West Texas A&M Women

from 2022-23 Panhandle-Plains Basketball Magazine

Frank Phillips College Women

Elite Eight effort inspires Lady Buffs

By LANCE LAHNERT

Josh Prock’s smile tells it all when he is asked about his Lady Buffs basketball program for the 2022-23 season.

“I’m so excited for this season,” said the second-year West Texas A&M women’s basketball coach, breaking into a grin. “So excited.”

And Prock’s comment might be the biggest understatement of the year when it comes to women’s Division II basketball across the United States.

That’s because Prock returns seven players off his 2021-22 team that became one of the feel-good Coach Josh Prock, left, and the West Texas A&M Lady Buffs show off their trophy from the NCAA Division II South stories in the Texas Panhandle. The Lady Buffs rolled to a 26-11 Central Regional Championship tournament after a hard-fought 59-54 win over Lubbock Christian at First United Bank Center in Canyon on March 14, 2022. (Photo courtesy of WTAMU Athletics) record, catching fire late, winning 15 of their final 17 games, winning the Lone Star Conference shot blocker with 93. But Prock returns seven players from last regular season and tournament titles, taking the South Central year, including four of his top five scorers. regional championship and reaching the NCAA Division II Elite “We have seven back of 16 on our team, so we still have quite Eight while drawing strong home crowds at First United Bank a few new kids this year,” said Prock who arrived at West Texas Center. A&M last season after eight years guiding the Eastern New

No doubt replacing the gifted, graduated post Alivia Lewis will Mexico program. “But what happened last year, I think it’s a be difficult since she was the leading rebounder and outstanding benefit twofold. One, having the season we had and having the returners we do, well, who wouldn’t be excited?

WEST TEXAS A&M LADY BUFFS SCHEDULE “Then if you look back at last year, we only had two kids who Date Nov. 5 Nov. 6 Opponent Fort Hays State @ Kansas City, Missouri Nebraska- Kearney @ Kansas City, Missouri Time 1:30 p.m. 11:30 a.m. played for me at Eastern; basically everyone else was new. So with a year now, I think what it helps us with is the confidence Nov. 11 Colorado Mesa @ Rapid City, South Dakota 6 p.m. and the belief in the system with what we were able to accomNov. 12 Nov. 18 Nov. 26 South Dakota Mines @ Rapid City, South Dakota Southwestern Oklahoma State Oklahoma Panhandle State 8 p.m. 6 p.m. 12 p.m. plish. You get to that level of being at the Elite Eight, and I think the confidence in what you are doing as a coach and doing as a Dec. 1 UAFS 5:30 p.m. program, the trust factor is just there.” Dec. 3 Dec. 8 Dec. 10 Oklahoma Christian @ Texas A&M Kingsville Texas A&M International @ Laredo 1 p.m. 5:30 p.m. 1 p.m. Returning scorers are leaders The four of five returning scorers are 5-7 senior guard ZamoDec. 14 Northern New Mexico 10:30 a.m. rye Roberts, who was last year’s leading scorer (13.2 points a Dec. 18 Dec. 19 Dec. 30 Florida Tech @ Tampa, Florida Tampa @ Tampa, Florida Midwestern State 12 p.m. 1 p.m. 5:30 p.m. game), 5-8 sophomore guard Karley Motschenbacher (10.2 ppg and 7.9 rpg), 5-10 senior forward Lauren Taylor (7.7 ppg) and Jan. 1 Cameron 1 p.m. 6-2 sophomore post Jayla Burgess (7.0 ppg and 5.3 rpg). Jan. 5 Jan. 7 Jan. 12 Angelo State @ San Angelo UT Permian Basin @ Odessa Western New Mexico 5:30 p.m. 1 p.m. 5:30 p.m. Combined, the foursome started 126 games last year and averaged a hefty 21.8 to 31.3 minutes of playing time. Jan. 14 Eastern New Mexico 1 p.m. Prock sees all four owning valuable leadership qualities and Jan. 19 Jan. 21 Jan. 26 Texas Woman’s @ Denton UT Tyler @ Tyler Cameron @ Lawton, Oklahoma 6 p.m. 1 p.m. 5:30 p.m. a passion for the game of basketball. He will count on Roberts, whom he coached at ENMU, again to run the show from her Jan. 28 Midwestern State @ Wichita Falls 1 p.m. point guard duties on the floor. Roberts made a team-high 63 Jan. 31 Feb. 2 Feb. 4 Lubbock Christian @ Lubbock UT Permian Basin Angelo State 5:30 p.m. 5:30 p.m. 1 p.m. 3-pointers last year, was second-team All-LSC and was a WER honorable mention All-American. Feb. 9 Eastern New Mexico @ Portales, New Mexico 6:30 p.m. “Zam has the leadership we need,” Prock said. “She’s been our Feb. 11 Feb. 16 Feb. 18 Western New Mexico @ Silver City, N.M. St. Mary’s St. Edward’s 2 p.m. 5:30 p.m. 1 p.m. leader and will continue to be. She also is a scorer, so that will be a little different for her. She’s always been the point guard, your Feb. 23 Lubbock Christian 5:30 p.m. playmaker, but I think she has embraced this scoring mentality. Mar. 2 LSC Quarterfinals TBD (Continued on next page) 84 College

(Continued from previous page) She is good at it.”

Roberts will team with Motschenbacher, among others, in the backcourt. Other than having a rare 14-letter last name, 5-8 sophomore Motschenbacher affected games last year with her tenacity, grit, ability to score, and her 7.9 rebounds a game ranked second on the team. She simply improved throughout her freshman season and was named to the All-LSC defense team, was the LSC Championship most outstanding player and was MVP of the South Central Regional Championships.

“Karley is a playmaker,” Prock said. “She just makes plays. It’s hard to put a box around her, because you never want to. She is such a tough kid and earned everything she has gotten. She’s such a good kid.” The Lady Buffs certainly are excellent in guard play, but what fans and opponents may notice first is their height on the wing, at forward and in the post.

WT has nine players 5-10 or taller, and five of those range between 6-0 and 6-4.

It’s Taylor and 6-2 sophomore post Jayla Burgess leading this group as returning starters.

Taylor started 25 games and proved she can score at the basket as well as outside, canning 32 3-pointers.

“From the wing and guard position, Lauren brings so much,” Prock said. “She is a great athlete. The thing I know she has worked on improving is her rebounding, and I think we will see an increase in her rebounding.”

Burgess has the most returning starts of any Lady Buff player at 37 and logged an average of 26.7 minutes of playing time. She will take over the departed Lewis’s role and may be in for a mon-

Jayla Burgess, a 6-2 post from Tulsa, is introduced before West Texas A&M’s NCAA Division II South Central Regional championship game with Lubbock Christian on March 14, 2022, at First United Bank Center in Canyon. Burgess averaged 7 points and 5.3 rebounds a game in 202122 and returns as a sophomore. (Photo by Mike Haynes) Zamorye Roberts, right, of West Texas A&M drives against Lubbock Christian’s Audrey Robertson in the Lady Buffs’ 59-54 win in the South Central Regional title game March 14, 2022, in Canyon. Roberts scored 11 points in the game and was the team’s leading scorer for the year with a 13.2 average. She is a 5-7 senior from Portales, New Mexico. (Photo by Mike Haynes)

ster year as she proved last year she can handle the bright lights.

“Jayla is going to step in that post role,” Prock said. “Not a bad way at all, but she kind of played next to the bright lights of Alivia. So no, it’s her time, so to speak. The good thing for Jayla is she has a lot of help this year. Kamirah Decker (6-2), Nyalam Thabach (6-4) and Braylyn Dollar (6-0 transfer from Sam Houston State) and the other posts. I feel our posts will be a strength of this team.”

Dollar is a Lubbock Monterey product who played three seasons from 2018 to 2021 for the Lady Buffs, then spent last season at Sam Houston State before returning.

Prock recruited good area players

Prock recruited some serious Amarillo-area talent as well for this season, bringing in freshman guard Hollie Stalder from Hooker, Oklahoma; freshman guard Zoey McBroom of Canyon High; freshman guard Bree Brattan, an all-state performer from Shallowater; and freshman all-state guard Kyla Kane of Wellington. Rounding out the freshman class is 5-11 post Shyleigh James of Lynden, Washington, who earned first-team All-Northwest

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(Continued from previous page) Conference honors and was valedictorian of her class.

“I really believe this team is grounded and hungry,” Prock said. “We can score from the inside or outside with a lot of different players, and this team can guard. Honestly, the talking, the enthusiasm, the hunger, their willingness to be better is as good as I’ve ever had at this point of the year. These things are critical. Communicating is such a big thing, and communicating in a positive way. I love what I hear during a practice.”

Prock scheduled his season challenging his team with two exhibition games in late October against Arizona and playing the University of New Mexico in the legendary Pit.

“You can go out and scrimmage a team and beat them by 50, but how much will you learn?” Prock said. “By going out and playing a team like Arizona that is going to be four or five in the Pac-12 and a New Mexico team always top two or three in conference, it’s going to teach us where our weaknesses are and get us better.”

The Lady Buffs will be the hunted this year, defending their LSC title, and Prock knows the challenge ahead as the preseason pick to win it all in the conference.

“The LSC is going to be difficult like it is every year,” Prock said. “I think the LSC is to a point now where it’s even more balanced than it’s ever been top to bottom. Teams have recruited well and gotten better. It will be a fun conference.”

Last year was a whirlwind for Prock and his family, making the move to a new university, a new town and new schools. Prock said everything is in place, and he and his family have found a home in Canyon.

Lady Buffs have history of excellence

And he said last year’s run to the Elite Eight is what Lady Buffs basketball is all about.

“From a recruiting standpoint, kids see that you made it to the Elite Eight,” Prock said. “They know what you have done, and it gets their attention. This whole West Texas region has a lot of kids who already like West Texas A&M. Now you put on what we were able to do, and I think that only enhances

West Texas A&M Lady Buffs Roster Name, Ht., Pos., Class, Hometown

Holly Stalder, 5-10, G, Fr., Hooker, Oklahoma Zoey McBroom, 5-7, G, Fr., Canyon, Texas Azia Himeur, 5-8, G, Soph., Albuquerque, New Mexico Bree Brattain, 5-8, G, Fr., Shallowater, Texas McKauley Gregory, 5-9, G, Jr., Lubbock, Texas Zamorye Roberts, 5-7, G, Sr., Portales, New Mexico Sienna Lenz, 5-8, G, Jr., Chilliwack, British Columbia Kyla Kane, 5-10, G, Fr., Wellington, Texas Skyleigh James, 5-11, P, Fr., Lynden, Washington Braylyn Dollar, 6-0, P, Sr., Lubbock, Texas Karley Motschenbacher, 5-8, G, Soph., Moorhead, Minnesota Nyalam Thabach, 6-4, P, Jr., Boise, Idaho Lauren Taylor, 5-10, F, Sr., Collierville, Tennessee Jayla Burgess, 6-2, P, Soph., Tulsa, Oklahoma Kamirah Decker, 6-2, P, Sr., Elk Grove, California Mattie Boyd, 6-0, P, Fr., Canadian, Texas

Nyalam Thabach Karley Motschenbacher, a 5-8 guard from Morehead, Minnesota, handles the ball against Lubbock Christian’s Grace Foster from Childress in West Texas A&M’s 59-54 win over LCU in the South Central Regional title game March 14, 2022, in Canyon. Motschenbacher, a 2022-23 sophomore, scored 16 points in the game and averaged 10.2 for the season. (Photo by Mike Haynes)

your ability to recruit here.

“This is the standard you really want. You want to be held to a high standard of excellence. I think across the spectrum in any profession, I think we would all want to be held to a high standard of excellence.

“When you think of West Texas A&M women’s basketball, I think you think of excellence. You look at Bob Schneider, to Krista Gerlich, to Mark Kellogg to Kristen Mattio. I think excellence can be defined by all their careers here.”