The Javelinas played three games this week against Lone Star Conference North Division opponents. On Thursday, they play host to #13 Northeastern State and on Saturday, Central Oklahoma comes to town. The team travels to Southeastern Oklahoma on Tuesday night.
Last Week
The Javelinas went 1-2 last week. First, they traveled to NCAA Division I UT-Pan American and lost 90-68. On November 23, they opened up their home schedule with a 63-44 win over Our Lady of the Lake. Finally, on Saturday the team traveled to East Central and dropped a 66-62 decision.
Going Gonzo
Sophomore post Victoria Gonzalez put together an unbelievable two-game stretch last week that led to her being named the Lone Star Conference South Division Defensive Player of the Week.
Gonzalez had the best game of her career with 16 points, 22 rebounds and four blocks in a win over Our Lady of the Lake. All three stats were career highs as well as the 13 offensive rebounds she nabbed. She came back with 13 points, 17 rebounds and two blocks in a loss at East Central. She averaged 14.5 points and 19.5 rebounds per game and posted her first two career double-doubles.
Gonzalez leads the LSC with 11.4 rebounds per game and also with 6.6 offensive rebounds per game. The school record for rebound average for a season is 15.3 by Kay Goodwin in 1981-82. The last player to average at least 10.0 rebounds per game was Arie Wilson who averaged 11.8 in 2002-03.
Finding Her Shot
Red-shirt freshman wing Novella Thomas has started to show why she was such a highly touted recruit a few years ago. In her past two games, she is averaging 10.0 points and 10.0 rebounds per game.
Thomas posted her first career double-double with 10 points and 12 rebounds against Our Lady of the Lake. She added three steals and a pair of assists. She then had 10 points and eight boards at East Central. She should continue to improve since she struggled to make her shots connecting on just 5-of-32 attempts.
What a Difference
Sophomore point guard Meagan Barlow has already seen more time on the court in her first five games this year compared to last year. She has shown massive improvements in two key areas, passing and free throw shooting.
As a freshman, Barlow went 9-for-24 from the foul line and dished out only three assists while committing 22 turnovers. This year, she is 14-of-16 from the charity stripe and has handed out 16 assists with the same 22 turnovers.
Help from Down Under
Junior Kelly Bastow has been a little used substitute in each of her first two seasons, but the shooting guard from Bunbury, Australia is making the most of her opportunities this year.
On Saturday, Bastow made her first career start at East Central. In 29 minutes of action, she scored eight points, drained a pair of three-pointers, dished out five assists and grabbed three rebounds. In her last two games she has handed out nine assists and is currently second on the team with 2.4 per game.
Shot Blockers
The Javelinas have never been a big shot blocking team, but that could be changing with the additions of Victoria Gonzalez and Ashley Perez to the lineup over the last two years.
Gonzalez led the team with 10 blocks last year despite only playing 7.4 minutes per game. This year she already has nine blocks and should make a solid run at the school record of 52 set by Brett Henke in 1996-97.
Perez is a 6-2 freshman from Lytle, TX who has made an immediate impact on defense. She has seven blocks in only 53 minutes of action. It is likely that if she continues to earn more playing time that she will surpass Gonzalez in the blocks department.
The school record for blocks in a season is 101 set by the 2000-01 team. The Javelinas have 21 blocks already and are on pace for 113 this year.
The Riverhawks
The Javelinas had their season end last year at the hands of Northeastern State in the LSC Tournament. Despite 19 points from Kayla Naylor, the Riverhawks prevailed 85-76. Jasmine Wright led NSU with a career high 22 points.
This year, the Riverhawks are ranked 13th in the nation and are a perfect 3-0. They have three players averaging in double figures and are led by post Jasmine Webb who is averaging 12.0 points and 9.0 rebounds per game.
The Javelinas are 4-10 all-time against the Riverhawks.
Replacing Seniors
The Javelinas had six seniors on the team last year and have been slow starting this year possibly due to a number of freshmen and sophomores on the floor.
The Hoggies graduated 78.1 percent of their scoring and 61.6 percent of their rebounding from a year ago.
No comments:
Post a Comment