The Teams: Tarleton State Texans (4-9, 1-3 WAC) vs. Grand Canyon Lopes (13-3, 5-0 WAC)
Where: Stephenville, Texas
Arena: Wisdom Gym (3,000)
Day and Time: Saturday at 2 p.m. CT
Streaming Platform: ESPN+ (Jeremy Bryant, Byron Anderson)
Radio: Tarleton Sports Network (Clayton Neville)
 
ABOUT THE MATCHUP

• This is the fifth all-time matchup. GCU owns a 4-0 advantage, all games played since 2021. This will be the second game in Stephenville in five matchups, the last a 47-37 game Jan. 15, 2022.
• In last year's meeting, Teresa Da Silva was the only Texan with double-digit points at 19 (4-9 3PT).
• In the WAC standings, TSU is eighth and GCU is tied-first. In the WAC Resume Seeding System, TSU is ninth and GCU is second.
• GCU has won five straight and 11 of their last 12. They're 5-0 in WAC play winning by 18.8 PPG.
• GCU is first in the WAC in scoring defense at 54.8 PPG, 28th best in the nation.

 
QUICK HITS

• It's National Rubber Duck Day. With Tarleton State University's long standing tie to a duck named Oscar P, the Texans are giving away free basketball rubber ducks at the game on Saturday.
• This is Tarleton's second straight home game, their second string of home games this season.
• The Texans played 12 in Thursday night's game, their tied-most played this season. Malgorzata Byczkowska made her season debut after missing the first 12 games due to injury.
• The Texans made a season-high 10 three-pointers on Thursday, besting the nine they made at Texas Tech in the second game of the year. In three games before Thursday, Tarleton had made 10 three-pointers combined. Jakoriah Long and Karyn Sanford combined for six 3PM vs. CBU.
• Over the past three games, Tarleton has maintained the same starters at Nos. 1, 2, 3 and 5, but have rotated No. 4 from Elise Turrubiates to Lexi Bull to Karyn Sanford. It marked Sanford's first collegiate start in her 32nd career game (19 at UAlbany, 13 at Tarleton), as she totaled 10 points, four rebounds and two assists. Only Jackson has started all 13 games this year.
• The Texans are fifth in the WAC in rebounding margin at plus-0.2 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 fifth time this season. The Texans are 0-5 when being outshot, and 4-4 when outshooting their opponent.

 
WHO'S HOT

• Jakoriah Long: On Thursday, Long led the team in scoring (17 points, her second most in a game this year), plus had a tied-team high five rebounds (a career-high) and team-high three assists. She made 6-of-11 from the field, including a tied-career-high three three-point makes.
• Karyn Sanford: Sanford just had her first double-digit scoring game since the season opener, totaling 10 points and four rebounds in a season-high 31 minutes. She and Jakoriah Long were the only players to reach 20 or more minutes, and she knocked down a season-high three 3PM.
• Faith Acker: Despite only playing 13 minutes on Thursday, Acker still went for seven points and five rebounds. The true freshman has secured five or more rebounds in each of her nine games played this year. She leads the team in scoring (11.2 PPG), rebounding (7.3 RPG) and is second in blocks (1.0 BPG).

 
NUMBERS TO KNOW

• 3: Of Tarleton's four wins on the season, three have come on Saturdays. The Texans are a PERFECT 3-0 ON SATURDAYS this season, and 1-9 on all other days of the week.
• 58: The Texans have 58 BLOCKS ON THE YEAR, averaging 4.5 per game. That's the best average in the WAC (next closest is 3.9 BPG), tied-45th 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).
• 3: Despite an off night defensively on Thursday, the Texans are still a TOP-THREE TEAM DEFENSIVELY IN THE WAC. Tarleton is first in opponent field goal percentage (.367), second in opponent three-point percentage (.275), and third in scoring defense (63.9 PPG).
• 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 will be a rivalry Thursday, as the Texans head 90 miles over to Abilene to take on the ACU Wildcats at 6 p.m. at Moody Coliseum.