ABILENE, Texas – For the first time since Dec. 19, McMurry University Women's Basketball will take the floor as the team opens conference play against East Texas Baptist on Thursday, Jan. 7 and LeTourneau on Saturday, Jan. 9.
The War Hawks will tip-off from Marshall, Texas on Thursday at 5:30 p.m. Saturday's contest is set to begin at 1 p.m. from Longview, Texas.
East Texas Baptist released its protocols for Thursday's game and will only admit members of the home and visiting pass lists, ETBU students, faculty and staff, as well as game day personnel. All others will not receive admittance to the game.
LeTourneau will also have limited capacity for their games on Saturday and will have a limited number of tickets available to the general public until at capacity. LETU will also use a pass list for the competing programs.
Live stats and live video are available for both games.
FOLLOW ALONG
ETBU: LIVE STATS l LIVE VIDEO
LETU: LIVE STATS l LIVE VIDEO
RECORDS
McM: 0-3, 0-0 ASC
ETBU: 8-0, 0-0 ASC
LETU: 4-1, 0-0 ASC
NOTES
LAST TIME OUT – The War Hawks closed the calendar year with a tough loss against Louisiana College, falling 63-50 in Alexandria, La. on Dec. 19. McMurry trailed by as many as 21 against the Wildcats, but pulled within two possessions in the final four minutes. Sophomore Destiny Mathews led the team in scoring for a third straight game with 10 points and seven rebounds.
SCOUTING THE TIGERS – East Texas Baptist has been dominant all season with an 8-0 record and an exhibition upset over NCAA DI opponent McNeese State. ETBU has not played since its Dec. 17-19 road swing in Abilene against McMurry and Hardin-Simmons. Under first-year head coach Blake Arbogast, ETBU averages 77.4 points per contest while only giving up 56.8. The balanced offensive attack is led by Bridget Upton with 12.0 PPG, followed by 10 other players with at least 5.0 PPG. All but three of the 10 have appeared in every game.
SERIES HISTORY VS. ETBU – McMurry holds a 15-13 advantage in the all-time series, dating back to 1974-75. The two sides have been fairly even through the last decade with McMurry winning six of the last 13 games. ETBU has enjoyed the most recent success with six straight wins. McMurry's last win against ETBU came on Dec. 3, 2016 by way of an 84-77 victory.
SCOUTING THE YELLOWJACKETS – LeTourneau is off to a 4-1 start and are most recently coming off a three-game sweep of the Dallas Christian College Christmas Classic on Dec. 29-31 with wins over Texas A&M Texarkana, Sul Ross State and Dallas Christian College. The team's only official loss came on Dec. 18 against UMHB in a tight contest at home, 67-64. Five players average at least 9.0 PPG for the YellowJackets, led by Keauna Whitfield at 18.8 PPG and Malacia Guy at 13.4 PPG.
SERIES HISTORY VS. LETU – McMurry leads the all-time series with a 12-8 record. The series began in the 1994-95 season and have played annually the last five seasons. LeTourneau has won four of the last five, including last season's 67-54 win at Kimbrell Arena. The last time these teams squared off in Longview was on Jan. 5, 2019, as LETU held off McM with a 79-75 overtime win. McMurry once owned a nine-game win streak vs. LETU from 2003-04 until 2011-12.
ASC PLAY BEGINS – The War Hawks will officially open its conference schedule on Thursday – the first of 16 games on the ASC docket. The regular season concludes with back-to-back contests against Hardin-Simmons University on Feb. 25 and Feb. 27. The ASC Championship Tournament is set for March 4-6 and will be hosted by the West Division regular season champion.
MATHEWS' DESTINY – Sophomore forward Destiny Mathews made the ASC Preseason Players to Watch List this year after earning all-freshman honors last season. Mathews seems to be the heir-apparent to Skyler Reyna's dominant paint presence the last four-years, as she looks to improve upon 13.1 points and 8.2 rebounds per game as McMurry's returning leader.
TAYA TIME – Sophomore Taya Bridges has taken a big step forward as a sophomore, averaging 11.0 PPG and 6.3 RPG in three starts this season. Last year, Bridges averaged 4.9 PPG and 2.7 RPG in 25 games with one start.
RISING SOPHOMORES – McMurry relied heavily on its freshman core last season, as five rising sophomores saw at least 300 minutes of significant action. Guards D'Asia White, Taya Bridges and forwards Cassidy Melton, Trinity Meador and Destiny Mathews combined for 57 starts. White, Bridges and Meador appeared in all 25 games and have started all three games this season.
NEW FACES – Nine freshmen joined the squad this season, all of whom saw their first collegiate action against Houston Baptist in the team's opening exhibition. Additionally, three players transferred in to give McMurry a veteran presence this season in junior guard Aubrey Guerra (Coastal Bend College), junior center Dehje Belmore (North Platte CC) and sophomore guard Valery Alvarado (Bethel College).
DUAL-SPORT ATHLETE – It's not every day that a collegiate scholar-athlete participates in women's soccer and women's basketball, but freshman forward Kylee Smith plans to do so in 2020-21. Smith currently averages 4.3 RPG in three appearances this season. She comes to McMurry by way of Wylie High School in Murphy, Texas, which is about three hours from Abilene's Wylie High School.
FACING THE GIANTS – Sixth year head coach Brittany Densman-Roes is not afraid to schedule tough competition. The 2020-21 season marks the fifth straight year McMurry has scheduled an NCAA DI opponent for either an exhibition or regular season game. Among those opponents are Houston Baptist, Abilene Christian, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and Lamar.
