KINGSVILLE, TEXAS – Coming off a dominant 104-73 win at home against Arlington Baptist, the A&M-Commerce women's basketball team (5-5 overall; 0-1 in LSC) looks to take their winning ways to Lone Star Conference competition as they travel to the Gulf Coast to take on the winless Texas A&M-Kingsville Javelinas (0-11 overall; 0-1 in LSC).
 
The Lions 104 point outburst against Arlington Baptist was only the sixth time in school-history that the Lions had reached the 100-point milestone, and was three points short of breaking the school-record of 106, which was set on two separate occasions in the 1990s. Fans will have the chance to follow the Lions' follow-up effort on Thursday against the Javelinas on 88.9 KETR and 107.1 Thunder Country.
 
A&M-Commerce was led by freshman guard Princess Davis, who became the second Lion this season -alongside senior La'Tisha Hearne- to reach the 20-point threshold on multiple occasions. Davis provided a multi-faceted game for the Lions, adding six assists, five rebounds and two steals to her 20-point outing. Ranking among the top-five in the Lone Star Conference in minutes played while leading the conference in assists, the Lions will lean on the young facilitator to provide on-court leadership against the Javelinas.
 
The two-time LSC Player of the Week honoree Hearne will duke it out in the paint as the fourth most-prolific rebounder in the conference with an average of 7.7 per game. The senior forward has already compiled three double-doubles through 2014-15.
 
Senior forward Abigail Leaupepe-Tele has defied all reason this year. Despite only averaging 17.7 minutes per game, the redshirt senior has managed four double-digit scoring performances this season is top five in the conference in blocks (No. 4 with 1 BPG) and top-ten in the conference in rebounds with 6.2 per game. The Lions will rely on both Hearne and Leaupepe-Tele down low, as A&M-Kingsville puts up similar numbers to the Lions in both rebounds and blocks
 
The Javelinas commit a conference-worst 22.1 turnovers per game, and give the ball away an average of 6.6 more times per game than their opponents do. Senior guard Ashlee Johnson, who ranks in the top-10 in the conference in steals with 1.7 per game, will have an opportunity to put her skills to work against a team who's earned a reputation for being careless with the ball.
 
The Lions most significant advantage on paper will be their ability to score the ball, outscoring A&M-Kingsville by an average of 15.1 points per game (66.7 vs. 51.6). In fact, only once per season have the Javelinas outscored the current Lions average, an 80-71 loss to St. Mary's. If A&M-Kingsville hopes to ratchet up the scoring, they'll need some players to step up in a big way. Sophomore guard Micah Weaver is the only player who's averaged double-digit scoring for the Javelinas (11.4), while also contributing 5.4 rebounds and 0.8 steals per game.
 
After Weaver, only three players average more than five points per game, the most noteworthy of which is senior forward Lauren Jay (7.6 PPG), who also holds the distinction of leading A&M-Kingsville in rebounds with 6.1 RPG. The team's main setup-woman is sophomore guard Tessa Ramirez, with 2.4 assists per game.
 
The Lions and Javelinas have an extensive history that stretches back to the conception of women's basketball at Commerce back in 1971. Thursday will be their 60th game played, with A&M-Commerce controlling the narrow historical advantage against A&M-Kingsville with a 31-28 all-time record. As of the past decade, the Lions have found success against the Javelinas, having compiled a 9-4 record against A&M-Kingsville dating back to the 2003-04 season.
 
Tipoff will be on Thursday, January 8 at 5:30 p.m. in the Gil H. Steinke Physical Education Center. After that, the Lions return home for a four-game home-stand, beginning with Sunday's game against the visiting Angelo State Rambelles (5-6 overall; 0-1 in LSC).