The Teams: Tarleton Texans (11-6, 3-3 WAC) at California Baptist Lancers (13-2, 4-0 WAC)
Where: Riverside, California
Arena: CBU Events Center
Day and Time: Thursday, 8 p.m. CT
Streaming Platform: ESPN+
Radio: Tarleton Sports Network (Kyle Crews)
 
ABOUT THE MATCHUP

• This is the third all-time meeting between these two teams, both coming last year (Jan. 15-16).
• Against the Lancers in 2020-21, Marissa Escamilla averaged 14.5 points and 9.5 rebounds, while Iyana Dorsey averaged 15.0 points and 3.0 steals.
• The Lancers are No. 2 in the WAC at 4-0, a half-game back of 5-0 Stephen F. Austin.
• CBU is 13-2 overall, winners of eight straight and 13 of their last 14.
• In 2020-21, CBU won the WAC regular season (14-0) and the WAC tournament.

 
QUICK HITS

• Malaya Kendrick made the go-ahead free throws with 32 seconds remaining to put the Texans up for good on Monday in the Texans' 62-61 win over Sam Houston. Tarleton is 2-0 this year in one-possession games, and 4-1 in games decided by five points or fewer.
• Tarleton has not lost consecutive games this year, posting a perfect 6-0 record following a loss.
• Tarleton is 3-3 in conference play, one of six teams in the WAC with a .500 or better record.
• Malaya Kendrick just scored a career-high 18 points (7-15 FG), adding nine rebounds, four assists and four steals against Sam Houston. It was her ninth double-digit scoring outing of the season. The Texans are 7-2 when she scores 10+ points.
• Jurnee President poured in a season-high 14 points on Monday, her highest total while at Tarleton. It was her highest scoring game since Dec. 20, 2019, when she had 15 points against Wright State while with St. Bonaventure.
• Seynabou Thiam is averaging 2.8 blocks this season, double the average of the next highest BPG mark in the WAC. Only 11 players in NCAA Division I are averaging more than her. She has 47 total blocks (next closest in the WAC has 22), good for eighth most across all of D1. The school record for blocks in a single-season is 58 (Kaelie Butler, 1993-94). At Thiam's 2.8 BPG pace, she'd surpass that record against Chicago State on Feb. 5.

 
WHO'S HOT

• Malaya Kendrick – Kendrick is coming off of a game where she led the Texans in points (18), rebounds (nine), assists (four) and steals (four). Over her last seven games she's averaged 11.4 points, 6.9 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.6 steals. She leads the team at 7.1 RPG, sixth best in the WAC.
• Jurnee President – President just scored a season-high 14 points on 6-of-10 shooting, adding three rebounds and two steals. That was more than double her season scoring average (6.7 PPG at the time), and her most efficient shooting performance of the year when taking 6+ FGA.
• Seynabou Thiam – Thiam has recorded 15 blocks over the last three games, averaging 5.0 blocks per contest. Only two of Tarleton's opponents have had 5+ blocks as a team against Tarleton this year (Arkansas and Stephen F. Austin). The Texans have had nine such games.

 
NUMBERS TO KNOW
40: The Texans, the No. 3 rebounding team in the WAC, haven't allowed an opponent to secure 40+ REBOUNDS in 12 straight games. That's their longest streak since a 13-game run across the 2018-19 and 2019-20 seasons.
 
1-3: These are two of the top-three REBOUNDING TEAMS IN THE WAC, with California Baptist No. 1 at 41.7 RPG, Tarleton at No. 3 with 38.9 RPG. The Lancers are second-to-last in offensive rebounds average (7.5 per), but lead in defensive rebounds per game (34.3 per). TSU is sixth and third, respectively.
 
37: The Texans don't require a great shooting percentage to get it done, needing to shoot just 37 PERCENT in order to get the W (10-0 in such games). TSU is 1-6 when shooting under 37 percent.
 
7.7: Tarleton has consistently dominated the first halves of games, most recently leading Sam Houston at the break 31-18. They're outscoring opponents by 7.7 POINTS ON AVERAGE IN FIRST HALVES. In second halves, opponents are outscoring them by 2.1 points on average.
 
UP NEXT FOR TARLETON
The Texans will head north with a Saturday road contest at Seattle U at 4 p.m. CT. The Redhawks have yet to win a WAC game yet this year, going 0-3, 5-9 overall.