West Texas A&M (17-10, 11-9) vs. St. Edward's Hilltoppers (11-17, 7-12 LSC)
Date & Time	Saturday, February 22nd at 1:00 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 of West Texas A&M continue their homestand on Saturday afternoon as they welcome the St. Edward's Hilltoppers to the First United Bank Center with tipoff set for 1:00 p.m. on Senior Day in Canyon.
 
ST. MARY'S RECAP
The Lady Buffs snapped a four-game win streak on Thursday night as they fell to the St. Mary's Rattlers, 65-57 in Lone Star Conference divisional crossover action. Taylor Haggan led the way for the Lady Buffs as the sophomore from Parker, Texas went 7-of-14 from the floor to tie a team-high with 14 points along with 11 rebounds for her third double-double of the season. Kyla Kane added 14 points with two boards and three assists followed by Randi Harding with nine points and four assists.
 
A LOOK AT THE HILLTOPPERS
St. Edward's enters the weekend with an overall record of 11-17 with a 7-12 mark in Lone Star Conference action to sit tied for fourth in the East Division standings. The Hilltoppers are just 3-8 away from Austin this season with wins at Westminster (78-70), Oklahoma Christian (65-61) and Cameron (83-76).
 
Thursday night's contest in Portales saw the Hilltoppers turn the ball over 21 times as they shot just 35.4% (17-of-48) from the floor in a 60-52 loss to Eastern New Mexico. Kiana Bennett led the way for St Edward's going 5-of-10 from the floor including 2-of-5 from deep and 6-of-6 from the line for a game-high 18 points to go along with two boards, two assists and three steals.
 
The Hilltoppers, picked 12th in the LSC Preseason Poll, finished the 2023-24 campaign with an overall record of 9-19 with a 6-16 mark in league action to miss out on the LSC Championships in Frisco.
 
JP Perkins leads the way offensively for the Hilltoppers as the sophomore guard from San Antonio has gone 139-of-326 (42.6%) from the field including 22-of-61 (36.1%) from behind the arc and 86-of-123 (69.9%) from the free throw line to average 13.8 points per game to go along with 130 rebounds, 112 assists, 53 steals and eight blocks. Her 13.8 points per game is tied for ninth in the LSC.
 
SEU HEAD COACH J.J. RIEHL
J.J. Riehl is now in her 13th season at the helm of the St. Edward's women's basketball program as she holds an overall record of 176-183 during her time in Austin with a pair of NCAA Tournament appearances. She took over the program in 2012 following a decade as the top assistant, helping the Toppers to the 2005-06 Heartland Conference Title. Riehl played her college career at SEU, earning two all-conference honors during her time on the hilltop.
 
THE SERIES
Saturday afternoon marks the 14th all-time meeting on the hardwood between the Lady Buffs and Hilltoppers as WT holds the 12-1 all-time advantage with the Lady Buffs claiming the last six meetings in a series that dates back to 1998. The Hilltoppers are 0-7 all-time in Canyon.
 
Last year's meeting saw Grace Alvarez go 7-of-13 from the floor including 5-of-8 from behind the arc for a team-high 23 points to go along with three rebounds, four assists and a block. Nyalam Thabach chipped in 20 points and nine boards in a 82-68 victory by the Lady Buffs in Austin.
 
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 LSC 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 289-46 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 (FEB. 17)
The coming week's schedule has all 16 teams with a two-game set against opponents from their opposite division (Feb. 20, 22) before closing February and the regular-season slate with travel partner games (Feb. 27-Mar. 1).
 
UT Tyler claimed at least a share of the LSC East Division title with home schedule-closing wins vs. Texas A&M-Kingsville (Feb. 13) and Texas A&M International (Feb. 15). The Patriots can claim sole possession of the division title with a win vs. Texas Woman's Feb. 27; a TWU win would have the two sharing the East Division crown.  ...  Lubbock Christian secured the LSC West Division title with a pair of wins over the Feb. 6-8 weekend.
 
A three-way tie for the LSC Championship continues with TWU, UT Tyler and LCU each posting 18-1 marks against all conference teams.  ...  Competition for postseason spots make this week's games key to teams staying in the hunt for one of the eight tournament berths and seeds.  ...  Seeding for the eight-team LSC Tournament is based on overall standings (22 games).
 
Six teams posted 2-0 records over the Valentine's Day weekend  ...  West Texas A&M took road wins at Sul Ross State and Western New Mexico to post a four-game win streak for the third time this season.