SAN ANGELO - The No. 6/11 Angelo State women's basketball team will bring its Lone Star Conference leading offense back home this weekend with matchups against Western New Mexico at 5:30 p.m. Thursday and Eastern New Mexico at 2 p.m. Saturday in the Stephens Arena at the Junell Center.
ASU comes into the weekend with 13 wins and just one loss all season and a 7-1 showing in conference play. The Belles dropped their first game of the year last weekend on the road against West Texas A&M, but bounced back with their highest scoring performance of the season to beat the University of Texas Permian Basin in Odessa.
The Belles are rank in the top 25 nationally in multiple categories including scoring offense (12th), fewest turnovers (14th), and scoring margin. ASU is also just outside the top 25 in free throws made (26th) and turnover margin (27).
Jasmine Prophet and Taylor Dorsey have led the Belles prolific offense so far this season, with both averaging double-digit scoring. Dorsey is first on both the team and in the conference in scoring average with 19.1 points per game and the senior has also chipped in a conference second 4.4 assists per matchup. Prophet checks in at second on the team with 13.3 points per game. The LSC Preseason Offensive Player of the Year is also first on the team with 31 offensive rebounds, helping secure second-chance points.
ASU has also seen significant contribution from Lexi Murphy and Christina Robinson, who lead the team in three-point field goal percentage. Robinson, who is shooting a team-leading 40 percent from behind the arc, is averaging 8.1 points per game and set a career-high in scoring with 23 points against UTPB. The Arizona native also chipped in five rebounds and six assists in the win over the Falcons. Murphy is averaging just above Robinson at 8.6 points per game and the Nebraska native is hitting 39 percent of her three-pointers. Murphy is also second on the team in rebounds with 5.4 per game and third on the team in assists.
Madi Greenwood, Chenelle Pelle, Keanna Kelly and Bria Frierson are all averaging more than five points per game as well. Pelle and Greenwood have been solid off the bench, scoring 7.6 and 7.4 points per game, respectively. Greenwood reached the double-digits in scoring for just the fourth time this season against UTPB, getting 10 points in her 30 minutes played.
Although not as highly ranked as their offense, the Belles have also been strong on defense this year. Prophet leads the conference with 1.38 blocked shots per game and Dorsey has the most steals in the LSC with 35. Â As a team, ASU ranks third in the LSC in defensive rebounds per game and is sixth in scoring defense.
Western New Mexico enters Thursday's matchup with a 4-11 overall record and an 0-8 showing in conference play. The Lady Mustangs have lost their last 11 games this season but are led by Jordan Gutierrez who averages a conference second 17.5 points per game.
Eastern New Mexico is the only team left in with an undefeated record in LSC play, boasting an 8-0 conference record as well as a 12-3 record overall. The Greyhounds are led in scoring by Kassandra Harris, who averages 11.7 points per game. Mikaehla Connor also averages double-digits with 10.6 points per game, and also leads the conference in assist to turnover ratio.
"That first game against Western New Mexico is what we call a trap game," ASU head women's basketball coach Kevin Baker said. "We want to make sure we're getting ready for Western New Mexico like they're the No. 1 team in our conference. And then we know that the game Saturday is going to be a big one, but we don't want to look forward to that one. We'll try to just take it one game at a time, and hopefully put up two good performances."
