PORTALES, N.M. – Eastern New Mexico Women's Basketball begins conference play this weekend at Greyhound Arena. First, ENMU will welcome St. Edward's for their Lone Star Conference opener on Thursday, Nov. 30, beginning at 5 p.m. Then, the Greyhounds face St. Mary's on Saturday, Dec. 2, with first tip scheduled for 1 p.m.

TUNE IN

• This week's games will be covered on the LSC Digital Network. The LSC Digital Network will now offer a single game pass for $15, a monthly pass for $30, and a yearly pass for $140. SEU vs ENMU | StMU vs ENMU
• Both games on Thursday and Saturday will be broadcast on 105.9 KSEL-FM and KSELCountry.com with Donald "Doc" Elder calling the action.
• Eastern New Mexico will open conference action at home facing St. Edward's on Thursday, and St. Mary's on Saturday. Single game tickets are available through the ENMU Athletics website (A single ticket cover entrance into ENMU WBB and MMB for a single day): ENMU Tickets.
• Live stats will be available for each contest this week: 11/30 vs SEU | 12/2 vs StMU

LAST TIME OUT

Eastern closed non-conference play with a road split in Colorado, falling to CSU-Pueblo 49-37 and bouncing back to beat UCCS, 57-48. During the defeat to the Thunderwolves the ENMU offense was overwhelmed by CSU-P, shooting just 23.6% from the field. During the victory over the Mountain Lions, Deja Adrian (11 points) and Tatiana Hodges-Johnson (10 points) led the Greyhounds in scoring.

SCOUTING THE GREYHOUNDS

At the conclusion of non-conference play, Eastern has a 4-2 record scoring 61.7 points per game (ppg) and holding opponents to 56.7 ppg, with a scoring margin of +5.0. The Greyhounds are shooting 40.3% from the field. At the three-point line ENMU is shooting 28.9%, while sporting a 75.3% free throw percentage. ENMU picks up 37.3 rebounds per game (rpg), dish out 9.5 assists per game (apg), poke away 12.2 steals per game (spg), and record 1.2 blocks per game (bpg).
 
Jamila Nansikombi-Gunter (14.2 ppg), Adrian (13.0 ppg), and Jaz Salon (10.7 ppg) are each reaching double-figures for scoring, while Nansikombi-Gunter averages a team best 6.7 rpg. Salon, Adrian, and Vanessa Oduah each have over 10 assists this season. Pacing the team defensively, Nansikombi-Gunter leads the team in steals (17) and blocks (3) after the opening six games.
 
Across the Lone Star Conference (LSC), Eastern are the best team defending the glass, holding teams to just 31.8 rpg (Best in the LSC). Additionally, the Greyhounds rank 2^nd in the conference for both scoring defense (56.7 ppg) and steals per game (12.2 spg). Nationally, Eastern is 25^th in the nation for forcing turnovers, with 23.33 forced turnovers per game. Nansikombi-Gunter is 3^rd in the conference for steals per game (2.8 spg).

SCOUTING THE HILLTOPPERS

St. Edward's stand at 1-3 heading into the conference opener. The Hilltoppers won their most recent game, beating NAIA opponent Huston Tillotson 62-38.

The Hilltoppers score 63.3 ppg, while allowing 64.8 ppg. SEU is effective from the field, shooting 40.3% from the floor, while hitting 28.8% of their three-point attempts, and connecting 53.3% of the time at the foul line. St. Edward's pull down 36.8 rpg, with a rebounding margin of +2.0. St. Edward's also provide 9.5 apg, 10.8 spg, and 3.0 bpg.

Janiah Perkins has been the main contributor playing in their first season with SEU, scoring a team best 16.5 ppg (5^th in LSC), shooting 53.1% from the field (3^rd best in conference), and team best 3.8 apg (5^th best in LSC). The Hilltoppers are boasted by 11.5 ppg from Bailey Featherstone and 10.5 ppg from Jayda Ruffus-Milner. Ruffus-Milner leads the teams defensive effort with 6.8 rpg and 2.8 spg (both best on the team, with the 4^th most steals per game in the LSC).

SCOUTING THE RATTLERS

St. Mary's is still in search for their first win of the season (0-4), as they start conference play against Western New Mexico on Thursday. Coming into the weekend, the Rattlers dropped a tight game to #12 Missouri Western State, 52-47, and fell to Oklahoma Baptist, 67-56.

The StMU offense is scoring 58.3 ppg (2^nd lowest in the LSC), while giving up 67.3 ppg. St. Mary's shoot just 34.9% from the field, along with 22.0% from the three-point line, and 71.6% at the foul line. The Rattlers add 11.8 apg on offense, while collecting 36.3 rpg, finding 6.5 spg, and collecting 2.0 bpg.

Taylor Haggan is the main spark for the Rattlers, averaging 18.3 ppg (3^rd in the LSC) on 50.9% field goal shooting (5^th in the LSC), along with 9.8 rpg (3^rd in the LSC). Haggan has a pair of double doubles this season is 2^nd on the team in minutes played. Behind Haggan, Sheridan Kavanagh provides 9.5 ppg and Teanna Huggins finishes with 7.5 ppg (Huggins leads the team in assists with 2.5 apg).