TAMIU Sports Notes
The Week Ahead
Texas A&M International University will conclude its longest homestand of the season with Red River Athletic Conference games against Langston on Saturday and Bacone College on Monday. TAMIU split with these two teams on the road earlier this season, losing to Langston by 12 points and beating Bacone by five points in overtime.
Langston is tied for the conference lead with Houston Baptist with a 10-1 RRAC mark after Monday night's win over Jarvis Christian. LU (13-5 overall) is ranked 22nd in this week's NAIA Division I top-25 poll.
The Program & Head Coach
TAMIU's men's basketball team is competing as a second year program as members of the NAIA and Red River Athletic Conference. Tarvish Felton (Southern Utah, 1999) was hired as TAMIU's first coach in September, 2002. He guided the Dustdevils to a 10-22 record in the program's inaugural campaign. Highlights of the 2003-04 season include a three-game winning streak to close the season and a late-season win over NCAA Division II stalwart Incarnate Word. Felton has a career and school record of 18-33.
Probable Starters
| No | Name | Pos. | Ht. | Wt. | Cl/Exp. | PPG | RPG |
| 3 | Gabe Weinholtz | G | 6-0 | 180 | Fr./HS | 7.2 | 2.4 |
| 21 | Hector Garza | G | 6-4 | 190 | So./1L | 14.2 | 4.9 |
| 23 | Keith Simpson | F | 6-6 | 220 | Sr./1L | 17.2 | 5.2 |
| 30 | D.J. Firova | F | 6-4 | 175 | So./1L | 7.3 | 2.4 |
| 42 | Kyle Edwards | C | 6-10 | 220 | Sr./TR | 9.6 | 7.8 |
Key Reserves
| No | Name | Pos. | Ht. | Wt. | Cl/Exp. | PPG | RPG |
| 00 | Bo Aluka | G | 6-3 | 175 | Jr./TR | 6.1 | 2.9 |
| 10 | Michael Starks | G | 6-1 | 165 | Jr./HS | 1.7 | 1.3 |
| 11 | Reggie Lopez | G | 6-1 | 175 | Jr./HS | 2.8 | 0.8 |
| 32 | Aaron Garza | F | 6-5 | 205 | Sr./HS | 5.5 | 4.8 |
Rolling at the Right Time
TAMIU has won five of its last six Red River Athletic Conference games, pushing the team's conference record to 7-4. Senior Keith Simpson and sophomore Hector Garza have made a major contribution over that stretch with Simpson averaging 27.2 points, 5.6 rebounds and 2.2 steals per game and Garza averaging 16.2 points, 5.8 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game.
Noteworthy
Sophomore D.J. Firova turned in his best outing of the season in Saturday's win over Paul Quinn, finishing with season-high totals for points (21) and assists (5) while tying his season-high effort of three steals. The 21-point effort was Firova's first 20-point game since a 23-point outing against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi last season ... Freshman Gabe Weinholtz scored a season-high 16 points in Monday's come-from-behind win over Southwestern Assemblies ... Junior Reggie Lopez made two three-pointers against Southwestern Assemblies, with both treys giving TAMIU a lead. His first three-pointer gave TAMIU a 58-55 lead at the 12:10 mark of the second half and his second trey put the Dustdevils up for good, 61-58, at the 9:35 mark.
The Week Ahead
TAMIU will end a stretch of eight of nine games on the home court with visits from Red River Athletic Conference foes Langston and Bacone College. LU will visit the TAMIU Kinesiology and Convocation Building for a Saturday afternoon game before BC visits for a late Monday afternoon contest.
Langston enters play this week in fourth place in the RRAC standings with a 7-3 conference mark (7-11 overall) while Bacone is in 10th place with a 2-8 conference mark (7-12 overall).
The Program & Head Coach
The TAMIU women's basketball team is competing as a second year program as members of the NAIA and Red River Athletic Conference. Head coach Marc García (Trinity, 1993) began the task of building a new program in September, 2002. He guided the Dustdevils to a 14-20 overall record in their inaugural season of competition, including a 13-5 mark over the final 18 games. TAMIU finished fifth in the RRAC regular season standings with a 12-10 record before advancing to the semifinal round of the conference postseason tournament. García has a career and school record of 24-29.
Probable Starters
| No. | Name | Pos. | Ht. | Cl/Exp. | PPG | RPG |
| 22 | Gloria Miller | G | 5-7 | Jr./1L | 5.7 | 2.3 |
| 30 | Jermina Tomlinson | G | 5-6 | So./1L | 15.6 | 5.6 |
| 11 | Becky Mata | F | 5-7 | Fr./HS | 5.3 | 4.2 |
| 20 | Vanessa Villarreal | F | 5-10 | So./1L | 18.3 | 5.8 |
| 24 | Lizzy Herrera | C | 6-1 | So./1L | 4.5 | 4.5 |
Key Reserves
| No. | Name | Pos. | Ht. | Cl/Exp. | PPG | RPG |
| 00 | Nicole Gipson | C | 6-2 | Fr./HS | 4.2 | 6.2 |
| 05 | Cathy García | F | 5-8 | So./1L | 5.5 | 1.2 |
| 13 | Valerie Villanueva | G | 5-4 | Fr./HS | 3.6 | 1.6 |
| 15 | Megan DeNure | G | 5-3 | Fr./HS | 3.2 | 1.3 |
| 25 | LeaAnn Killian | F | 5-10 | Jr./TR | 3.8 | 3.1 |
Rolling at the Right Time
TAMIU has won five of its last seven games overall and five of its last six conference games. TAMIU's 7-4 record in RRAC play stands as the best conference record in the two-year history of the program.
The Dustdevils are averaging 90.5 points per game over the 5-1 conference run, outscoring their opponents by more that 26 points per game over.
Sophomore Vanessa Villarreal has led the offensive charge during this stretch, averaging 21.5 points per game. Ranking behind Villarreal are sophomore Jermina Tomlinson (18.0 ppg) and sophomore Cathy García (8.2 ppg).
Noteworthy
Sophomore Trisha Hill established career-high marks for three-pointers (4) and points scored (12) in Monday's over Southwestern Assemblies. She also tied her career-high mark with five assists against the Lions ... Freshman Megan DeNure recorded a season-high seven assists in Sunday's loss to Incarnate Word ... Freshman Nicole Gipson set season-high totals for blocks (5) and steals (6) against Incarnate Word. She totaled 12 blocks and 11 steals in four games played last week.
Journalists who need additional information or help with media requests and interviews should contact the Office of Public Affairs and Information Services at pais@tamiu.edu