DENTON, Texas (Feb. 28, 2025) – For the third straight season, the Texas Woman's basketball team claimed the Lone Star Conference Regular Season Championship Title.

A night full of joy, celebration, community and a great basketball game. Kitty Magee Arena was packed with Pioneer fans decked out in maroon – all ready to cheer the Pioneers onto victory.

In front of packed-out crowd, TWU (28-1, 21-1) overcame a 10-point deficit to claim their revenge and defeat UT Tyler (25-3, 20-2) 71-61. With the win, the Pioneers claimed the title of LSC Regular Season Co-Champions, tying with Lubbock Christian. Since TWU defeated LCU, 58-40 on Dec. 6, the Pioneers own the head-to-head tiebreaker, which means TWU will be in the No. 1 seed in the LSC Tournament for the third straight season.

The win marked the Pioneers 22nd straight win, breaking their previous record for most consecutive wins in program history. Additionally, TWU went undefeated in the regular season at home in KMA, marking their 16th straight win in front of the home crowd.

After the exciting win and net-cutting ceremony, TWU also celebrated their 2025 senior class. The 2025 senior class helped propel the Pioneers to historical heights. The eight pair of seniors, Caroline Glud Rasmussen, Gionna Carr, Ariyanna Hines, Jada Celsur, Leila Patel, Scout Huffman, Ashley Ingram and Kayla Glover, has combined to have a record of 113-30 overall and 53-10 at home. The Pioneers also celebrated their graduate assistant Edgar Chavira, who has been with the team for two seasons and will graduate in the spring with a master's degree.

The win also marked Head Coach Beth Jillson's 300th career win – a celebration in historical fashion.

IMPACT PLAYERS

• Averee Kleinhans exploded in the game for the Pioneers with a career high 26 points on 7-of-12 from the floor and 10-of-13 from the free throw line. She also added four steals and two assists to her stat line. The four steals matched a season high for the junior.
• Ingram also added a 20-piece performance, scoring a season high 23 points on 9-for-15 from the field. She also recorded 11 rebounds to mark her 13th double-double of the season and second straight. In the game, Ingram secured her 1,000th rebound to become the only TWU player in program history to accomplish the feat. She also dished out three assists in the win.
• Huffman finished with eight points and a season high seven rebounds.
• Four Pioneers went perfect from the free throw line in the win – Ingram went 4-for-4, Huffman went 1-for-1, Hines went 2-for-2 and Celsur went 2-for-2.
• Hines helped lead the Pioneers' charge on defense, grabbing two steals.

PIONEER POWER MOMENTS

• Across the 40 minutes of action, the score was tied seven times and the lead changed eight times. TWU shot 44.4% from the field, 26.7% from beyond the arc and 86.4% from the charity stripe.
• Despite allowing the Patriots to shoot 52.3% from the field and 50% from the three point line, the Pioneers overcame their strong shooting to claim the win – one play at a time.
• TWU dominated the boards 31-22, which included 10 offensive rebound for 15 second chance points. The Pioneers battled every minute, every possession and capitalized on the little things to claim the win.
• The Pioneers forced UT Tyler to turn the ball over 16 times for 20 TWU points. TWU also outscored the Patriots in the paint 32-22. Additionally, the Pioneers' bench propelled them to the win with 30 points, as the Patriots bench scored just four points.
• UT Tyler did struggle from the free throw line, only going 50% from the charity stripe.
• It marked just the Patriots' third loss of the season and second in conference action.
• The Pioneers opened the game with a quick bucket by Glover to take the early 2-0 led. TWU would lead by as much as four points in a tight first quarter. The second four point lead, 8-4, would come at the 5:29 mark, after a triple by Ingram off the assist from Patel.
• Following the four-point advantage, the Pioneers would struggle to score for the remainder of the quarter, as UT Tyler closed the first on a 5-0 run to take the two-point lead, 14-12, heading into the second quarter.
• Kleinhans would ignite a match in the second quarter, as she scored 11 of the Pioneers' 13 points in the quarter. The Patriots struggled with the match-up with Kleinhans, who was quick of the dribble in the attack and read the passing lanes so well on defense.
• Nevertheless, the Pioneers would give up 18 points in the second quarter and faced their largest deficit of the game at 10, 32-22, with 1:24 remaining in the half, as the Pioneers were on a five-minute scoring drought. Despite struggling from the field in the first half, the Pioneers would head into halftime only down by seven, 37-25.
• After losing the opening two quarters of action, TWU refocused and locked in for the second half and outscored the Patriots, 46-29.
• Ingram got the third quarter started with a layup to cut the deficit to five, 32-27, just one minute into the quarter. UT Tyler would find their largest lead of the night at 11 midway through the third quarter, 40-29.
• The tide would begin to turn at the 1:56 mark in the third. Celsur got to the free throw line and hit two free throws to cut the lead to eight. Then, Kleinhans stole the ball and connected on a crowd igniting and-one to bring TWU within five, 45-40, with 1:42 left in the third.
• The Pioneers would close the final minute of action with a 6-0 run. In the final two seconds of action, Huffman hit a spin move and connected on the layup through contact to end the quarter with an and-one. TWU would head into the final quarter of action down by four, 50-46.
• With 7:51 on the clock, Kleinhans connected on a three to cut the lead to one, 52-51, off the assist from Ingram. Following that, the score would be tied twice, as the Pioneers would never give up down the stretch.
• Then, at the 3:29 mark of the fourth quarter, none another than the spark of the bench, Kleinhans, took the ball from the Patriots, hit a layup on the fast break. The crowd went wild, as the Pioneers took their first lead of the second half, 60-57.
• From that moment on, the Pioneers would never trail. Spurred on by the crowd and their belief in each other, TWU would hold UT Tyler to just two points in the final three minutes of action, as the Pioneers would close the game on a 14-2 run.
• Patel would put the exclamation point on the win, after the Pioneers broke the press and Celsur dished an incredible assist to Patel who scored a final second layup to clinch the win, 71-61.

HEAR FROM AVEREE KLEINHANS AND COACH BETH JILLSON

Check out the post game thoughts from https://youtu.be/HhQKfBbwf58. 

NEXT UP

With the one seed in the LSC Tournament, the Pioneers will start postseason play on Thursday, March 6 at 6 p.m. against the No. 8 seed UT Permian Basin. The LSC Tournament will be played at the Comerica Center in Frisco, Texas. Please make plans to join us to cheer on the TWU Pioneers at the Lone Star Conference Tournament in Frisco, Texas, beginning on Thursday, March 6 at 6 p.m. TWU will have a fan bus to the March 6 game that will depart at 4 p.m. In addition, TWU has purchased tickets for Pioneer fans. If you would like complimentary tickets or to ride the fan bus for the game, please complete the following google form at  https://forms.gle/fpCexEJNed8ZdakE8 . Please note the google form will close on Thursday, March 6 at noon.