West Texas A&M (0-1) vs. Northwest Missouri State (0-1)
Date	Sunday, November 2nd | 12:00 p.m.
Location	St. Joseph, Missouri | Civic Arena
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Watch Live	MIAA Network (Pay-Per-View)
Additional Links	Game Notes

CANYON, Texas – The Lady Buffs close out the opening weekend of the season on Sunday afternoon as they take on the Bearcats of Northwest Missouri State to conclude the D2CCA Tipoff Classic with tipoff set for 12:00 p.m.
 
GRAND VALLEY STATE REWIND
The Lady Buffs battled all afternoon before falling to the defending National Champion and top-ranked Grand Valley State Lakers, 73-59 on Saturday afternoon. Kyla Kane led the scoring effort with 19 points, including five 3-pointers. Randi Harding contributed with nine points and a team-high five assists, showcasing her playmaking abilities. Taytum Bell was effective defensively, recording three steals while adding eight points. Karley Motschenbacher supported the team with six points, four rebounds, and two assists.
 
SCOUTING THE BEARCATS
Northwest Missouri State is coming off of a 15-15 campaign in 2024-25 where they went 8-11 in MIAA play. The Bearcats advanced to the opening round of the MIAA Championships before falling 59-50 to Missouri Southern in Kansas City. 
 
Northwest has produced a victory in the season opener in each of the last three seasons as the Cats have produced four consecutive .500 or better seasons - the longest since a five-year stretch ending in 1990-91. Northwest returns four players that scored 464 of its 1,865 points from last season led by Emree Zars who has scored in double-figures 38 times during her career. The senior guard from Shawnee, Kansas went 75-of-222 (.338) from the floor last season including 21-of-81 (25.9%) from deep and 24-of-36 (66.7%) from the line to average 6.5 points per game to go along with 127 rebounds, 28 assists, one block and five steals in 30 games.
 
The Bearcats opened their campaign on Friday afternoon as they fell to Adams State, 56-51 during the opening contest of the D2CCA Tipoff Classic. Andrea Lopreato led the way for the Cats with 16 points during her 23 minutes of action. Northwest shot 35.3% from the floor including 13.3% (2-15) from behind the arc and 81.3% (13-16) from the charity stripe.
 
NORTHWEST HEAD COACH AUSTIN MEYER
ead coach Austin Meyer is entering his eighth season at the helm of the Bearcat women's basketball program in 2025-26. Meyer has posted 97 victories in seven seasons. Meyer has guided the Bearcats to four consecutive .500 or better seasons - the longest stretch since a five-year stretch ending in the 1990-91 season. 
 
Meyer ranks No. 3 in program history in coaching victories with 97. He has tallied three MIAA Tournament victories and led Northwest to the semifinals of the 2024 MIAA Tournament. The Bearcats have landed 12 all-MIAA performers during the Meyer tenure, including the 2021 MIAA Freshman of the Year Molly Hartnett.
 
In 2023-2024, head coach Austin Meyer led the Northwest Missouri State women's basketball program to its first NCAA tournament in 13 years. The Bearcats finished with a 23-8 record and tied for second place in the MIAA. The 16 MIAA victories were the second most in program history. Meyer was introduced as the ninth head women's basketball coach in program history March 19, 2018.
 
THE SERIES
Sunday will mark just the sixth all-time meeting on the hardwood between the Lady Buffs and Bearcats. WT is 4-1 in the series that dates back to 1991 with three of the five meetings coming in the NCAA Tournament. Sunday will be the fourth time that the two teams will battle on a neutral court including the second time in St. Joseph.
 
The last meeting came on Mach 14, 2009 in Canyon as the Lady Buffs earned hosting duties for the NCAA Regional Tournamentm hosting the eighth seeded Bearcats in the quarterfinal round. Northwest forced overtime before a Meghan Burke 40-foot heave at the buzzer to give the Cats a 72-71 victory over the Lady Buffs.
 
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. 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.