LSC names LCU's Foster player of the year

Lubbock Christian University forward Grace Foster was named the Lone Star Conference women's basketball player of the year in voting by the LSC's 16 head coaches.

The 6-foot-1 sophomore from Childress averaged 15.8 points and 9.3 rebounds per game during the regular season, figures that ranked fourth and second in the conference.

LCU's Maci Maddox made the all-LSC second team, and Audrey Robertson made the third team. Maddox, a 5-7 junior from Frenship, averaged 10.4 points and 4.4 assists per game. Robertson, a 5-8 junior from Kerrville Tivy, averaged 10.9 points and 4.9 rebounds.

Angelo State junior guard Sawyer Lloyd was named defensive player of the year after making a conference-high 80 steals. St. Mary's forward Gabby Elliott earned freshman of the year honors after averaging 13 points per game. Eastern New Mexico junior guard/forward Deja Adrian (17 ppg) was named newcomer of the year, and UT Tyler sophomore guard Tina Machalova (12.1 ppg) was named sixth woman of the year.

Texas Woman’s Beth Jillson won the Noel Johnson coach of the year award after leading her team to a 24-4 record and the conference regular-season title.

LCU (21-9) was set to face Texas A&M-Kingsville (18-10) in the last of four first-round games of the conference tournament Thursday night in Frisco.

LCU men's basketball

Lubbock Christian University forward Rowan Mackenzie was named to the first team and LCU forward Russell Harrison made the second team in the all-Lone Star Conference awards announced on the eve of the conference tournament.

Mackenzie, a 6-foot-3 junior from Perth, Western Australia, was the conference's second-leading scorer during the regular season with an average of 19.5 points per game. Harrison, a 6-7 senior from Monterey, was the LSC's seventh-leading scorer at 16.4 points per game. Mackenzie averaged 6.4 rebounds per game and Harrison 5.3 per game.

LCU (18-10) is the No. 5 seed and plays No. 4 seed St. Edward's (21-10) in the first round of the conference tournament at 8:30 p.m. Friday at the Comerica Center in Frisco. In the lone regular-season game between the two teams, the Chaps beat the Hilltoppers 82-57 two weeks ago in Lubbock.

West Texas A&M senior guard Julius Brown was named the LSC player of the year. He averaged 16.8 points per game on a 22-6 team that won the LSC regular-season championship with a conference record of 20-2.

West Texas A&M also had the newcomer of the year in Damion Thornton, who averaged 14.1 points; the sixth man of the year in Zach Toussaint (11.8 ppg) and co-coach of the year in Tom Brown. Angelo State's Vinay Patel shared the top coach of the award after leading his team to a 23-5 record.

Angelo State senior guard Steve Webb, with 49 steals, was named defensive player of the year. St. Edward's forward Sean Elkinton, who averaged 13.5 points and 8.4 rebounds per game, earned freshman of the year.

LCU baseball

Lubbock Christian University, having won five of its past six games, hosts Oklahoma Christian this weekend in a four-game Lone Star Conference series at Hays Field.

LCU (10-6, 10-6) and Oklahoma Christian (7-6, 7-5) play the series opener at 5 p.m. Friday, a doubleheader at 2 p.m. Saturday and the series finale at 1 p.m. Sunday.

The Chaparrals won three of four games last weekend at Arkansas-Fort Smith and the last two in a four-game set with UT Tyler the week before that. The Eagles split a four-game home series with St. Mary's last weekend and are coming off a 7-5 loss Tuesday to 10th-ranked Central Oklahoma.

LCU left fielder/third baseman Eduardo Acosta (.444, 2 home runs, 17 RBI) and shortstop Carson Ogilvie (.417-3-13) are second and seventh, respectively, in the LSC batting race. Center fielder Chris Shull (.377-5-23) is tied for second in the conference in homers and RBI. First baseman Nate Van Maanen (.344-1-21) is fifth in RBI.

LCU softball

No. 7 Lubbock Christian University meets Oklahoma Christian in a three-game Lone Star Conference series Friday and Saturday in Edmond, Oklahoma.

LCU (16-4, 6-3) and Oklahoma Christian (11-4, 6-3) are scheduled for a doubleheader at 2 p.m. Friday at Tom Heath Field and the series finale at noon Saturday. The two teams are tied for third in the LSC standings. Oklahoma Christian fell out of the National Fastpitch Coaches Association's Division II top 25 after being No. 19 last week.

LCU's Taylor Franco (6-3, 0.67) was named the NFCA's Division II national pitcher of the week. Franco threw 22 scoreless innings, going 3-0 with 30 strikeouts and helping the Lady Chaps to a 6-0 week against conference opponents.

WBU women's basketball

Wayland Baptist will be a No. 10 seed and will play No. 7 seed Southern Oregon in an NAIA Tournament first-round game at 9:30 p.m. CST Tuesday in Santa Barbara, California..

The NAIA Tournament has a 64-team field that begins with 16 four-team brackets, mostly at campus host sites. The 16 teams still standing after the first two rounds advance to the final site March 13-18 at the Tyson Events Center in Sioux City, Iowa.

The winner between Wayland (21-10) and Southern Oregon (23-7) will face No. 2 seed and site host Westmont (23-3) or No. 15 seed Antelope Valley (23-7) in a second-round game at 9 p.m. CST Wednesday.

The top seed in Wayland's 16-team quadrant of the backet is Central Methodist (31-0), and the Nos. 3 and 4 seeds are Marian (26-5) and Vanguard (21-6), respectively.

WBU men's basketball

Wayland Baptist will be a No. 9 seed and will face No. 8 seed Antelope Valley in an NAIA Tournament first-round game at 7 p.m. CST Tuesday in Glendale, Arizona.

The 64-team NAIA Tournament starts at 16, mostly campus sites, each with a four-team portion of the bracket. The 16 teams that make it through the first two rounds advance to the final site March 13-18 at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City.

The winner of No. 20 Antelope Valley (25-2) and Wayland (23-8) will play a second-round game at 6:30 p.m. CST Wednesday against No. 1 seed Arizona Christian (24-5) or No. 16 seed Corban (20-10). Arizona Christian is the site host and ranked No. 2 in the NAIA Top 25.

The other highest seeds in Wayland's 16-team quadrant of the bracket are No. 2 seed Indiana Tech (27-4), No. 3 seed Jamestown (25-6) and No. 4 seed Morningside (22-7).

This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Area college basketball roundup: LSC names LCU's Foster player of the year