The Teams: Tarleton State Texans (4-8, 1-2 WAC) vs. California Baptist Lancers (12-1, 4-0 WAC)
Where: Stephenville, Texas
Arena: Wisdom Gym (3,000)
Day and Time: Thursday at 7 p.m. CT
Streaming Platform: ESPN+ (Byron Anderson, Scott Garner)
Radio: Tarleton Sports Network (Clayton Neville)
Game Sponsor: Tikiz
 
ABOUT THE MATCHUP

• This is the fifth all-time matchup. CBU owns a 4-0 advantage, all games played since 2021. This will be the fourth game in Stephenville in five matchups.
• In last year's meeting, Teresa Da Silva had a team-high 24 points, five rebounds and four steals.
• In the WAC standings, Tarleton State is eighth and CBU is tied-first. In the WAC Resume Seeding System, Tarleton is ninth and CBU is first.
• CBU has won three straight. They're 4-0 in WAC play, three wins by 13 points or more.
• Nationally, CBU is one of 18 teams with one or fewer losses. They're 59th in scoring (75.5 PPG).

 
QUICK HITS

• This is the Texans' Purple Out, as early-arriving fans will receive free purple shirts to help paint Wisdom Gym Tarleton's signature color.
• This is Tarleton's first home game since Dec. 10 and just second home game since November. With just four home games played thus far, Tarleton has played the fewest amount of home games in the WAC and the tied-15th fewest among all NCAA Division I teams.
• With a win Thursday, Tarleton would start WAC play 2-2 and match their WAC win total from last season (2-16). They've started 2-2 or better in WAC play just once before (2021-22, 2-2).
• Tarleton's defense has been stellar all season, where they rank first in opponent field goal percentage (.362), first in opponent three-point percentage (.260) and third in scoring defense (61.8 PPG).
• Faith Acker just pulled down 10 rebounds to go with eight points and three assists. She has back-to-back games with 10-plus rebounds, and now has the tied-eighth most double-digit rebounding games in the WAC on the year.
• The Texans are fourth in the WAC in rebounding margin at plus-1.17 on average. Last year the Texans were last in the WAC in rebounding margin at -6.6 on average.
• In the last game, Tarleton was outshot for just the fourth time this season. The Texans are 0-4 when being outshot, and 4-4 when outshooting their opponent.

 
WHO'S HOT

• Faith Acker: The true freshman Acker leads the Texans in both scoring (11.8 PPG) and rebounding (7.6 RPG). Over her last two games, she's posted two 10-plus rebound games, including one double-double, averaging 15.5 points, 11.0 rebounds and 2.0 assists.
• Jakoriah Long: After scoring 10-plus points three times over her first eight games, Long has scored 10-plus points three times over her past four games. During this four-game span, Long has averaged 14.3 points, 2.3 rebounds and 2.0 steals.
• Lexi Bull: When getting 20 minutes on the court, Bull is a rebounding machine. In her three times playing 20-plus minutes, Bull has secured at least nine rebounds each time, grabbing nine in Tarleton's last game. She's now fourth on the team in rebounding this season at 4.6 RPG.

 
NUMBERS TO KNOW

• 3: Tarleton has three players AVERAGING DOUBLE FIGURES SCORING; Faith Acker (11.8 PPG), Jakoriah Long (10.1 PPG) and Teresa Da Silva (10.0 PPG). Tarleton has never finished a D1 season with three averaging double figures, and had just one finish with 10-plus PPG in each of their last two years.
• 55: The Texans have 55 BLOCKS ON THE YEAR, averaging 4.6 per game. That's the best average in the WAC (next closest is 3.9 BPG), tied-37th best in the country. Their most in a finished D1 season is 4.3 (2021-22), and they're averaging nearly double their mark from last year (2.4 BPG).
• 2: Despite being 4-8, the Texans still have an AVERAGE SCORING MARGIN of plus-2.0, averaging 63.8 PPG to opponents' 61.8 PPG. Their highest PPG average in a finished D1 season is 62.9 PPG. In first halves this year, Tarleton and their opponents each average 28.3 points.
• 9: The Texans are slotted ninth in the latest WAC RESUME SEEDING SYSTEM, which will be used to seed teams for the WAC Tournament in March. There is a logjam between seed Nos. 7-9, with Utah Valley at -3.07, Southern Utah at -3.31, and Tarleton at -3.66.

 
UP NEXT FOR TARLETON
It's a week against the WAC's top teams for Tarleton, as they'll host the No. 2 team in the seeding system, Grand Canyon, on Saturday at 2 p.m. In honor of National Rubber Duck Day, the Texans will be giving away free basketball rubber ducks to fans.