HOUSTON – The University of the Incarnate Word women's basketball team is headed east across I-10 for a Southland Conference battle with the Houston Baptist Huskies. Tip-off is set for 7:00 p.m. (CT) at Sharp Gym.
 
The Cardinals will be looking for their third conference victory of the season after toppling New Orleans at home, 81-69 in their last game. They did so by shooting a season-best 44 percent from the field thanks to record breaking performances from junior guard Imani Robinson and freshman guard Macy Ray.

 
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I-MONEY ROBINSON

• Robinson continues to log major minutes for the Cardinals. Cementing herself as an all-around leader of the group.
• She has recorded 10 or more points in seven of her last nine games, averaging 13 points per game in that stretch, including a career-high 26 points against UNO (1/26/19)
• She has been getting to the line with great success in conference action, hitting 26 of 35 free throws (74.3 percent).
• Robinson has remained a constant all-around threat for the Cardinals. She leads or is among the leaders, in all major statistical categories including first in points (186) assists (43), steals (36) free throws made (47) and attempted (67). She is second on the team in 3pt made (17) and blocks (9) and third on the team in total rebounds (66).
• In her last game, against New Orleans, she compiled six steals, a new career high. With that, she becomes one of just five SLC student-athletes to record six or more steals in a conference game this season.

 
 
RAY OF LIGHT

• Ray has established herself as a driving force for the team through just eight starts.
• After assuming the role of starting point guard against Rice (Dec. 29, 2018), Ray is averaging 29.5 minutes, often with the task of shutting down the top scoring opposing guard.
• On Jan. 19, she held the SFA point guard to 0-4 from the field, after shooting .462 percent from the field in conference games heading into play.
• She has found her stroke on the outside in recent games, averaging 13.3 points per play over her last three contests, thanks to some deadly accuracy from beyond the arc. In that time, she is 9-17 from deep (52.9 percent).
• Her 21 points against New Orleans (1/26/19) stands as the most points scored by a UIW freshman since Feb. 22, 2017 (Robinson, 23 points, vs. Nicholls).

 
 
YEEEEAAAAHHHHH BOWIEEEEEEEE

• Over the last three games redshirt senior guard Gabbi Bowie has sprinkled plenty of flava into the Cardinals efforts on the court.
• She is averaging 8 points, 4.3 assists, 3.3 rebounds and 1.6 steals per game over the stretch, clocking multiple season and career highs in the process.
• In her last game, against New Orleans, she scored a season high 10 points on a career high 10 made free throws. She also dished out a career best seven assists and a season high three steals in the win.
• As the lone senior on the squad, Bowie has taken it upon herself to mold her game to the needs of the team, becoming more of a facilitator in recent weeks, going from a career assist per game average of 0.7 to 4.3 per game over the last two weeks.
• She played a career high 39 minutes against New Orleans. Since the beginning of SLC play, she is averaging 27.4 minutes played per game, third most on the team. Over the last three games, that total is up to 32.3 minutes.

 
A STARR IS BORN

• Since the start of conference play, freshman forward Starr Omozee has emerged as a key contributor for UIW.
• Omozee is averaging 9.4 points, 6.9 rebounds and 2.0 assists in an average of 27.0 minutes through her first seven SLC games.
• While not a high volume outside shooter, she chooses her deep shots well, hitting three of her seven attempts in SLC games (42.9 percent).
• She leads the team with 111 rebounds this season, second most among freshman in the conference.
• After securing three double-doubles in her first six games as a Cardinal, Omozee set the UIW DI freshman record for most double-doubles in a single season when she delivered her fourth of the season against Lamar (11 points and 10 rebounds) on Jan. 23, 2019.
• Against GCU (11/9/18), she posted 11 points and 15 rebounds, becoming the first freshman besides Robinson (2016) to record a double-double in UIW DI history.
• She set multiple season-highs in her first game at the McDermott Center (vs. Houston, 11/16/18), scoring her second double-double (19 pts, 10 rebs) and making multiple threes in a game for the first time.
• Just two games later, she hung 10 points and 11 rebounds on Weber State (11/21).

 
 BALANCED ATTACK

• UIW has kept opposing defenses on their toes in conference play by employing a balanced philosophy in the attacking end.
• Six different Cardinals are averaging at least 6.0 points per game through seven conference games (Robinson, Omozee, Ray, Kara Speer, Lunden Henry and Bowie). Only SFA has more student-athletes averaging 6.0+ points (eight).
• Five different Cardinals have connected on at least five triples, led by Ray with nine in SLC competition.
• Three different Cardinals are averaging 2.0 or more assists per game as well, with Robinson leading the team through seven conference games (2.3) Bowie close behind (2.1) and Omozee rounding out the group with 2.0 per game.

 
 
WELL…IF THEY'RE FREE

• The Cardinals have been working hard on their free throw shooting in conference play, raising their free throw percentage by an impressive 11.6 percent from where it was in non-conference.
• As a team, UIW is shooting 72.8 percent in SLC action (123-169), the fourth highest percentage in the conference.
• Those 123 converted free throws stand third among SLC teams, behind only Sam Houston State and Nicholls.
• Against New Orleans (1/26/19), UIW hit 31 of 41 shots from the charity stripe, the most made free throws in a single game since Nov. 20, 2013 (34).

 
SCOUTING HBU

• The HBU Huskies enter play 12th in the SLC with a 1-6 record.
• They are fifth in the conference in total offense, averaging just under 70 points per game this season.
• While attempting the second fewest threes in the conference, the Huskies are converting on 34.7 percent of their shots from distance, the second best percentage in the SLC.
• They are led by senior guard Amanda Johnson, who is averaging 13.6 points per game while shooting 48 percent from the field, 46.1 percent from three and 90 percent from the line.
• This will be the first of two meetings this season between UIW and HBU. They will meet again at the McDermott Center in March for Senior Day. HBU leads the all-time series, 10-1.

 
UP NEXT
UIW is off on its final trip into Louisiana for rematch against New Orleans on Saturday at 2:00 p.m. The trip concludes the following Saturday, Feb. 9, when the Cardinals travel to Corpus Christi for a clash with the Islanders of Texas A&M-CC., tipoff there is set for 3:00 p.m.

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