A week after playing two big-time opponents in UT-Tyler and nationally-ranked Texas Women's–who are both undefeated in conference play–the St. Edward's women's basketball team (7-9, 3-5) now has two big games against Oklahoma Christian (2-11, 2-7), and the University of Arkansas Fort Smith (4-11, 2-7).
After the top five teams in the Lone Star Conference standings, three teams have a .500 conference record, and St. Edward's is one of two teams within two games of .500 in conference play.
Oklahoma Christian opened conference play with a brutal schedule, facing the top five teams in the conference standings, including nationally-ranked West Texas A&M and Texas Woman's. The Eagles picked up a conference win at home against Arkansas Fort Smith and defeated Texas A&M Kingsville on the road last Saturday.
Oklahoma Christian shares a few similar traits to Texas Woman's, getting to the free-throw line for 23.7 attempts per game (third in the LSC) but hitting them at a far lower rate (65.3 percent, 15th in the LSC).
While that discrepancy appears to give the Hilltoppers a more significant margin of error on the scoreboard, foul trouble can wear out already thin depth for St. Edward's. On Saturday, the Hilltoppers played the No. 18 team in the nation to a standstill until three starters left with foul trouble. Nowhere was the effect more pronounced than when SAMMIE DUFEK went to the bench due to fouls.
Dufek is the top shot blocker in the conference (2.31 per game) and has the third most blocks in the nation (37). Reserve center BELLA MUSCOREIL has had good moments this season, but Dufek's mobile shot-blocking is an irreplaceable outlier on the team, if not the entire conference.
The fifth-year center has her work cut out once more, aiming to limit Brooklin Bain, a 5-foot-10 forward averaging 13.4 points and 8.1 rebounds per game, and cleaning the glass against a team that ranks first in the LSC in offensive rebounds per game (15.4).
Arkansas Fort Smith is a different kind of beast. The Lions play a high-variance game with their ability to lean on 3-pointers, letting them fly for the sixth-most attempts in the conference. Riley Hayes launches with both volume (99 shots, second-most in the LSC) and efficiency (3.4, second-most in the LSC) and is complemented by Hannah Boyett, who makes nearly two 3-pointers per game on a 32.1 percent clip.
The deep ball can be the great equalizer, as evident by Arkansas Fort Smith's upset of Angelo State, hitting 8-for-22.
"We believe when we stay true to our brand of basketball and take care of business, we can compete with anyone," St. Edward's head women's basketball coach J.J. Riehl says. "Teams always get pumped to compete against ranked opponents, but it's the games against teams near us in the standings we need to focus on to have a chance at postseason play."
