The Teams: Tarleton State Texans (4-11, 1-5 WAC) vs. UTRGV Vaqueros (3-13, 2-5 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 ninth all-time meeting, all since 2021. The series is tied 4-4, 2-2 at each location. Tarleton beat UTRGV in Edinburg earlier this season, 72-66 on Dec. 2. The Texans outrebounded UTRGV 48-32. After trailing 34-25 at half, Tarleton doubled up the Vaqueros in the third 26-13.
• The Vaqueros have won two of their last three and three of six since starting the year 0-10.
• In the WAC standings, Tarleton is ninth and UTRGV is eighth. In the WAC Resume Seeding System, Tarleton is ninth and UTRGV is 10th.  
• There are two former Texans on UTRGV's roster, Iyana Dorsey and Nyajah Mitchels.

 
QUICK HITS

• The Texans are looking to snap a tied-season-long four-game slide and a five-game home skid. Tarleton's other four-game losing streak was snapped with their win against UTRGV.
• With a win Saturday, Tarleton would move back into the eighth spot in the standings, the cutoff for teams that make the WAC Tournament. They would also secure a potential tiebreaker over UTRGV.
• When Tarleton's offense is clicking, it's resulted in wins. Across the Texans' wins this season, they've averaged 79.5 points on 46.7 percent shooting, including 36.0 percent from distance. In losses, they've averaged 55.0 points on 35.6 percent shooting, 29.8 percent from deep.
• Despite starting 1-5 in WAC play, the Texans still own a top-three defense in the conference. They're third in scoring defense (65.5 PPG), tied-third in opposing field goal percentage (.380) and second in opposing three-point percentage (.287). They also average the most blocks per game (4.4) in the WAC, tied-48th most in the nation.
• The Texans won the turnover battle against ACU 11-17. Tarleton has won the TO battle nine times in 15 games. At 15.7 turnovers per game, they average the fourth fewest in the WAC.
• In the last game, ACU was whistled for just seven fouls, leading to four Tarleton FTA. That's their second fewest in a game at the D1 level, only more than their three at Utah Tech last season.
• The Texans have played 12 or more of their 14 available players in each of the last three games.

 
WHO'S HOT

• Teresa Maggio: Maggio just scored a team-high, and career-high, 11 points on 4-of-5 shooting (3-4 3PT) in 20 minutes off the bench against ACU. She bested her previous career-high of nine points at New Orleans on Dec. 18. Her 20 minutes played is the second time she's reached 20 this year.
• Faith Acker: Acker starred against UTRGV last time, going for a team-high 20 points (8-14 FG) and eight rebounds. It's one of her two 20-point games this season. She became the first Texan freshman to score 20 since Iyana Dorsey closed 2020-21 with back-to-back 20-plus point games.
• Lexi Bull: Bull did a bit of everything against ACU, tallying six points, five rebounds, two steals and two blocks in just 18 minutes. Per 40 minutes, Bull is averaging 11.5 rebounds, the third highest mark on the team behind Faith Acker (12.9) and Vitoria Carvalho (11.7).

 
NUMBERS TO KNOW

• 8: Through Tarleton's 15 games played this season, they've OUTSHOT THEIR OPPONENT eight times. The Texans are 4-4 this season when outshooting their opponent, and 0-7 when getting outshot.
• 12: Of Tarleton's 15-woman roster, the Texans have three returners and 12 newcomers. Their 12 NEWCOMERS ARE TIED FOR THE MOST among all NCAA D1 programs, along with Utah State and fellow WAC program UT Arlington.
• 6: Of Tarleton's 15-woman roster, six ARE INTERNATIONAL PLAYERS, the tied-eighth most on a D1 roster this season. The Texans are represented by the United States (nine), the U.K. (two), Brazil, Montenegro, Norway and Poland.
• 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. The Texans are closest to No. 8 Southern Utah, who is 0.95 points ahead.

 
UP NEXT FOR TARLETON
The Texans will make their first of two trips to Utah for a week against Southern Utah and Utah Tech. They'll first match up with the Thunderbirds in Cedar City on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. CT.