Women's Basketball Has Home and Home With Texas A&M-Kingsville Slated This Week

1/13/2021 11:18:00 AM

GAME INFO
St. Mary's (0-4, 0-4 Lone Star) at Texas A&M-Kingsville (3-3, 3-3 Lone Star)
LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEO
Thursday, January 14, 2021, 5:00 p.m.

Texas A&M-Kingsville at St. Mary's
LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEO
Saturday, January 16, 2021, 3:00 p.m.

The St. Mary's Women's Basketball team will play its fifth-straight game on the road to begin the season when it takes on Texas A&M-Kingsville on Thursday at 5 p.m. It will be the 53^rd meeting between the Rattlers and Javelinas and each team has won 26 contests. The Rattlers have won the last four games in the series, including a two-point overtime thriller a season ago in Bill Greehey. The two squads will also square off on Saturday in San Antonio, the first home game of the year for the Blue & Gold.

The Javelinas are 3-3 on the season after splitting a series with Texas-Permian Basin over the weekend. The games on Thursday and Saturday will be the first in the South Division for the Rattlers, who won their division a year ago. Texas A&M-International currently lead the South with a 2-0 division record and 6-1 overall mark. The Dust Devils have played the most games of the 15 teams in the league with seven, while Angelo State has yet to compete.

Saturday marks the home opener for the Rattlers. St. Mary's is 30-13 all-time in home openers and this marks the latest home opening contest in school history. This will be the fourth game against the Javelinas in the last eight years to kick off Bill Greehey Arena contests, with the Javelinas holding a 2-1 edge.

Senior Hannah Wilson leads the Rattlers in scoring (12.3), rebounding (8.3) and field goal percentage (.475). Wilson's rebounding average ranks third in the league. Senior Mya Culiver leads in three-point field goal percentage (.545), free throw percentage (1.000), assists (2.0) and steals (1.75). Senior Audrey Wandji leads the way in blocked shots (1.0).

For the Javelinas, Brianna Pena leads in scoring with 16.0 points per game, which is good for fourth in the Lone Star, and Anastacia Mickens ranks sixth in the league with 7.0 rebounds per game.  

Wilson moved up two spots and now ranks sixth in school history in games started with 81. The senior is five starts away from cracking the top five and 21 shy of the record of 102 starts by Kiara Etheridge (2013-2017).

Wilson is also 15 rebounds shy of 750 for her career. Wilson ranks fifth in school history with her 735 boards. She is 129 shy of fourth (Susan Carter, 864, 1983-1987) and 285 off the record held by Kiara Etheridge (1020, 2013-2017).

St. Mary's ranks fourth in the Lone Star in rebounding defense, allowing 35.3 rebounds per game. Individually, Wilson ranks 14^th in scoring at 12.3 points per game, fifth in rebounds per game (8.3) and 17^th in free throw percentage (.786). Senior Mya Culiver is tied for 14^th with 1.5 triples a game, while sophomore Natalia Ryng is currently 10^th in rebounds averaging 6.3 a contest.

St. Mary's is not permitting fans inside Bill Greehey due to Covid-19 protocols, however Texas A&M-Kingsville is allowing a limited number of fans to attend the SPEC.