The women’s basketball team has started the season 3-0, its first such start since the 2021-2022 season. 

The early wins this season have all come at home against Howard Payne University, the University of Incarnate Word and the University of Texas-Rio Grande Valley. 

Both UIW and UTRGV are members of the Southland Conference and provided good Div. I tests for the Wildcats, as the team had a slow start to each game, Head Coach Julie Goodenough said. 

“Back-to-back slow starts and we’ve got to remedy that for sure,” she said. “With the experienced group that we have, they’re not going to get rattled by a slow start. I like to score first, I like to jump on teams early, so we need to do a better job with that.”

Despite the slow starts, the team has been able to win through several different methods, Goodenough said.

“We have had a different leading scorer in every game,” she said. “We’ve had different players step in or really step up off the bench, and that’s been really good. I like the way it’s trending.”

One of the leading scorers was Emma Troxell, junior forward from Bushland, who had 19 points in the win over UIW. Troxell has scored in double digits in each game this season for the Wildcats and has totaled 17 rebounds through the three games. 

The other leading scorers for the Wildcats were Payton Hull, junior guard from Peaster, who had 16 points against HPU, and Natalia Chavez, senior guard from Cochiti Pueblo, New Mexico, who made six three-pointers and totaled 20 points against UTRGV.

Troxell said her success through the early bits of the season has come from her teammates on and off the court. 

“They just set me up for success, and they work super hard, and so I want to work super hard for them,” Troxell said. “We all just cheer for each other. We want everyone to do great.”

The Wildcats will hit the road for the first time this season and will face their former conference rival, Stephen F. Austin University. SFA is the third Southland opponent for the Wildcats this season. 

Troxell said the game against SFA is a highlight on the schedule every year. She also said the team is more anxious to beat the Lumberjacks this season after the close 68-65 loss last year. 

“I feel like there’s a little vengeance in this game,” she said. “Since my freshman year, we haven’t beat them, so I’ve never gotten to experience that, and I’m ready for it.”

The game in Nacogdoches will start a road stretch for the Wildcats, who will not return home until Dec. 2, but will play games against the University of North Texas, Northwestern and Bradley. The games against Bradley and Northwestern are part of the Elevance Health Women’s Fort Myers Tip-Off Tournament over Thanksgiving break.

The Wildcats and Lumberjacks will tip off at 5:30 p.m. Friday, and the men’s basketball team will play immediately after as the second half of the doubleheader.