Monday, October 20th. The 5-foot-10 native of Wellington, Texas, averaged 13.1 points, 4.5 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game. She shot 89.8 percent from the free throw line and made 56 3-pointers. She was a second team all-LSC selection.
 
LSC PRESEASON POLL
The Lady Buffs were selected fourth in the 2025 LSC Preseason Coaches' Poll. Defending Regional Champion Texas Woman's claimed 20 of the possible 51 first place votes to sit atop of the poll with 810 points followed by Lubbock Christian (14 first place, 776), UT Tyler (eight first place, 761), West Texas A&M (six first place, 663) and Eastern New Mexico (two first place, 657) to round out the top five.
 
The preseason poll and preseason player of the year are voted on by LSC head coaches, sports information directors and media members. Angelo State (656) sits sixth followed by Texas A&M-Kingsville (564), UT Permian Basin (466), Midwestern State (461), St. Mary's (438), St. Edward's (363), Oklahoma Christian (310), Cameron (262), Texas A&M International (one first place, 210), UT Dallas (168), Western New Mexico (161) and Sul Ross State (77).
 
RUNNIN' IT BACK
Graduate student Karley Motschenbacher returns to the Lady Buffs for her final season of eligibility in 2025-26 after a season away from the court. The Moorehead, Minnesota product is a three-time All-Lone Star Conference honoree as she has seen time in 95 games with 89 starts for the Lady Buffs, averaging 32.2 minutes per contest. She scored her 1,000th career point back on January 20, 2024 at Eastern New Mexico and is just the 25th player in WT history to score 1,000 points as a Lady Buff.