PORTALES, N.M. – Eastern New Mexico Women's Basketball embarks on Lone Star Conference (LSC) play for the first time this season and they travel to St. Edward's and St. Mary's for the opening conference games of the 2022-23 season. First, ENMU play St. Edward's in Austin, Texas on Thursday, Dec. 1, with first tip scheduled for 4:30 p.m. Then, the Greyhounds head to San Antonio, Texas to tangle with St. Mary's on Saturday, Dec. 3, with the game expected to commence a 12 p.m.

ON THE AIR

Thursday's game will be broadcast on 1450 AM and Saturday's game will be broadcast on 105.9 KSEL-FM and KSELCountry.com with Donald "Doc" Elder calling the action.

LAST TIME OUT

The Greyhounds played in front of home fans for the first-time last week, picking up a win against Western Colorado, 51-37, and a tough defeat against #5 Eckerd College, 72-64. Deja Adrian posted a pair of double doubles, with the Junior posting a season high 22 points and 11 rebounds against Eckerd. In the win over WCU, Eastern scored 22 points in the opening quarter and ended the contest on a 14-2 run over the final seven minutes.

SCOUTING THE HOUNDS

Entering conference play, the Hounds sport a 2-2 record. ENMU's offense is scoring 60.3 points per game (ppg) and allow just 55.5 ppg. Overall, Eastern hold a shooting percentage of 33.1%, 30.0% from behind the arc, and 65.5% at the charity stripe. On the glass, Eastern find 40.8 rebounds per game (rpg), handout 10.3 assists per game (apg), force 10.3 steals per game (spg), and post 1.3 blocks per game (bpg).

Adrian has had a great start to their Greyhound career, leading the team with 19.5 ppg and 9.3 rpg. Additionally, Edecia Beck has contributed 12.5 ppg while on the floor, while Ashley Shipley pulls down 7.0 rpg. Bella Stone contributes a team high 4.0 apg, with Lazurea Saunders averages 2.5 spg on defense.

Entering conference play, the Greyhounds hold opposing teams to the lowest scoring rate with opponents scoring just 55.5 ppg. As a team, Eastern are averaging 9.75 spg the 5^th most in the Lone Star Conference. Individually, Adrian sits in the top-5 for points (2^nd, 19.5 ppg), three-point field goal percentage (1^st, .615), and rebounds (2^nd, 9.3 rpg).

SCOUTING THE HILLTOPPERS

Recently, St. Edward's dropped a pair of contests at the Malika Sports Thanksgiving Tournament in Hilo, Hawaii. The Hilltoppers lost against University of Hawaii-Hilo, 61-34, and lost to #14 Tampa, 68-50. So far, the Hilltoppers stand at 2-4, winning both of their games at home.

SEU is scoring 54.0 ppg, while holding its opponents to 64.3 ppg. The Hilltoppers are shooting 36.4% from the floor. From behind the arc, St. Edward's is converting 35.5% of the time (3rd in LSC) and hold a 62.6% free throw shooting percentage. Additionally, SEU find 33.8 rpg, 9.0 apg, 2.8 bpg, and 6.2 spg.

The Hilltoppers are balanced in their scoring, with Morgan Gary holding a team best 11.0 ppg. Lauren Catherman and Jayda Ruffus-Milner are just behind with 9.2 ppg and 8.5 ppg, respectively. Gary is also the team's leader in rebounds with 7.2 rpg, with Sammie Dufek chipping in with 5.5 rpg. Dufek is the conference leader in blocks, finding 2.2 blocks per game (11^th in Division II).

SCOUTING THE RATTLERS

St. Mary's have had a great start to the season, posting a 4-1 record with the one loss coming against #15 Colorado Mines. In its last game, the Rattlers bested Division I Sam Houston 66-65 in an exhibition game. The Rattlers face off against Western New Mexico on Thursday, Dec. 1, before playing the Hounds.

In total, the Rattlers are scoring 67.0 ppg and holding opposing teams to 58.6 ppg. St. Mary's hold a field goal percentage of 25.6%, 34.7% from three-point range (5^th in the LSC), and 60.5% at the line. The Rattlers pull down 45.6 rpg (3^rd in the LSC), distribute 14.0 apg, create 7.6 spg, and knock away 3.2 bpg.

Tonia Bilic is the main scorer for St. Mary's scoring 11.4 ppg. Natalia Ryng is a key contributor with 8.0 ppg and leads the team in rebounding with 7.4 rpg. In total, StMU have seven different student-athletes that average 5.0 ppg or more.