The women’s basketball team will host the Tarleton State University Texans for the second time this season on Monday, nine days after playing their last game.

The extended break comes courtesy of the anticipated snowstorm set to hit the big country Friday night and Saturday. The Wildcats did not have a game on Thursday, while the Texans beat the University of Texas Arlington Mavericks 51-37. The university announced Wednesday that it would push the game from Saturday at 1 p.m. to Monday at 6 p.m.

“We’re just getting rest,” Erin Woodson said. “These days are days that we can really just focus on ourselves. We’re making sure we feel right and then prepping for Tarleton and really being prepared for that game.”

The Wildcats ride a four-game winning streak into Monday’s game in Moody Coliseum. In the team’s most recent victory, it scored 52 points in the paint while holding the Southern Utah University Thunderbirds to 52 points on 37.8% shooting.

Since Meredith Mayes, junior center from Bixby, Oklahoma, exited the team’s Jan. 8 game against the Texans with a right knee injury, the team has yet to lose. The ‘Cats have also played and won with significant disparity in play style.

“It’s just balance,” Assistant Coach Yannick Denson said. “If you don’t have balance in today’s game, you aren’t going to win.”

In the Wildcats victory over California Baptist University, the team shot 42.9% on 21 shots from three, while in the victory over SUU on Saturday, the team attempted just 10 such shots, knocking down six.

As the team looks ahead to its second contest with the Texans, they’ll be fully rested, though missing Mayes, who has been seen with a knee brace and post-surgery gauze and tape on her right leg.

“When you lose a player like Meredith Mayes, it normally takes a toll on a team,” Denson said. “For us, it was the next woman up. Natalia Chavez has stepped in and has three double-digit scoring games, while the defensive effort has amplified to another degree, which makes me so proud.”

Chavez, senior guard from Cochiti Pueblo, New Mexico, has scored in double digits every game she has started this season. Since beginning Western Athletic Conference play, Chavez has averaged 11.5 points per game on 58.3% shooting from the field and 44% shooting from three.

“Experience goes a long way in today’s game,” Denson said. “She’s been very solid, and that’s what we’ve asked her to do. We didn’t ask her to come in and try to make 15-8-3. We asked her to come in and be the best version of herself, and we’ll get the best outcome.”

In addition to Chavez stepping into the starting lineup, Erin Woodson, junior guard from Richmond, Virginia, has continued to elevate her play since transferring to Abilene last season. After averaging 19.5 points, 7.0 rebounds, and 2.0 steals while shooting 48% from the field, Woodson earned herself the WAC Women’s basketball player of the week.

“There’s not a thing she doesn’t do for the team,” Denson said. “If it’s a loose ball, she’s going to get it. If there’s a play that needs to be made, a charge that needs to be taken, a big shot to be taken, she has that in her. Her getting player of the week honors just shows the type of player she is for us in this program.”

The Texans ride a three-game win streak into Abilene on Monday, having not lost since losing to the Wildcats on Jan. 8. Most recently beating UTA 51-37 in the best defensive effort the team has had all season. It was the second time the Texans have held their opponent to under 40 points after the team held Division three Schreiner University to 35 points on Nov. 3.

“It’s going to be a tough game,” Woodson said. “They’re a really good team, and they’re also coming off a win. We need to play aggressively. Trying to get a lead early is really important.”

Last time the two teams squared off, the Wildcats allowed the Texans to shoot 50% from three in the fourth quarter, with Shadasia Brackens making four threes, as the Texans won the final 10 minutes by five points.

“We try to defend the three-point line like our hair’s on fire,” Denson said. “We can’t let one player who comes into the game having only made four on the season make four against us. We’ve got to put a little bit more attention to detail, and when somebody gets hot, let’s not give them another opportunity to be on the burner.”

In the previous contest, the Wildcats limited Gia Adams to just one point on zero-of-five shooting from the field. Since that game, Adams has scored 20 points, one point, and 12 points in her three games.

“She’s a really good player,” Woodson said. “We just have to make sure we guard her well and know where she is at all times.”