Kats head to Prairie View in weekend battle
12/2/2016 6:18:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Game 8
Saturday, Dec. 3 • Prairie View, Texas • 3:00 p.m. • William J. Jacks Arena (3,500)
Sam Houston State (0-7) vs Prairie View A&M (3-4) • Game Notes
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PRAIRIE VIEW, Texas – Sam Houston State women's basketball reaches the midway point of its eight-game road trip on Saturday, visiting Prairie View A&M for a 3 p.m. tip-off. After dropping its first seven, Sam Houston turns the page to November looking for win its first win.
On Tuesday, Sam Houston forward Lydia Baxter recorded her first career double-double, registering career highs in points (13) and rebounds (13) in the Bearkats 77-51 loss at Rice. The sophomore shot 4 of 7 from the field, shattering her previous best marks of eight points and nine boards.
Meanwhile, Prairie View enters Saturday looking to bounce back from an 85-43 loss at Texas Tech on Tuesday. The program, which is 3-4 on the season, welcomes back seven players from a season ago.
While the two teams have yet to meet this season, they both took part in the Feast On The Border, hosted by UTRGV in Edinburg, Texas, and share three common opponents played. Like the Kats, Prairie View dropped games to Rice and UTRGV. The Panthers defeated Marshall, a foe that downed the Kats.
A HISTORY OF SUCCESS AGAINST PRAIRIE VIEW
Sam Houston and Prairie View A&M meet for the 13th time since the two began playing in the 1986-87 season. The Bearkats are 11-1 all-time against the Panthers, winning the first 11 matchups before Prairie View A&M snapped the Kats win streak with a 70-53 victory in Huntsville on Dec. 17, 2014.
Several of Sam Houston's top marks all-time have also come against the Panthers. Sam Houston has scored 100 points seven times in team history, doing so once against the Panthers during the 1993-94 season. The mark is tied for the sixth most points in a game.
Sam Houston's top two rebounding games all-time came against Prairie View A&M, courtesy of 68 in 1990-91 and 67 during the 1987-88 season. The Kats also recorded a program-best 28 steals against the Panthers during the 1994-95 season and registered their third-best assist mark with 30 during the 1993-94 campaign
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
Among Southland Conference competitors, Sam Houston ranks second in rebounding offense (44.0) and third in rebounding margin (+5.3). The Kats are also first in defensive rebounding percentage (.709).
Sam Houston senior Jasmine McCants ranks 12th in rebounding (6.6 per game) while Jennifer Oramas is tied for ninth in three-point field goals (11). Kiera McKinney is tied for third in blocked shots (8) and Morghen Day is third in minutes played (229).
MILESTONE WITHIN REACH FOR NICHOLS
Sam Houston eleventh-year head coach Brenda Welch-Nichols is one win shy of reaching her 150th victory as a Division I head coach. The Sam Houston alum (1989) spent three seasons at Mercer before joining the Bearkats for the 2006-07 season.
Nichols ranks second in Bearkat women's basketball lore with 112 wins. The former Bearkat player is just 21 victories shy of catching all-time leader Rebecca Bilsing who assumed the helm between 1973 and 1982. Nichols already owns the program's most wins in Southland Conference games (72).
