Women's Basketball Heads West for Pair of LSC Contests

This Week in Rattlers Basketball
West Texas A&M • Thursday, February 20 • 5:30 p.m.
St. Mary's (11-13, 7-11)
Head Coach: Valerie Huizar (66-76)
at West Texas A&M (17-9, 11-8)
Head Coach: Josh Prock (291-174) 
Broadcast: FloCollege 

Eastern New Mexico • Saturday, February 22 • 2 p.m.
St. Mary's (11-13, 7-11)
Head Coach: Valerie Huizar (66-76)
at Eastern New Mexico (17-8, 12-7)
Head Coach: Blake Huber (57-27) 
Broadcast: FloCollege • Play-by-Play: Doc Elder

Final Two Weeks: The St. Mary's Women's Basketball winds down the regular season in the next two weeks and plays three of its final four games on the road. The Rattlers play at West Texas A&M on Thursday and at Eastern New Mexico on Saturday before facing rival, St. Edward's in back-to-back games to finish up the regular season.

Series History with West Texas A&M: The Rattlers trail 11-1 in the all-time series with West Texas A&M and have never won in Canyon, posting an 0-6 mark. St. Mary's has dropped three in a row to the Lady Buffs, losing one year ago, 71-62.

Scouting the Lady Buffs: West Texas A&M is one of three teams tied for sixth in the Lone Star Conference standings with an 11-8 record and they are 17-9 overall. They have won their last four games and play their final three games at home. Kyla Kane leads the Lady Buffs in scoring with 13.4 per night, while former Rattler Taylor Haggan leads the club with 7.1 rebounds per game. Kane also leads the conference and ranks ninth in the nation shooting 88.8 percent from the free throw line.

Series History with Eastern New Mexico: The Greyhounds hold a slight 5-4 edge in the all-time series with St. Mary's, though the Rattlers won 65-56 a season ago at Bill Greehey Arena. In Portales, ENMU holds a 1-0 lead in the meetings, winning 77-61 in 2022.

Scouting the Greyhounds: Eastern New Mexico is in second place in the west division, sporting a conference record of 12-7 and an overall mark of 17-8, though they trail Lubbock Christian by six games. ENMU is also on a four game winning streak and play two of its final three at home, wrapping up the regular season at WT next Thursday. Ishuana Hunter and Nataya Lockett lead the team with 11.1 and 10.6 points per game, respectively, while Jayla Smith leads the club with 6.3 rebounds per game. ENMU leads the Lone Star and ranks seventh in the nation with 33.0 points per game coming off the bench and they are 23rd in the country with a +7.6 rebound margin. 

Regaining Her Rhythm: After going through a stretch of four straight games where she failed to score in double figures, freshman forward Christin Callens has been on fire in the last eight games, averaging 18.88 points per game, shooting 54.6 percent from the field (59-for-108) during the streak. She has scored 20 or more four times, including a career-high 31 against Oklahoma Christian on Thursday night. Those 31 points tie for the 11th most in a game in St. Mary's history and are the most by a Rattler since Hannah Wilson scored 37 against Minnesota State on Nov. 27, 2021.

Malik's Magic: In addition to second in the Lone Star Conference and 18th in the nation in blocked shots per game (2.13), freshman forward Raynne Malik continues to get better at her rebounding game as the season continues. Malik has eight or more rebounds in each of the last four games, averaging 9.25 during the streak, and she's been in double figures seven times this year. Malik currently ranks sixth in the LSC with 7.7 per game and is the top-ranked freshman in the league.

Pounding The Paint: With the twin towers, it's no surprise the St. Mary's offense runs through the paint. In the two games last week, the Rattlers scored 44 in the paint against Oklahoma Christian and 46 against Cameron, the second and third highest totals of the year behind the 48 at Texas A&M International on Jan. 30. The Rattlers are averaging 29.75 points per game in the paint and 51.3% of the team's scoring comes inside the rectangular space.

Moving Up: Christin Callens continues to climb the single season scoring list for freshmen, moving into fifth with 349 points after scoring 53 in the two games last week. She passed Jackie Woods (2011-12) with 325 last week and is now 11 points shy of fourth on the list. Soteria Banks (2017-18) currently holds the spot with 360 points, and she is 36 points away from the all-time record of 385 set by Taylor Haggan a year ago. Callens became the ninth freshman in St. Mary's Division II history (2000-current) to score over 200 in their first season.

Diaper Dandies: The seven freshmen on the roster are accounting for 52.4 percent of the team's scoring this season, despite two of the seven playing only four games each due to injury. Christin Callens leads the team with 14.5 per game, while Raynne Malik (7.0), Tiara Louis (3.1), Lena Newby (2.5) and Daniela Ciscar (2.3) have played in the majority of the games. The junior class is next, averaging 26.9 percent of the scoring.

Block Party: Freshman Raynne Malik has blocked 49 shots this season, jumping her to fifth place ahead of Morgan Pullins (2014-15) and Hannah Wilson (2021-22), who each swatted 46. The Rattlers record for blocked shots by a freshman is 62 by Teri Mollett in 1979-80, which also ranks second all-time. Malik's 49 blocks are the freshman record in the school's Division II era (since 1999-00).

Battle of the Boards: At Texas A&M International on Jan. 30, the Rattlers won the rebounding battle, 49-to-14. The +35 rebound margin is the largest of the season and the 14 rebounds are the fewest for any opponent in the Division II era (2000). The previous low was 18 by UT Permian Basin on March 5, 2010. 

It's An Honor: For the first time this season, a St. Mary's player earned Lone Star Conference Player of the Week honors as freshman forward Raynne Malik snagged the Defensive honors on Jan. 20. Malik posted a pair of double-doubles with 15 points and 10 rebounds in each of the wins over Cameron and Oklahoma Christian. She also swatted nine shots, blocking four against the Aggies and a career-best five over the Eagles. Malik also shot 70.6 percent from the field, missing only one shot inside the arc (11-12).

Rattler Numbers to Watch

• For the first time this season, the Rattlers lost a game when shooting 40 percent or better from the field, as they shot 41.5 percent against Cameron. The Rattlers are now 11-1 when shooting 40 percent or better for the game and 0-12 when connecting on less than 40 percent. 

• StMU leads the Lone Star Conference and ranks 37th in the nation with 28.3 defensive rebounds per game. They also rank third in the league and 26th in the country with a +7.2 rebound margin. 

• Junior guard Imani Ivery needs nine points to score 200 for the season. She has 216 for her career.

• With freshman Lena Newby hitting a three-pointer against UT Tyler, the Rattlers now have 12 of the 13 players hitting a triple against Lone Star Conference foes. The only exception is junior post Sian Phipps, who hasn't attempted a three in her career.

• The Rattlers are outscoring the opposition in every quarter this season except the second, where foes have a 60-point advantage. StMU is outscoring by 20 in the 1st, one in the 3rd, seven in the 4th and 12 in overtime.