COMMERCE – The East Texas A&M University women's basketball team is back from the holiday break and hosts defending Southland Conference Tournament champion SFA for the first conference game at home this season as part of Family Fun Day, presented by Northeast Texas Gellyball.  

WHO: SFA at East Texas A&M
WHERE: Commerce | The Field House
WHEN: Monday, December 29 | 4 p.m.
RECORDS: The Lions are 4-5 on the season and 0-2 against Southland opponents, while the Ladyjacks are 7-4 overall and 1-1 in SLC action.  

LIVE AUDIO: Lion Sports Network – KETR 88.9 FM (http://www.ketr.org)
LIVE VIDEO: ESPN+ | https://www.espn.com/watch/player/_/eventCalendarId/401807526
SLC INTERNATIONAL: https://www.southland.org/watch/
LIVE STATS: https://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=620367
TICKETS: https://vivenu.com/seller/texas-am-university-commerce-v6v3
GAME NOTES: ETAMU | SFA

FAMILY FUN DAY PRESENTED BY NORTHEAST TEXAS GELLYBALL
• Monday's doubleheader against SFA is part of Family Fun Day presented by Northeast Texas Gellyball. All kids 12 and under will receive free admission to the game and there will be free face painting for all fans. 

SCOUTING THE LADYJACKS
• SFA, the defending Southland Tournament Champion and NCAA Tournament participant is 1-1 in conference play coming into Monday, which is its first SLC game on the road. The Ladyjacks have recorded notable wins over Abilene Christian, Houston, and Texas State.
• The Ladyjacks and the Lions played twice last season with SFA winning both games. The average margin of victory for the Ladyjacks was 21.5 points per game.
• SFA shoots 28.2 three-pointers per game, which is 18th in the country.

QUICK GLANCE AT THE LIONS
• The Lions ended non-conference play with a win over Texas Southern on December 15. East Texas A&M recorded four non-conference wins this season, which is most for the program since 2023-24, while also recording two wins over Division I non-conference opponents for the first time since that season.
• A win on Monday over SFA avoids the first 0-3 start to conference play for the program since 2011-12, when it started 0-19. East Texas A&M has won its first conference home game for each of the past six seasons.
• The Lions are holding teams to shoot 25.8 percent from deep, which is 27th in D1.

A NEW ERA OF LION BASKETBALL
• This season begins a new era of East Texas A&M women's basketball as the Lions are now officially eligible for NCAA postseason after acheiving full NCAA Division I member status a year ahead of schedule.
• East Texas A&M ended its Division I era by advancing to the NCAA Tournament four seasons in a row, including winning a game in the past two trips to the NCAA Tournament.

JUST DOING IT
• The Lions also debuted their new uniforms as East Texas A&M is the now the only school in the Southland to be outfitted by Nike.

GET TO KNOW THE NEW LIONS
• This season's roster includes six newcomers with two being Division I transfers, while one is from Division II and three are true freshmen.
• Tiani Ellison, spent last season with the program, but made her season debut this season. She is a transfer from Missouri Western State.

SERIES HISTORY AGAINST THE LADYJACKS
• Monday marks the eighth regular season meeting between the Ladyjacks and the Lions with SFA having won every meeting prior.
• Last season, the Ladyjacks went 2-0 with an average margin of victory of 21.5 points.

DOWNED THE LADY TIGERS AT HOME
• The Lions ended non-conference play with a win over Texas Southern, which was its second straight win over the Lady Tigers over the prior two seasons.

LIONS LOVE THE KIDS
• The last game for the Lions was the Education Day game, who moved to 2-0 in Education Day games this season.

LOOKING TO AVOID A RARITY
• The Lions have fallen in their first two conference games before the holiday break.
• East Texas A&M looks to avoid its first 0-3 start to conference play since 2011-12.
• The Lions have also won the conference home opener in each of the last six years.

TAMED THE RAGIN' CAJUNS
• The Lions cruised to a road win over Louisiana, the first win over a Division I opponent this season and the third ever non-conference road win over a Division I opponent.
• Following the win, the Lions jumped 60 spots in the NET rankings, being rated No. 242.

REUNITED WITH THE WILDCATS
• December 6 was the 50th meeting all-time between the Lions and the Wildcats and the first in Commerce since 2013.
• The Wildcats are now 39-11 all-time in the series with the win and won nine of the last 10 meetings.

FIRST NET RANKINGS RELEASED
• The first NCAA NET rankings of the year were released on December 1 with the Lions rated No. 301.
• Since then, the Lions climbed to as high as 241 following the win over Louisiana and are currently ranked No. 271 going into Monday's game.

LONG STRETCHES AWAY
• The Lions come off a 10-day break to face the Ragin' Cajuns on December 2.
• It was the second 10-day stretch between games for the Lions already this season.
• The previous 10-day stretch came between games against UT Dallas and at Oklahoma.
• Following the game against Texas Southern on Monday, the Lions are off for two weeks.

ANOTHER STRONG START TO THE SEASON
• With the win over UT Dallas, the Lions have started 2-1 or better for the third time year in a row.
• East Texas A&M has won at least three non-conference games in each of the last three seasons as well.

LION ROLL OVER TRAILBLAZERS
• November 3 was the season opener for the Lions, rolling to a 113-48 win over UNT Dallas.
• The 113 points are tied for the second most scored in a game in program history and most in a game since 2018.
• The Lions recorded 25 steals, which is a new program record.

NEWCOMERS MAKE THEIR MARK AGAINST UNT DALLAS
• The Lions had five scorers reach double-digits in the win over the Trailblazers with four of the five players being newcomers and four coming off the bench.
• Three freshmen: Sarah Gatwech, Rezia Castillo, and Terrayah McCoy all added 11 points or more in the game.

STEALS RECORD FALLS IN WIN OVER TRAILBLAZERS
• In the win over the Trailblazers, the Lions recorded 25 steals and forced 36 turnovers.
• The 25 steals are a new program record, surpassing 25 that the Lions had recorded two seperate occasions.
• Terrayah McCoy had six steals to lead the way for the Lions in the game.

ANOTHER SEASON WITH A 1-0 START
• The Lions have won their season opener for the seventh year in a row, including all four years of NCAA Division I basketball.

HORVATH CALLS GAME
• In overtime period where both teams had two-possession leads, Cora Horvath sent the Lions home wita 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.
• The win over the Tigers was the last time the Lions beat a Division I non-conference opponent.

TOUGH TESTS ON THE ROAD
• The first two road games of the season for the Lions came against Power Conference opponents, including No. 22/22 Oklahoma State on Wednesday and Oklahoma on November 19, who is ranked in the top 10 in both major polls.

WE'RE GOING TO GET TO KNOW EACH OTHER
• This season, each team in the Southland Conference is scheduled to play 22 conference games, which is the most for any conference in Division I.
• The first conference game for the Lions comes on November 22 at defending SLC champion, Southeastern.

KING HAS GOT IT DONE
• This is the third season for East Texas A&M under the leadership of Valerie King.
• The first season under King was historic for the Lions as 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, winning 15 games that season.

WE BELONG HERE
• East Texas A&M have advanced to the semifinal round of the conference tournament for six of the last seven seasons.

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.