COMMERCE – The 20-game Southland Conference slate begins for the East Texas A&M University women's basketball team on Saturday at HCU. 

WHO: East Texas A&M at HCU
WHERE: Houston | Sharp Gym
WHEN: Saturday, December 14 | 1 p.m.
RECORDS: The Lions are 3-6 overall, while the Huskies are 2-5. Saturday is the conference opener for both teams. 

LISTEN: Lion Sports Network | https://www.ketr.org/
WATCH: ESPN+ | https://www.espn.com/watch/player/_/eventCalendarId/401700703
LIVE STATS: https://hcuhuskies.com/sidearmstats/wbball/summary
GAME NOTES: ETAMU | HCU

SCOUTING THE HUSKIES
• HCU comes into Saturday's conference opener with an overall record of 2-5, having beaten Utah Tech and Southwestern. The Huskies are 2-1 at home, and all four losses on the road have come at Big XII opponents.
• The Huskies were last in action on December 4 in a 93-39 loss at Oklahoma State. Since joining the SLC prior to the 2022-23 season, the Lions are 4-0 against the Huskies and have a winning margin of nine points in the two games in Houston.
• Erin Maguire is the leading scorer with 7.7 points per game, Jo Oly is averaging 7.2.

QUICK GLANCE AT THE LIONS
• The Lions ended non-conference play with a 74-59 loss at Abilene Christian last week, having lost three in a row.
• East Texas A&M's only other win over a Division I opponent and only road win of the season came in Houston at Texas Southern.
• The Lions are looking to win the conference opener for the first time under coach Valerie King, after suffering a narrow defeat at New Orleans to begin SLC action a year ago. East Texas A&M was picked sixth in the preseason SLC poll, HCU was picked 12th.

BRAND NEW WATERS
• The Lions are in the third season in NCAA Division I and the Southland Conference.
• This is the first time the Lions are changing conferences in program history.
• A&M-Commerce is eligible for the NCAA Tournament in the 2026-27 season.

SOME NEW THREADS
• Earlier this month, Texas A&M University System Board of Regents approved a name change of A&M-Commerce to East Texas A&M University.
• The Lions wore a special jersey against Arkansas in an East Texas theme.

LAST ONE AGAINST NON-SLC PLAY
• Saturday's game in Abilene is the final non-conference game of the season for the Lions.
• A win over the Wildcats gives the Lions multiple wins over Division I opponents in non-conference play for the second straight season.

STARTING OFF SLC PLAY
• The Lions begin SLC play against the Huskies on Saturday, looking to win the conference opener for the first time since 2022-23.

SUCCESS IN SPACE CITY
• This is the second game in Houston for the Lions this season, having won in overtime over Texas Southern on November 21.
• The Lions are 3-1 in Houston since moving up to NCAA Division I, only loss was at Houston in 2022-23.

RIVALRY RE-IGNITED AGAINST THE WILDCATS
• Having played in the same conference for decades, the Wildcats and the Lions met for the first time last week since 2013, which was the 49th meeting between the two teams, with ACU leading the all-time head-to-head 38-11.

HORVATH CALLS GAME
• In overtime period where both teams had two-possession leads, Cora Horvath sent the Lions home with a win, hitting a jumper in the final seconds at Texas Southern.
• Both teams had a lead of over 10 points in the game, but TSU rallied late to force overtime.

TOUGH LOSS AGAINST THE MAVS
• The Lions led by as much as 12 and for over 25 minute against UTA last Monday, but came up on the wrong side of 73-71 loss at home.
• Jordyn Newsome led the team in scoring with 18, but three of five starters and four players overall fouled out in the game for the Lions.

HORVATH ON FIRE ON THE ROAD
• Cora Horvath scored 22 points in the road loss at No. 17 Baylor, scoring her first 20-point game as a Lion.

LONG TIME AWAY FROM HOME
• The game against UT Arlington on November 18 was the last non-conference game at home for the Lions, who do not play at home again till January 2.
• The 45-day stretch away from home is the third longest in Division I this season.
• Only Columbia (47) and UC Irvine (46) have longer stretches away from home at any point this season.

TOUGH TESTS ON THE ROAD
• The first two road games of the season for the Lions came against Power Conference opponents, including No. 17 Baylor, which are the only two Power Five Conference opponents on the schedule this season.

REACHED THE CENTURY MARK
• The Lions scored 100 in the win over LeTourneau, marking the first time in the Division I era and first time since January 23, 2022, at home against Midwestern State.

SLOW START, EASY WIN OVER UNT DALLAS
• The Lions led by just two after the first quarter against UNT-Dallas, but a 20-5 favor in the second quarter pulled the Lions ahead on their first win of the season.
• East Texas A&M has now started 1-0 in each of the last six seasons.

NEWSOME NAMED TO PRESEASON ALL-SLC TEAM
• After being named the conference Newcomer of the Year last season, Jordyn Newsome was named to preseason second team all-Southland coming into the year.
• Newsome was one of the top scorers from outside the three-point arc in the conference a year ago.

A NEW-LOOK SOUTHLAND
• The Southland Conference welcomes two new members to the conference this year in SFA and UTRGV.
• The Lions have played SFA just once, while having never played UTRGV.

LIONS PICKED SIXTH IN THE SLC
• In the new-look Southland, the Lions were picked to finish sixth, after a fifth-place finish a year ago.
• The Lions have finished fifth or tied for fourth in both seasons in the SLC.

KING HAS GOT IT DONE
• The first season under Valerie King was historic for the Lions.
• The win over UIW in the SLC Tournament gave the Lions the most wins under a first-year coach and are the most in the Division I era.

WE BELONG HERE
• East Texas A&M has advanced to the semifinal round of the conference tournament for six straight seasons.
• The Lions have also won two postseason games for the fifth straight season.

DEFIED THE ODDS
• In the preseason Southland poll, the Lions were picked eighth, but finished in a tie for fifth with a conference record of 8-10.

TOP-SCORING OFFENSE IN THE SOUTHLAND
• The Lions finished the season averaging 69.6 points per game, which was the top scoring offense in the conference.

DECK AND NEWSOME ALL-SOUTHLAND HONORS
• Mia Deck was named to second team all-conference by the Southland on Saturday, it is the first all-conference recognition in her career.
• Jordyn Newsome, a junior transfer from Coastal Carolina, was named the Newcomer of the Year. She is the program's first Newcomer of the Year since Lion Athletics Hall of Famer, Britney Jordan in 2006-07.
• The two honorees on the all-conference honor roll are the most for the program in the Division I era.

A RARE OVERTIME GAME
• The Lions went into overtime against New Orleans, which was just the second overtime game since November 2018, and first in the regular season.

NEAR-COMEBACK AGAINST SLU
• A&M-Commerce trailed by 30 against Southeastern, before making it a five-point game.
• The 30-point comeback would have been the second-biggest in NCAA Division I history.

HISTORIC WIN OVER THE COWGIRLS
• The Lions won by 24 points over McNeese last season on the road.
• The margin of victory is largest on the road in the Division I era and second biggest against a conference opponent.
• The margin was also the highest for the Lions since Feb. 8, 2022.

BACK-TO-BACK LAST SECOND WINNERS
• The Lions have scored the go-ahead basket in the last minute in the wins over Idaho and Southern Utah.
• Mia Deck scored the game-winner at Idaho, while Ahmya Boyce had the game-winner against Southern Utah.

UNPRECENTED START TO THE SEASON
• The Lions ended non-conference play with a record of 5-5 last season.
• The five wins are most in non-conference play during the Division I era.
• The Lions had three wins over NCAA Division I opponents in non-conference play, which also surpassed the 2022-23 season.

ENDED ON A HIGH NOTE
• The Lions ended their Division II era with four straight NCAA Tournament appearances and won a NCAA Tournament game in each of the last two seasons.
• East Texas A&M has five NCAA postseason appearances in program history, with four coming in the last four seasons of the Division II era.