DENTON, Texas (Nov. 14, 2016) – Texas Woman's University basketball hosts their season opener Tuesday at 7 p.m. inside Kitty Magee Arena against Arkansas-Fort Smith.
Hoping to break the attendance record, "Pack the House VI" features FREE admission, 250 FREE t-shirts and a full spring semester housing scholarship giveaway. TWU Athletics will also be accepting toiletries and donations for the TWU Food Pantry.
TEXAS WOMAN'S (2-0) vs. ARKANSAS-FORT SMITH (2-0)
Tuesday, Nov. 15 at 7 p.m.
Denton, Texas (Kitty Magee Arena)
About the Pioneers
TWU opened the 2016-17 season with a 59-42 win over Texas A&M International of the Heartland Conference in game one of the Ashbrook Classic and followed up with a 57-46 win over RMAC opponent Adams State. In the Lone Star Conference preseason poll, the Pioneers are tabbed to finish in third place amongst the 11 teams.
About the Lady Lions
UAFS overhauled the roster and coaching staff from a last year's squad which finished 21-9 and 12-6 in the Heartland. The Lady Lions return three players from a season ago and feature a new head coach in Elena Lavato. UAFS opened this season with a 76-75 win over Colorado School of Mines and a 79-66 defeat of Colorado Christian.
History between Texas Woman's and Arkansas-Fort Smith
The Pioneers have bested the Lady Lions twice, once last year in a 92-87 overtime victory and a 70-55 win during the 2010-11 season. In the most recent matchup,
Kenesha Saygo tied TWU's program record for three-point field goal percentage by hitting all five of her attempts from downtown.
Last meeting of TWU and UAFS
FORT SMITH, Ark. (Dec. 12, 2015) – TWU junior
Kenesha Saygo led the game in scoring while junior
Erin Maxwell and freshman
Kara Mitchell recorded career highs to help the Pioneers to a 92-87 overtime win at Arkansas-Fort Smith. With the win the Pioneers improved their record to 7-2 on the season.
Saygo led all players with 24 points on 6-for-15 shooting including 5-for-5 from the three-point range. Maxwell scored a career-high 20 points and cleared a team-high nine rebounds while Mitchell tied her career-high with 17 points. Sophomore
Morgan Easley also reached double digits in scoring with 10 points while sophomore
Alexis Nezianya added six points and six rebounds.
Nezianya's career night helps TWU secure win over Adams State
WICHITA FALLS, Texas (Nov. 12, 2016) –
Alexis Nezianya posted a career-high 20 points and tied a career-best with 12 rebounds in a 57-46 win over Adams State Saturday night inside D.L. Ligon Coliseum during the Ashbrook Classic hosted by Midwestern State.
Nezianya's efforts earned her All-Tournament Team honors, and
Cienna Rodriguez joined her on the squad following her 10-point output.
KJ Stastny also helped fuel the Pioneer offense against the Grizzlies (0-3) with nine points and seven assists. The Pioneers (2-0) forced 24 ASU turnovers and once again distributed the ball well by dishing out 17 assists on their 23 field goals.
In the opening minute of the contest,
Andrea Mapua drained a three-pointer and Rodriguez scored a bucket for a quick 5-0 advantage. The duo connected on a pair of threes midway through the first to pull ahead 13-6.
ASU closed to within 19-17 after knocking down two free throws and a jumper at the start of the second quarter, but TWU scored nine straight in under three minutes to jump ahead 30-20. The Grizzlies put up seven points in the final minutes before the half to pull within 30-27.
A jumper by ASU 20 seconds into the second half preceded four free throws by the Grizzlies to place the Pioneers at a 33-30 deficit. Trailing 36-35 at the 6:05 mark of the third, Nezianya and
Desiree Phipps went to work with Nezianya scoring two field goals and a pair of free throws and Phipps delivering a bucket in the paint along with a three-pointer to again put the Pioneers up 10. With less than two remaining in the quarter, ASU buried a shot from beyond the arc before Nezianya knocked down two free throws and a field goal while
Deja Pointer added another free throw for a 51-39 third period lead.
ASU struck first in the fourth, but neither team could score for five-and-a-half minutes until the Grizzlies converted two free throws to cut the Pioneer lead to 51-43 with 3:15 left on the clock. Stastny tallied consecutive scores in the lane to bring the lead back to a dozen as TWU finished off ASU for the win.
