The Teams: Tarleton Texans (7-20, 1-15 WAC) vs. Southern Utah Thunderbirds (17-9, 13-2 WAC)
Where: Stephenville, Texas
Arena: Wisdom Gym
Day and Time: Saturday at 2 p.m. CT
Streaming Platform: ESPN+ (Byron Anderson, Chris Reisman)
Radio: Tarleton Sports Network (Jimmy Christopher)
 
ABOUT THE MATCHUP

• This is the second all-time meeting and the first in Stephenville. The Thunderbirds won the first matchup earlier this season 55-48 on Jan. 28 in Cedar City.
• In the first matchup, the Texans forced 19 turnovers compared to just eight giveaways. SUU outrebounded Tarleton 45-27. Tyler Jackson (15 points) and Teresa Da Silva (14) led in scoring.
• SUU just had a four-game winning streak snapped on Thursday, falling 89-83 in OT at ACU.
• SUU leads the WAC at 13-2, a half-game above SFA, and the Thunderbirds own the tiebreaker.

 
QUICK HITS

• Just two games remain for the Texans, both at home. With a win Saturday, they'd guarantee themselves a .500+ finish at home for the 20th straight season (since 2002-03).
• Tarleton was just eliminated from WAC Tournament contention, although they're still above two teams in the WAC Resume Seeding System -- Utah Valley and Seattle U. Southern Utah is second in the seeding behind Stephen F. Austin. If the season ended today, the T-Birds would have a bye into the quarterfinals, where they'd await the winner of No. 7 UT Arlington and No. 10 UTRGV.
• Tarleton has played well in first halves during this skid, leading at the break in five of their past eight games, averaging 27.9 points in first halves over the last eight to opponents' 26.5 points.
• Tarleton is currently on a season-long skid of 11 games, their longest losing streak since Dec. 19, 2002, through Jan. 25, 2003. They haven't lost 12 in a row since a 21-game skid between the 1993-94 and 1994-95 seasons, in which they started 0-20 the latter year. The 1994-95 campaign was Tarleton's first year at the NCAA level, playing in Division II. During the current 11-game skid, Tarleton has had six single-digit losses, including one in OT and one in 2OT.
• Defensively, Tarleton allows the sixth fewest points (67.0) and the sixth lowest 3PT% (.303) in the WAC. They're fifth in average turnover margin (+1.8), forcing the tied-fourth most turnovers per game (18.2). Tarleton is also eighth in average steals (8.1).

 
WHO'S HOT

• Nyajah Mitchels – After playing just a single minute at Sam Houston, Mitchels earned her second highest scoring game in a Tarleton uniform at UTRGV, totaling 18 points on 8-of-12 shooting and five rebounds in 19 minutes. She's now 16th in the WAC in FG% at .500 (min. 50 FGA).
• Teresa Da Silva – Da Silva had 14 points, six rebounds and three assists in her last game. She's 10th in the WAC in scoring (13.8 PPG) and ninth in 3PT% (.368, min. 30 3PA). She has scored over a fifth of Tarleton's points this season (21.5 percent).
• Mayra Caicedo – Caicedo has been an assist machine of late, averaging 8.3 APG over her last four games. She's racked up 33 assists during the span, including eight in the last game. Overall in her last four games, she's averaged 9.5 points, 8.3 assists, 5.8 rebounds and 1.5 steals.

 
NUMBERS TO KNOW
4: Tarleton has had four players APPEAR IN EVERY GAME THIS SEASON -- Tyler Jackson, Nyajah Mitchels, Jenna Dick and Mason Jones. Two of them have been consistent starters in Mitchels and Dick. Teresa Da Silva and Mayra Caicedo have started in every game they've played (26).
 
11: Mayra Caicedo has 123 total assists this season, the MOST BY A TEXAN IN A SINGLE-SEASON IN 11 YEARS (Shelby Adamson had 150 in 2011-12). Caicedo is four assists shy of matching Katie Crawford (127, 2005-06) for the 15th most assists in a single-season in program history.
 
56: Teresa Da Silva now owns the single-season record for MOST THREE-POINT MAKES by a Texan in the D1 era at 56. She has the fifth most three-point makes in the WAC this year. Da Silva is on pace to make 60, which would tie Karla Dick (1992-93) for sixth most in a season in team history.
 
3: In three of their past five games, Tarleton has HELD OPPONENTS UNDER 40 PERCENT SHOOTING, and four times have held them under 42 percent shooting. Over the past five games, Tarleton's opponents have shot a combined 39.9 percent (123-308).
 
UP NEXT FOR TARLETON
Tarleton will play their final game of the 2022-23 season on Tuesday against Seattle U at 6 p.m. CT inside Wisdom Gym. This will be the Texans' Purple Out game and Senior Day. There will be 500 free T-shirts for fans in the bottom section, as Tarleton aims to send their seniors out in style.